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United Kingdom Power Transportation

UK Nears 1 Million EV Chargers (theguardian.com) 150

According to lobby group ChargeUK, there were 930,000 electric car chargers in the UK at the end of June, with the majority residing in homes and at businesses. Only about 65,000 public chargers are available. The Guardian reports: The ChargeUK analysis showed that a new public charger was installed every 25 minutes in the spring quarter as companies raced to keep up with demand. Companies installed 5,100 public chargers during the second quarter of 2024, according to the data company Zapmap. [...] There are 1.1 million electric vehicles on UK roads, including 167,000 cars sold in the first half of this year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders lobby group. That is a 9% increase compared with the previous year, although the share of electric sales only increased marginally to 16.6%, as relatively higher upfront prices and rising interest rates deterred some buyers.

ChargeUK's analysis, which was carried out by the thinktank New AutoMotive, suggested that the private sector was confident it could meet a target set by the previous Conservative government of 300,000 public charge points by 2030.
"In little more than a decade, the UK's charging sector has grown to become a major player in the green economy, providing the infrastructure that more than a million EV drivers rely on today and scaling fast to deliver the charging needed through to 2030 and beyond," said Vicky Read, the chief executive of ChargeUK.
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UK Nears 1 Million EV Chargers

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  • by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Tuesday July 16, 2024 @09:19PM (#64631423) Homepage

    Without the ability to charge at home, the cost per mile to drive an EV can end up being comparable to that of an ICE vehicle. It makes sense that the majority of chargers would be installed in homes.

    I'm not sure what the situation is like in the UK, but in my neck of the woods EA charges around $0.57 per kWh, which ends up being about $0.16 per mile (roughly estimating about 3.5 miles per kWh in my Chevy Bolt, since air conditioning and central Florida's 65-70MPH roads take their toll on efficiency). Since gas is about $3.59/gal at the moment, that's equivalent in cost to an ICE vehicle getting 22 MPG. Charging at home, however, knocks my per mile cost down to $0.04, which would require an ICE vehicle that achieves close to 90MPG to reach cost parity.

    • by ukoda ( 537183 )
      On a global basis comparing electricity costs and gas cost can have quite a wide range. It is very common the people in the USA to not realise they have abnormally cheap gas compared with the reset of the world. Likewise electricity is abnormally expensive in the UK. You would think solar would be popular there to offset the cost but when I lived in Scotland for 2 years I recall sunny days were rare.
      • One thing we generally don't have in the US is time of generation cost variability either. Everywhere I've lived (East Coast) there's a winter plan and a summer plan with specific rates. It's cheaper but we can't shift our usage to access cheap and variable price times like over night or high sun/wind generation. Our prices have overnight/low, mid-tier and peak rates that are fixed for 6 months at a time, regardless of the actual cost to produce that power.

        And compared to England, vast swaths of the US h

        • One thing we generally don't have in the US is time of generation cost variability either.

          "generally"? At least 10% of the population have the option (for now, eventually, it will be forced on everyone) of time-of-day pricing. This is in California.

          • So 90% don't have it. You're right generally is the wrong term. "Super massive majority" would be the correct term.

            "time of day" pricing isn't real-time generation cost pricing. In UK, prices change almost hourly so a glut of renewable can send prices literally negative.

            • California was merely an example. So, other states:
              Alabama
              Arkansas (large customers)
              Florida (perhaps not all utilities)
              Georgia
              Illinois
              [do I need to go on?]
              So it's much more than just California.
              https://www.energy.gov/femp/de... [energy.gov]

              • Again, "time of day" isn't cost of generation variability. The *vast* majority of US customers don't have cost of generation/real time variability. I'm sure some states offer plans with that, but you'd need to show actual numbers to prove your point. the 'standard' plans cover most people and aren't that.

                VA has Peak, off peak and night time of day pricing. But those prices are *fixed* for the entire summer season and for the entire winter season.

                In the UK, there's a day to day forecast of what the pri

      • You would think solar would be popular there to offset the cost but when I lived in Scotland for 2 years I recall sunny days were rare.

