A lot changes in a week.
We're back with another round-up of the biggest EV news stories at the moment, to help keep you in the loop.
Read on to learn more about an £89m government boost to ZEV tech projects, the latest UK chargepoint milestone, Porsche’s ‘Most Important EV of 2024’, the truth about the Luton Airport fire, and more.
Government announces £89m funding boost for cutting edge electric vehicle projects
We start off our round-up for last week on a high, as the government announced a massive £89 million investment across 20 net-zero transportation technology projects.
Some of the projects to receive this funding include a new lithium scale-up plant, and revolutionary new EV battery systems, which offer a potential solution to the often-cited range anxiety as a barrier to EV adoption.
The plant will support the commissioning and training of a skilled workforce for its full-scale plant in Teesside, which will produce enough refined lithium to enable the downstream production of over 1 million electric vehicles.
These investments show a necessary support for the rollout of EVs and other ZEVs, and a recognition that the key to streamlining adoption is to continue to build each sector of the industry.
And perhaps more importantly, they show that despite the new ICE sale ban rollback, EV transition plans must not slow down as we build towards facilitating mandates for 80% of new vehicles sales to be ZEVs by 2030.
Porsche Macan: '2024's Most Important EV' in Early Access Review
Last week, Car magazine gained exclusive access to the Porsche Macan, planned for release in 2024, labelling it ‘2024’s most important EV’.
Coming equipped with a 100kWh lithium-ion battery pack promising in excess of 320 miles of range, the car promises to come in at the top end of the EV range market.
‘Charging times and power are comparable with the Taycan: 270kW, so 60 miles of range in less than four minutes,’ explains Macan head of charging Stephan Hess. ‘There are so many factors that influence the charging speed but these numbers should be achievable.’
When pairing the Macan with charging software capabilities, drivers will have the chance to prepare in advance for long-haul journeys, or use live in-app reporting to ensure availability of chargepoints along their journey. With ranges of up to 1,000 miles promised in the relatively near future, the impact of range anxiety seems to be something that EV technology - both software and hardware - is beginning to resolve.
Ben Miller at Car finalised his review with this:
“Porsche’s all-in electrification of the Macan looks less and less like a gamble the more you drive it.”
And with as many as 94% of EV drivers surveyed stating they wouldn’t go back to ICE equivalents, we can’t think of a more fitting summation of the EV industry as a whole.
How Safe are EVs really? Claims of EV Causation at Luton Aiport Fire Spark Debate
In the wake of the Luton Airport car park fire that grounded thousands of passengers, theories of EV causation were prevalent across social platforms.
In reality, this was quickly dispelled as authorities reported that it’s believed that the fire started with a diesel-powered vehicle.
But this initial reaction revealed to some extent where public opinion currently lies on EV safety, despite, as the Evening Standard wrote in its myth-busting piece on the theory, the risk of electric vehicles (EVs) catching fire being statistically very low.
UK Installs 50,000th Charger, With Network Expected to Reach 100,000 by 2025
The UK reached a huge milestone last week, installing its 50,000th EV charger in total. As we’ve been hearing across the board from EV transitioners so far, the first step in transitioning is often the most daunting.
And it very much seems to have been the same case in building our national charging infrastructure. While we’re celebrating this 50,000-charger milestone some 13 years after the first commercial resurgence of the EV, estimates say we should be expected to double that total by as early as 2025.
As we prepare for the mass adoption heralded by the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars incrementally by 2035, it’s important that our infrastructure keeps pace. And while this does mean putting more chargepoints in the ground, it’s essential that these are backed with an open network powered by reliable software to make these chargepoints work for the benefit of drivers and industry stakeholders alike.
With our national network increasing by the day, we need to all make sure we’re calling for the installation of OCPP-compliant hardware, and software that allows for an easy switch of providers. At Clenergy EV, we believe in making EV migration fair and easy for all as we approach new milestones by supporting these principles.
EV World Congress 2023
Clenergy EV were delighted to attend the EV World Congress event last week in London, where we sat in on speeches and panels discussing the key barriers to adoption in the world of EV right now - as well as the challenges facing national charging infrastructure.
Aligning with our core EV charging principles, the congress involved keynote speakers such as Julia Palle at Formula E, and is designed to spread awareness on infrastructure needs and challenges and to help ensure we’re shaping a sustainable, user-friendly EV future.
