Industry leaders have emphasised the importance of consumer behaviour to determining what electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure will be required in future.
The comments were made at the Future of Energy Summit held by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London on Tuesday (2 October).
“We really need to understand customer behaviour,” said Angie Boakes, general manager for electric mobility at Shell New Energy. “We really need to understand where does that car sit for 95 per cent plus of the time.
“And it’s easy for people who have a dedicated driveway – a dedicated parking space. But what about everybody else?
“Is workplace charging the answer? Probably yes. But where else do those trips end up”.
“What’s good for the customer?”, she asked. “Generally, it’s the cheapest charging. Sometimes, it is the quickest charging. But there’s a whole mix there and there is no one-size-fits-all.”
Fiona Howarth, chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles, drew attention to the experiences of Norway – a world leader on EV uptake – where she said 95 per cent of drivers charge their car at home at least once a week.
“That’s huge,” said Howarth. “That compares to 14 per cent that are using fast chargers. So it’s significantly more at home.”
She said attention should not be focused on “putting out loads of rapid charge points”, adding: “I think it’s about balance and finding out where people want to be and enabling them to access low-cost electricity at those points.”
Howarth also noted the findings from a forecourt in London operated by Octopus: “We thought people would be there for 30 or so minutes to do a full-charge. But actually, they’re generally there for 15 to 20 minutes just to get a top-up.”
Recounting her own experiences as an EV driver over the last nine months, she said: “I have yet to use as fast charger. I have no need.
“My very first need was on Sunday, when all I needed was 10 miles to get me home. And I simply just stopped at a slow charger… It’s a lot of top-ups right now.”
Blue Solutions senior vice president, Didier Marginedes, warned that charging behaviour could change drastically with the advent of shared ownership and autonomous vehicles: “If you are looking at the use of the car today, as an average it is one hour per day; it’s nothing.
“If you are talking about car-sharing, it’s going to be 10 or 12 hours.”
However, Tore Harritshoj, chief executive of Eon Denmark, cautioned against focusing too much on long-term requirements to the detriment of more immediate concerns: “Worrying a lot about what is the pattern of transportation in 50 years will only confuse the discussion, right now…
“In 50 years, you’ll have totally different vehicles going around and maybe you don’t have your own car.”
He said drivers in Denmark plugged in to Eon’s public charging network roughly one million times last year: “They use it like kids charge their iPhone. They charge it whenever they are nearby and not doing anything else…
“You don’t charge it fully. You just take out the plug when you have to leave.”
He also highlighted the importance of the EVs themselves to charging habits. “The size of the battery changes your behavioural pattern,” he explained.