        Solar works fine in cloudy weather too. The payback period would be a bit longer, except for the fact that electricity costs so much that it works in your favour again.
        There are plenty of countries with absolutely miserable weather with wide spread adoption of solar for this reason. E.g. Netherlands. Solar is so widespread here that electricity companies are starting to charge certain users to feed into the grid, rather than the other way around. (Batteries are going to become really popular soon).

        • by ukoda ( 537183 )
          Sure, it has been a typical cloudy winter day here, so not enough to charge my house batteries much, but did generate enough to not pull any power from the grid much of the day. So I would agree solar is still useful in cloudy areas but the ROI is significantly longer. Likewise batteries are generally have a much longer ROI, I was able to justify the cost because of other long term considerations. However the steady fall in prices of home battery storage is going to see their uptake become popular. As y
    • ICE cost needs to factor in the disaster spend related to climate change. EVs, are *slightly* better CO2 wise even when fully charged with fossil fuels power as electric motors are multiple times more efficient.

      They get better and better as the grid gets greener.

      The fossil fuel industry built the modern world...and the on coming disaster. Only fair they have to pay to fix it.

      • EVs, are *slightly* better CO2 wise even when fully charged with fossil fuels power as electric motors are multiple times more efficient.

        That is understating the case! EVs are about twice as good cradle to grave as ICEVs are even if charged purely with coal due to that efficiency, reaching parity at 70,000 miles. The MOST efficient ICEs in cars are running 40% efficiency occasionally, and most of the time are far less efficient. Ironically, they are most efficient while accelerating moderately. The least efficient electric motors used in even vaguely modern and professional EVs are over 92% efficient, and they reach that efficiency most of t

    • Without the ability to charge at home, the cost per mile to drive an EV can end up being comparable to that of an ICE vehicle. It makes sense that the majority of chargers would be installed in homes.

      I'm not sure what the situation is like in the UK, but in my neck of the woods EA charges around $0.57 per kWh, which ends up being about $0.16 per mile (roughly estimating about 3.5 miles per kWh in my Chevy Bolt, since air conditioning and central Florida's 65-70MPH roads take their toll on efficiency). Since gas is about $3.59/gal at the moment, that's equivalent in cost to an ICE vehicle getting 22 MPG. Charging at home, however, knocks my per mile cost down to $0.04, which would require an ICE vehicle that achieves close to 90MPG to reach cost parity.

      Thank you for the great detail, but most ICE vs EV arguments still die on the showroom floor. A $0.04 cost per mile becomes quite irrelevant if your EV monthly car payment is 2x compared to the ICE vehicle. A $30K Corolla getting 35MPG is going to compete rather well against a $60K EV when looking at TCO. Especially when the price of the replacement battery can be the cost of another car.

      I find it quite odd that EVs are still making this comparison argument about “fuel” costs when the cost of

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        You talked about TCO and you also talked about monthly payments. But monthly payments suggests leases, and EV leases are now pretty compelling in the US — comparable to ICE. Sure there are still cheaper new ICE vehicles out there, but you can get a cheap EV lease now. Replacement battery costs are a complete red herring. Do you figure out a replacement engine cost for an ICE vehicle? No, because engines don’t fail often enough to be worth accounting for, and neither do EV batteries. It’s j

        • You do know car loans have monthly payments?
          • by shilly ( 142940 )

            Yes — of course. But my point is, if you’re already going for a car loan, you’re already looking to manage monthly payments, and thus leases are worth considering. Especially for tech that’s improving fast.

            • Leases are worth considering, sure. Some people just want to pay their car off and not have payments after that and some people don't mind the binding conditions that come with leasing a vehicle. Myself, I don't like penalties and things kicking in just because I drove too much.
            • Yes — of course. But my point is, if you’re already going for a car loan, you’re already looking to manage monthly payments, and thus leases are worth considering. Especially for tech that’s improving fast.

              Greeeeat. Can’t wait to see the look on all the EV fans faces when they are the unique citizens being hit with a new environmental cleanup tax, due to millions of abused-and-used leased EVs sitting in landfills that no one wants.

