Reading this article doesn't sound too positive about the future of motorway charging infrastructure -
Power vacuum: road to fast charging at UK services has been ‘laboriously slow’
But I'm interested in the claim that every motorway services will need at least 30-40 ultra rapid chargers in the near future - totalling the output of the average nuclear power plant just for Moto Services alone.
It strikes me that we need a more joined up approach than just blunt-force numbers of chargers. More than anything, I think longer-ranged EVs would preclude the need for as many chargers in the UK at least. If we had EVs that could comfortably do 350-400 motorway miles with some spare in the tank at the end, then I think the majority of us would never need to top up en-route.
Furthermore if we had a lot more slow-medium chargers in car parks, people would keep their cars topped up more regularly. A prime example is airports - drive to Heathrow for 2.5 hours, leave your car for a week, you then have to stop at a supercharger on the way home. If we had slow chargers in every space in airport carparks - the charge on the way home wouldn't be needed. As it is, there are *some* chargers at parking spaces at Heathrow, but nowhere near enough. The emphasis seems to be on building more ultra rapids - but perhaps they are missing the obvious.
Be interested to know people's thoughts.
Power vacuum: road to fast charging at UK services has been ‘laboriously slow’
But I'm interested in the claim that every motorway services will need at least 30-40 ultra rapid chargers in the near future - totalling the output of the average nuclear power plant just for Moto Services alone.
It strikes me that we need a more joined up approach than just blunt-force numbers of chargers. More than anything, I think longer-ranged EVs would preclude the need for as many chargers in the UK at least. If we had EVs that could comfortably do 350-400 motorway miles with some spare in the tank at the end, then I think the majority of us would never need to top up en-route.
Furthermore if we had a lot more slow-medium chargers in car parks, people would keep their cars topped up more regularly. A prime example is airports - drive to Heathrow for 2.5 hours, leave your car for a week, you then have to stop at a supercharger on the way home. If we had slow chargers in every space in airport carparks - the charge on the way home wouldn't be needed. As it is, there are *some* chargers at parking spaces at Heathrow, but nowhere near enough. The emphasis seems to be on building more ultra rapids - but perhaps they are missing the obvious.
Be interested to know people's thoughts.