Electrification - answering your frequently asked questions

There are a number of factors at play. Some are environmental: electrification is one of the most significant and straightforward ways of combatting climate change. Some are technological: there are many more EVs available nowadays, in all shapes and sizes, and they’re practical for most jobs. And some are legislative: there are various grants and tax savings available for EVs.

The basic point is that, thanks to the 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, we are all going to have to find alternatives in future – and many fleets and drivers are transitioning and enjoying the benefits of EVs now, rather than leaving it another eight years. The question that fleet professionals need to be asking themselves is, simply, why wait?

Yes. Thanks to advances in battery technology, even purely Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) can now go long distances without having to be recharged. The Polestar 2, for example, has an advertised range of roughly 300 miles on a single charge. The more modest Renault Zoe is pushing 250 miles.

Given that, according to the latest National Transport Survey⁶, the average person commuted for 799 miles for the whole year in 2020 – while the equivalent figure for business trips is 253 miles – those ranges are clearly more than adequate. What’s more, if an EV driver is caught out without enough electricity, there are now more than 30,000 charge points on the public charging network, so recharging shouldn’t be a problem.

Besides, for those drivers who make frequent long trips and who may feel more secure having the back-up of a petrol engine, there is always the option of a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). A typical PHEV can travel about 30 miles on just electric, but might add another 300 miles on petrol.

[6] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-travel-survey-2020/national-travel-survey-2020">

The driving ranges advertised by vehicle manufacturers are affected by a number of factors in the real world – including road conditions, weather, and even the use of in-vehicle heating. One of the most significant factors is driving style.

For example, the way you brake can help to maximise the range of your vehicle. Most EVs have a system known as “regenerative braking” to recapture some of the energy that would otherwise be lost from slowing down the car. It kicks in whenever you take your foot off the accelerator, bringing your car to a gradual halt.

There’s a traditional braking system, too, meaning that you can slam on the brakes if you need to come to a sudden stop. However, as with non-electric cars, this form of braking wastes energy in the form of heat between the brake pads and brake rotors.

The trick, therefore, to maximise your range, is to rely on the regenerative system as much as possible. This means trying not to stop abruptly, but instead anticipating the road ahead and giving your EV more time to slow down by itself. This method can take some getting used to – particularly when you’re going downhill! – but most EV drivers do pick it up quickly.

Payload is another of the factors that affects real-world driving range. Of course, this isn’t such an issue with cars – but it is worth considering with electric vans.

According to some studies⁷, the range of an electric van can be halved with a full payload. Zap Map gives the example of the Peugeot e-Expert: “With an official range figure of 186 miles, [it] could easily see a real-world range fall to a bit over 100 miles when fully loaded and being driven in winter.”⁸

This needn’t be a problem for van operators, although it does require consideration. Can they make shorter journeys and not worry about range at all? Can you plan routes to ensure charging options along the way? Is it worth going for vans with larger official ranges?

[7] https://www.parkers.co.uk/vans-pickups/news/2016/electric-van-range-halves-with-full-payload-study/

[8] https://www.zap-map.com/electric-vehicles/electric-vans/

The first point to make is that charging technology is getting faster all the time. It’s thought that, in the next few years, it will be just as quick to completely charge an electric vehicle as it is to fill a petrol one.

In the meantime, there are a range of charging options – and speeds. These sit within four categories of power output:

• Standard/slow. Up to 3 kilowatts (kW) of AC charge. These take around 6 to 12 hours to fully charge a BEV, or about 2 to 4 hours for a PHEV.

• Fast. Between 7kW and 22kW (AC). They can fully charge a BEV in around 3 to 4 hours.

• Rapid. Between 25kW and 99kW (DC). These can fully charge a BEV in about 1 to 1.5 hours.

• Ultra-rapid. 100kW and over (DC). Generally, these can fully charge compatible BEVs in less than an hour.

Most domestic chargers now tend to sit around the 7kW or 11kW range – i.e. fast. The more powerful fast charge points are more prevalent in workplaces and car parks. And rapid and ultra-rapid models are most common in motorway service stations.

The Government has made a commitment to grow the number of rapid and ultra-rapid charge points on the public charging network. Currently, there is a combined 6,000; a near-400% increase over the past five years.⁹

However, faster needn’t always be necessary, particularly for those drivers who have the option of charging their vehicle overnight at either their home or workplace.

[9] https://www.zap-map.com/statistics/

Not at all. There are plenty of other options for charging your EV, even if you don’t have a driveway or garage. The first is simply charging it on the street by running a cable from your house or a wall box to the vehicle. This is possible, but it ought to be done carefully to avoid creating a trip hazard for pedestrians using the pathway. Some local authorities don’t allow it because of the risks involved.

A safer option is the on-street residential charging that’s done by plugging your vehicle into a charge point supplied by your local authority. The placement of these charge points (sometimes embedded into lampposts) means that cables don’t need to trailed across the path. Of course, your street may not have these charge points – but you can get in touch with your local authority to register your interest.