              Did I mention you’re still at the mercy of those who charge 2x more over the ICE price, to replace the proprietary battery pack? Guy in Canada just got a $61K battery replacement bill for an EV that cost $60K new, forcing insurance to scrap a car not even 2 years old.

              • by shilly ( 142940 )

                These fantasies you have, do they bring you much relief?

                And absolutely loving your completely unsourced story about a 61k replacement battery bill for a 2 year old 60k car. Totes makes sense. Because for a start, 2 year old cars definitely don’t come with a fucking warranty, so you always have to pay battery replacement costs in full. It sounds like an incredibly realistic story and not at all like a weird kind of wank-fantasy that an anti-EV person just made up.

        • You talked about TCO and you also talked about monthly payments. But monthly payments suggests leases, and EV leases are now pretty compelling in the US — comparable to ICE.

          Monthly payments suggest less than 1% of society have the cash to buy any vehicle outright. The considerably higher price of a EV tends to imply a “cheap” lease is relative. Meaning my ICE loan payment for a product that will eventually be 100% paid off, is likely equal to an EV lease payment due to the premium EV price. (If it’s not, thank government subsidies you’re also paying for via taxes)

          Sure there are still cheaper new ICE vehicles out there, but you can get a cheap EV lease now. Replacement battery costs are a complete red herring. Do you figure out a replacement engine cost for an ICE vehicle?

          I didn’t ever have to worry about replacing an entire engine, because even that wo

  • by shilly ( 142940 ) on Wednesday July 17, 2024 @01:42AM (#64631723)

    The new UK government is clearly intent on unblocking planning and other issues that hold back growth, as demonstrated by the new approvals of solar farms, the change to the onshore wind regime, the housing announcements etc. They are keenly aware that grid connections are a complete ballache for EV charging operators and so I expect them to unpick some of the detailed problems in the next year or so, which should do quite a lot to boost the pipeline and get charger numbers growing faster still.

    FWIW, I would like them to go further and build some policy to enable more solar roof / battery / charger combos for car parks, and to encourage destination parking at scale (ie dozens or hundreds of chargers in car parks, not three, five or ten in one corner). I want to be able to drive to a different city, park in a car park for the day and charge while I’m there, without having to come back and unplug to enable someone else to use a scarce resource. That friction needs to go, because at the moment, it’s painful enough that I use fast en route chargers instead, even though they’re more expensive and it’s a stop I don’t need to make. This is an issue for me maybe three times a year, but still, it would be good to get it sorted, because I’m definitely not the only driver who wants frictionless park-and-charge.

  • The US state of Oregon is roughly comparable in size to the UK and less densely populated. So driving range is a lot shorter in the UK for most people. Charger density will never be the same as the UK. Not a single EV charger in my county and probably won't see one in the next 10 years.
    • by shilly ( 142940 )

      Oregon is smaller than Norway, and has a similar population. Yet Norway has lots of chargers and Oregon does not. Turns out that policy makes a big difference. To be fair, Oregon is a pretty damn rural population, more than Norway, but there’s 13 towns with populations above 50k, and Skien in Norway has a population of 50k and 20 charging stations, each with several chargers. So it can be done even in smaller towns.

      And obviously, most US residents don’t live in states like Oregon. A third of the

  • Instead of learning that there are 65k individual chargers, I'd like to know how many unique locations there are across the country and how that translates to area coverage, what's the distribution.

  • Because if no one owns it, then who collects the money that people pay to use it? Or, is it free? I'm so lost, but then again, I don't use electric cars because they're a waste of energy.

    • by shilly ( 142940 )

      I know this is going to be a really tricky concept for you, but a public charger is one that the public can use. A charger that the public can use without paying any money would be a “free public charger”. Here’s the really mind-blowing bit: public chargers can be owned and operated by private companies! Imagine that, a single idea that includes both the words public and private at the same time!! This will be incredibly confusing, I know, so do have a good sit down and try to recover from

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