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Technological improvements regarding e-mobility charging systems

FACT SHEET NO.: Cat-No.7 / Subcat-No.7.2-1

General Information

Title

FACT SHEET NO.: Cat-No.7 / Subcat-No.7.2-1

Category

7. Research and innovation

Subcategory

7.2 Technology: transport infrastructure / system

Transport policy measure (TPM)

Technological improvements regarding e-mobility charging systems

Description of TPM

The TPM 'Technological improvements regarding e-mobility charging systems' covers the development of charging systems for electric road vehicles.
Technological improvements on charging systems are expected to increase the efficiency, reliability and uniformity of charging E-mobility transport. Public and governmental investments will directly lead to more research effort concerning E-mobility charging systems and indirectly, on the long run, result in a rise of the number of efficient E-mobility charging stations. Increasing the amount of efficient E-mobility charging systems is of general importance for widespread acceptance of electric vehicles. Therefore, governments and the European Union try to increase the number of charging stations. At first, the increase of charging systems will focus on urban areas (with a comparably high population density).
Improvements on E-mobility charging systems will have effects on private passenger road vehicles, public transport vehicles (buses and coaches) as well as for road freight vehicles. However, long-haul trucks propulsions are expected to remain on internal combustion engines (ICE) for the foreseeable future. [1] This impact assessment focusses on the influences of improvements of e-mobility charging system for private and light commercial road vehicles.

Implementation examples

Standardised charging interface: A mandate for European standardisation bodies will be set in 2010 to develop a standard by 2011 within the framework of Directive 98/34EC. The aim of this directive is to standardise charging infrastructure in order to ensure interoperability and connectivity between the electricity supply point and the charger of the electric vehicle. Smart charging and the possibility for users to take advantage of the use of electricity during "off peak hours" needs to be considered in standardisation. [5] The European automobile manufacturers have defined joint specifications to connect electrically chargeable vehicles to the electricity grid in a safe and user-friendly way. These recommendations should enable the relevant EU standardisation bodies to make rapid progress with defining a common interface between the electricity infrastructure and vehicles throughout Europe. [14] Unfortunately, until now an universal charging solution has not been defined.

Objectives of TPM

The objective is to improve the efficiency, reliability and uniformity of E-mobility charging systems in order to accelerate the expansion of electric vehicles, which means:
- Reduce the charging time of E-Mobility charging systems
- Improve the reliability of charging systems
- Infrastructure must be compatible with vehicles produced by various manufacturers or the development of one matching charging system for all types of vehicles
- 'Smart charging' i.e. Bidirectional charging systems (vehicle to grid) instead of unidirectional [4]
Combined with these technical improvements, governments will increase the number of charging stations in order to:
- Increase travel distance by expanding the network of charging stations
- Boost the attraction and acceptance of electric cars [2]

Choice of transport mode / Multimodality

No key changes can be expected, because the impact of better charging systems can not solely improve the attractiveness of electric vehicles.

Origin and/or destination of trip

Will be adjusted according to the availability of charging systems, which at first will be placed at densed areas within the city center. [1]

Trip frequency

Increasing number of trips with electric vehicles possible due to faster charging

Choice of route

According to the availability of charging systems

Timing (day, hour)

Charging times have to be adjusted to grid capacity i.e. charging will take place outside peak energy demand times. Timing becomes more important with an increasing share of electric vehicles. Preffered charging times are during low energy consumption, for instance at night. Later on, with the development of smart grids, a surplus of energy in the battery of electric cars can be used to supply energy to households in order to prevent power grids from overloading. [2]

Occupancy rate / Loading factor

No changes

Energy efficiency / Energy usage

Further development necessary to fasten charging times without limiting the durability of electric vehicles batteries. Increased energy efficiency is expected to be reached through development of new charging systems. [3]

Main source

[1] European Commission (2011): European Green Cars Initiative: public-private partnership multi-annual roadmap and long-term strategy, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union
[2] German Federal Government (2009): German Federal Government’s National Electromobility Development Plan
[3] European Commission (2010): Challenges for European Market for Electric Vehicles, Brussels: Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy
[4] European Commission (2010): European Green Cars initiative: European Roadmap Electrification of Road Transport, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union
[5] European Commission (2011): 2010-2013 Action Plan for European Standardisation, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union
[6] CE Delft (2011): Impact analysis for market uptake scenarios and policy implications, Delft: CE -publications
[7] Hacker et al (2009): Environmental impacts and impact on the electricity market of a large scale introduction of electric cars in Europe - Critical Review of Literature, ETC/ACC Technical Paper 2009/4
[8] Althaus, Gauch (2010): Vergleichende Ökobilanz individueller Mobilität: Elektromobilität versus konventionelle Mobilität mit Bio- und fossilen Treibstoffen, Life Cycle Assessment and Modelling Group, Technologie und Gesellschaft, Empa, Dübendorf
[9] Bickert, Kuckshinrichs (2011); Electromobility as a technical concept in an ecological mobility sector? An analysis of costs; 9th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE 2011): Advancing Ecological Economics - Theory and Practice June 14–17, 2011, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
[10] CE Delft (2011): Impacts of Electric Vehicles, Delft: CE-Publications
[11] Draper, M., et al. (2008): Economic Impact of Electric Vehicle Adoption in the United States, California: U.C. Berkeley
[12] Nationale Plattform Elektromobilität (2010): Zwischenbericht der Arbeitsgruppe 3 - Lade-Infrastruktur und Netzintegration, Berlin: Gemeinsame Geschäftsstelle Elektromobilität der Bundesregierung (GGEMO)
[13] ADAC (2012): ADAC Pkw-Monitor: Was entscheidet beim Autokauf? Berlin: ADAC/Auto-Reporter.NET
[14] ACEA (2010): Auto manufacturers agree on specifications to connect electrically chargeable vehicles to the electricity grid, available at: http://www.acea.be/index.php/news/news_detail/auto_manufacturers_agree_on_specifications_to_connect_electrically_chargeab