Then there’s always the option of charging your vehicle away from home. This could be done at your workplace, at the free charge points offered by venues such as supermarkets and gyms, or any of the other 30,000 charge points across the public charging network.

Let’s deal with the second question first: yes, it is 100% possible – and safe – to charge an EV in the rain. The car itself, as well as any charging components, have been designed to work while reasonably wet.

As for the question of performance in bad weather, the main thing to watch out for is the cold. The types of batteries predominantly used in EVs – lithium-ion batteries – don’t recharge or perform quite as efficiently in temperatures around 0℃ and lower. Because of this, most modern EVs have systems in place to protect the warmth of the batteries, but those systems themselves use electricity from the car, as does any extra heating that the vehicle’s occupants might be enjoying.

What does all this additional electricity use add up to? A reduction in the car’s effective driving range. As a WIRED article¹⁰ puts it: “Typically, an EV will cover around 20 percent fewer miles in cold weather versus beach weather.”

For more information on driving your BEV during the winter, read our BEV winter driving guide to looking after your BEV during the winter months.

[10] https://www.wired.com/story/electric-cars-cold-weather-tips/

At a time of rising energy tariffs, it is generally true that those who pay directly for the electricity used to charge an EV – whether that’s a business or an individual charging at home – will face rising bills. There is additional upwards pressure on bills because energy companies have withdrawn some of their special tariffs for EV owners.

We can try to calculate a rough number. When the average of price of electricity was 17.2p per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the energy company EDF wrote that “if you assume an electric car will travel 3.5 miles per kWh on average, to travel 100 miles would cost around £5”.¹¹

According to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s latest dataset¹², the average price of electricity has since risen to 28p per kWh. Using this number in EDF’s example would yield an outcome of £8 for 100 miles of travel.

However, it is important to note that this is still considerably cheaper than fossil-fuelled travel – especially at a time of rising petrol and diesel prices. In fact, 100 miles in a petrol car is likely to be at least twice as expensive.

[11] https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars/costs

[12] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043434/Quarterly_Energy_Prices_December_2021.pdf

If we just look at tailpipe (or “direct”) emissions, then EVs are clearly more environmentally friendly than petrol and diesel vehicles. Unlike their fossil-fuelled counterparts, they don’t emit any greenhouse gases or air pollutants, sparing both the environment and our lungs. The benefits to pedestrians and other road users should not be underestimated.

However, whenever anyone asks whether EVs really are more environmentally friendly, they don’t tend to have direct emissions in mind. They’re thinking more of the “indirect” emissions that go into the production of the electricity used by EVs. After all, that electricity has to come from somewhere – and sometimes it comes from huge power stations burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

This is a fair point. EVs do indeed account for indirect emissions – not just from electricity generation, but also from their manufacture.

But this also means that EVs will become cleaner as electricity generation becomes cleaner, which is happening as the country moves away from fossil-fuelled power stations and towards renewable sources, such as wind. According to the latest statistical release from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy¹³, renewable generation adds up to over a third of all energy generation in the UK. This proportion is only likely to increase in future.

What’s more, even when we factor in the indirect emissions of EVs, they are still far cleaner than petrol and diesel vehicles. A recent Department for Transport report¹⁴ found that, for a journey between London and Glasgow, “the average petrol car emits… 3.4 times more CO2e per passenger emitted by the average electric car (taking into account emissions from electricity generation and distribution)”.

[13] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043311/Energy_Trends_December_2021.pdf 

[14] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/984685/transport-and-environment-statistics-2021.pdf

It’s not just indirect emissions. People are also concerned about the mining of rare chemicals – such as cobalt and lithium – that are used in the batteries of EVs. There’s no denying the processes by which these chemicals are extracted from the earth can be damaging to both the environment and human health.

As a result, many car manufacturers are working on developing batteries that do not rely on these chemicals. Already, Tesla’s current batteries contain less than 5% cobalt – and the manufacturer is working to phase out the chemical entirely.

In the meantime, some manufacturers are putting pressure on suppliers to be more environmentally and socially responsible when mining these chemicals. Any improvements made along the supply chain should, of course, be encouraged and welcomed.

Not on their own. But EVs are nonetheless a crucial – and, for many people and organisations, relatively straightforward – step in the right direction. According to the International Energy Agency¹⁵, transport accounts for just over a fifth of all global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and road transport makes up three quarters of that. Without a transition away from petrol and diesel vehicles, it is unlikely that humanity could ever overcome the climate crisis.

[15] https://www.iea.org/reports/tracking-transport-2021

HMRC’s Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs) for the reimbursement of electric business mileage are one method, although the amount of charging carried out on the wider network could significantly impact an employee, as the AFR will not generally be sufficient for network charging.

There are solutions, such as Charge+, that allow a business to actively monitor and reimburse charging, incorporating this into an expenses policy.

We have supported customers in accelerating their EV adoption. However, this is dependent on the specific requirements of your fleet. Our experienced Consultancy team can advise on various options to aid your transition.