How much EV charging infrastructure do we need?

17th Feb 2021

The full transition to electric vehicles (EVs) will be one of the most important actions to achieve the UK’s Net Zero target. To deliver on this transition one thing that is needed is charging infrastructure - but how much?

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Despite the recent Government announcement to phase out sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, the UK is currently not on track to switch all new vehicles to fully battery-electric by 2030. Beyond 2030, significant questions remain that need to be addressed – such as the increased demand for electricity and where this will come from, sourcing and supply of rare earth materials for battery production and capacity for battery recycling.

Featuring an interview with Professor Sergio Matteo Savaresi, the Full Professor in Automatic Control at Politecnico di Milano since 2006

In the interview Professor Savaresi says:

There is a huge misperception about the real need of range. We have recently done a deep analysis on a big number of Italian cars using data from telematics boxes we have analysed - let's say more than 1,000,000 trips of Italian cars - so the outcome is somehow surprising
The strong message, the strong outcome of this analysis is that there is no real need of a massive investment on public recharging infrastructure which is something is creating a hot debate in policymakers
There is no real need of a massive investment in public recharging infrastructure.
When people realise that having electric car is cheaper…I bet the development will be quite fast.
Generally, the idea is that electric energy has a much lower cost than fossil fuels…but with the additional overhead of a battery cost.
In principle, an electric car can be cheaper…but you have to use it for a huge number of miles. And that is not easy if you have private car.We have to go towards electrification of cars but at the same time we have to reduce the CO2 impact of electric energy production.95% of rare earth mineral (critical component of the electric motor) production is in China which makes China nearly a monopoly for this critical resource.

This is the second of a two-part podcast with Professor Savaresi on future mobility.  The first part was on the future of impact of the autonomous car on future mobility.

Professor Savaresi is Deputy Director and Chair of the Systems&Control Section of Department of Electronics, Computer Sciences and Bioengineering (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano. He is author of more than 500 scientific publications. His main interests are in the areas of vehicles control, automotive systems, data analysis and system identification, non-linear control theory, and control applications, with special focus on smart mobility. He has been manager and technical leader of more than 400 research projects in cooperation with private companies. He is co-founder of 8 high-tech startup companies.

This is the second episode of a two part podcast on the future of mobility.

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