Traffic Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Travel or transport time

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Risk of congestion

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Vehicle mileage

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Service and comfort

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

- The shift to electric vehicles can only be expected when electric vehicles will increase their attractiveness significantly (driving range, price, reliability). The solely improvement of charging possibilities is not sufficient to generate a shift from combustion engines to electric cars.
- Furthermore, research determined that only fuel consumption or environmental friendliness of cars is not important to consumers when purchasing a new car. [13]

Operation phase

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- If new technological improvements lead to a shorter charging time (and thus a shorter travel time), without effecting the durability of batteries, it will improve the reputation of electric vehicles and lead to a rise of the number of electric vehicles. [2]
- Service and comfort improvements through faster charging systems. [1]
- Vehicle milage for electric vehicles increases according to the number of charging possibilities.

Quantification of impacts


Economic Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Transport costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Private income / commercial turn over

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Revenues in the transport sector

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sectoral competitiveness

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Spatial competitiveness

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Housing expenditures

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Insurance costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Health service costs

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Public authorities & adm. burdens on businesses

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Public income (e.g.: taxes, charges)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Third countries and international relations

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

Operation phase

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- Uncontrolled charging demand can significantly increase peak load and thus lead to a high cost burden. If uncontrolled EV (Electric Vehicle) charging is added to the system, this can have a strong negative effect on the grid system, which (capacity) is not designed for enormous amounts of electric vehicles. This will require substantial investments in power grids by public bodies. [10]
- The implementation of bidirectional charging systems can ease the pressure of power grids during peak demands. In order to use this technology, public bodies are forced to invest in 'smart grids', which can handle the bidirectional energy flows. [6]
- Mainly rural areas, which are not equipped with E-Mobility charging systems due to efficiency reasons (lower demand) face proper disadvantages compared to urban areas with a high population density. This will lead to increasing spatial competition between urban and peripheral areas and growing disparities between economically strong (mostly suburban) and weak regions (mostly rural and sparsely populated areas).
- Sectoral competitiveness between transport operators / producers using traditional vehicles and ones using electric vehicles will increase. Electric vehicles will become more favorable compared to traditional petrol and diesel vehicles.
- 3rd level impact: Energy efficient vehicles will require less fuel. This will lead to reduced public income for public bodies, because these receive excise taxes on petrol.

Quantification of impacts


Social Impacts
Environmental Impacts

Passengers 

         

Transport operators 

           

Unassigned 

         

Air pollutants

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Noise emissions

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Visual quality of the landscape

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Land use

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Climate

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Renewable or non-renewable resources

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Overall impacts on social groups

Implementation phase

Operation phase

Summary / comments concerning the main impacts

- In general, the implementation of new technologies for charging systems will have an (both positive as negative) impact on the environment when it is combined with an increased usage of electric vehicles. Which means:
- The reduction of air pollutions and noise emissions is only on the local level (concerning residents) unambiguous. In general, the level of air pollutants depends on the production of the electric energy, which depends on the energy mix used (nevertheless the electricity mix also varies widely depending on geography, time of day and season). Hence, the emission of CO2 of a electric vehicle depends on the source of energy, which do not emit NOx and PM. Especially in urban areas with a high population density this reduced emissions have a strong impact. [7] Overall, the energy is at least partly produced by renewable energy sources, which result is a reduction of air pollutants positively affecting the climate.
- Negative local environmental impacts are expected by the large-scale production of lithium for the lithium-ion batteries, because parts of the battery are extremely toxic.[7]
- Depending on the source of energy, the energy production can also have a negative effect on land use (coal) and produce radioactive waste (nuclear power plants). [8]
- Reduced oil consumption strengthens the energy security [9]
- A widespread use of electric vehicles (> 10 % market share) will lead to a significant increase of energy demand. The current power grids will have to be expanded to meet the higher demand. Expansion of power grids will cause a negative impact on the visual quality of the landscape and demand extra land use [12].

Quantification of impacts

- Total CO2 emissions: Conventional ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) car: 145-215 g/km; Electric Vehicle (depending on the source of energy): 8-140g/km. CO2 in g/km/NEDC WTW (NEDC: New European Driving Cycle; WTW: Well-to-Wheel) [1]
- The difference of well-to-wheel (energy consumption from feedstock to energy transimission) GHG emissions of electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) and their benefits compared to average conventional vehicles (CV) strongly depends on the considered energy mix assumptions, the benefit ranges from -38% (coal based energy production) to +81%. [7]

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