A lot of consumers are willing to switch their fuel-driven cars for electric vehicles (EV). In 2018, EV global sales reached almost 2 million (1,713,957). Therefore, in the few following years we can expect that number to increase. The problem is where will they charge their EVs when charging stations are far and few in-between?
In a 2016 EV consumers survey by McKinney, insufficient access to efficient charging stations is ranked by consumers as the third most serious barrier to purchase and adoption of electric vehicles.
EV Charging Options
In the UK, many EV owners still rely on charging at home, at work, or both rather than in charging stations. It does make sense since the car is parked for hours outside the office or the home, making it the perfect time to top up the battery.
However, life in big cities in the UK make the EV charging process at home extremely difficult. Densely populated areas with small apartments and no private parking garages, are an unfriendly place to own your personal EV charging station.
Now let’s have a look on the second option to charge at work. The time it takes to fully charge an electric car can be as little as 30 minutes or can reach 12 hours. This depends on the size of the battery and the speed of the charging point. A typical electric car with 60kWh battery takes just under 8 hours to charge from empty-to-full with a 7kW charging point. This is on average a working shift. Needless to say, that not all working places in UK have charging stations available. But even if they did it would be 1-3 units. Still not enough for everyone to charge their EV.
EV Charging Innovation to The Rescue
Don’t let the charging process scare you away from buying an EV, because Volkswagen has the solution and their new EV technology is coming to help. Apart from the traditional EV charging stations, Volkswagen will bring us the first portable charging station. The station will be launched in the company’s home city of Wolfsburg in the first half of 2019 and we should expect it everywhere else by 2020.
The mobile units, will have a capacity of 360 kWh and be able to charge up to 15 cars. Also, the station can charge 4 cars at the same time. Volkswagen says that thanks to quick charging capabilities, vehicles will take only an average of 17 minutes for up to 80% charge. Once the power packs in the station drop below 20% capacity, notification will go to Volkswagen so they can replace it with a new one.
These mobile power banks can be set up in shopping centers, parking lots and also gives a solution to the dilemma of owning an electric vehicle without a permanent place to charge it. The stations are independent from any power source, meaning they can be dropped anywhere with a flat surface.
“The portable systems will be key to helping Europe develop its infrastructure for charging electric cars of the future.”- Volkswagen said.
Finally, the EV owners will be able to track the mobile power banks through a smartphone application or the internet.
The future of electric motoring is actually closer than we think and with the EV technology growing so fast the charging will be the easiest task of the day.
For more information about electric vehicles and suitable charging accessories EV Charge + is here to be the plus to your charging experience.
