ENVIRONMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
ITEM NUMBER 8.1
SUBJECT Electric Vehicles
REFERENCE F2010/02630 - D01886237
REPORT
OF Senior Project Officer - Transport Planning
PURPOSE: To provide Council with background information on electric
vehicles and electric vehicles infrastructure to allow a decision to made of
their future inclusion within the city. |
RECOMMENDATION (a) That a report be prepared on incentives to encourage (b) Further, that Council undertakes an Expression of Interest process to procure electric vehicle recharge units and possibly electric vehicles for a trial period, once the above is established. |
BACKGROUND
1. This Report is in response
to Council resolution of 27 September 2010 “Proposal to consider an MOU with
2. EVs (electric vehicles) are
an emerging sector of the car industry, with Europe and
3. It is estimated, that there
are less than 150 EVs in
ISSUES/OPTIONS/CONSEQUENCES
4. It is estimated that the
demand for public EV recharge units is likely to remain extremely low for at
least 5 years. In addition most EV
recharging will occur at home overnight and in private office car parks during
the day.
5. There is an opportunity to
work with others in bringing EVs to
6. It is recommended that an
Expression of Interest (EOI) be undertaken to procure EV recharge units and
possibly EVs. This project would
demonstrate EVs and provide education awareness to the local community as well
as demonstrate that
7. The aim of this project is
not to reduce Council’s vehicle fleet operating costs nor significantly reduce the
environmental impact of cars as the number of EVs likely to be involved will be
in the region or 2 or 3 vehicles.
Council’s Trades, Facilities & Fleet Team has already begun
investigating potential EVs for Council’s fleet and any EVs will be consider as
part of the normal business case process for new fleet vehicles.
8. The cost of the Mitsubishi
i-MiEV is $63,640 for a three year lease.
The typical cost of a Level 1 EV recharge unit is from $3,500.
CONSULTATION &
TIMING
9. The CEO provided a Memo to Councillors on 12 January 2011 updating them on discussion and investigations. A Councillor Memo on 24 February 2011 provided Councillors with a draft copy of the detailed report and offered a Councillor workshop to discuss the matter.
David Gray
Manager, Transport
Planning
Attachments:
1 |
Detailed Report - Electric Vehicles &
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure |
19 Pages |
|
REFERENCE MATERIAL
Item 7.1 - Attachment 1 |
Previous Council Report |
Detail Report
28
March 2011
Electric Vehicles and Electric Vehicle
Infrastructure
1 Introduction
1.1 The purpose of this
discussion paper is provide information on electric vehicles (predominantly
passenger cars) and their required recharge infrastructure to allow Council to
develop a position on the provision of publically accessible electric vehicle
recharge infrastructure.
1.2 There is a new trend in
the car industry with the production of electric vehicles. The term electric vehicle or EV includes
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) that solely use stored electricity and hybrids
those that generate their own electricity supply onboard.
1.3 EVs are being developed as
an alternative to internal combustion engine (ICE) cars as they offer the
opportunity of zero air emissions from the tailpipe and therefore zero impact
on the environment and our health. This
new direction is happening because of the recently rapid change in battery
technology with much smaller sized higher performance lithium-ion batteries
being available. Car manufacturers are
also taking more interest in the increasing need to import oil as domestic
supplies, particularly in USA reduce and along the price and supply
uncertainly.
1.4 The EV industry in
Australia is in it’s infancy with Europe, North America and Japan more advanced
but still in very much in the early stages of development. Many car manufactures are trialling vehicles
prior to producing production models.
BEVs need to be regularly recharged for which there is currently very
little infrastructure. The issue for
local Councils is the provision of publically accessible recharge
infrastructure or units. This discussion
paper aims to provide information to determine where, when and what type of
recharge point should be installed.
2
Terminology
2.1 They are many terms used
when referring to electric vehicles and the following are common key terms and
their meanings, as used in this discussion paper.
EV - Electric Vehicle
A vehicle that is powered wholly or partially
by electricity requires the batteries to be regularly recharged. This term is often used to mean BEV but in
fact also includes PHEV.
BEV -
An electric vehicle (EV) which solely uses
batteries, this excludes hybrids.
PHEV - Plug-In Hybrid
Electric Vehicle
These hybrids have the ability to be
connected (plugged-in) to the electricity supply network to recharge the
batteries which reduces the need to use the internal combustion engine.
Hybrid
A fossil fuel electric hybrid. Hybrids range from those primarily
mechanically powered (by an internal combustion engine) with an electric motor
providing supplementary power to those electrically powered with an internal
combustion engine providing supplementary.
Hydrogen powered vehicles
Appendix A covers hydrogen powered
vehicles. There are significant
developments in technology before these can approach production, an estimated
15 to 20 years.
3 Electrically powered vehicles
3.1 EVs include battery
electric vehicles (BEVs) that are electrically propelled by an electric motor
powered by batteries. BEVs need to be
regularly recharged from the electricity distribution grid. At the other end of the EV spectrum are
hybrids that are mechanically driven with the batteries providing additional
power.
3.2 There are many different
types of hybrids with the key difference being that some are Plug-in Hybrid
Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and require regular changing. The other variations between hybrids are technological
differences which impact on the rate of consumption of petrol. For more information of the various types of
hybrid see Appendix B – Electric and Hybrid Cars.
3.3 The significant advantage
of EVs is that they use zero or in the case of hybrids less fossil fuel than
conventional cars and thus can significantly reduced impact on the environment
and our health from the air emissions.
4 The impact of cars on the
environment and our health
4.1 Virtually all vehicles in
Australia are powered by oil derived fuels (petrol, diesel LPG and CNG
etc). The number of electric vehicles
and hybrids in comparison is extremely small.
4.2 Comparing the impact on
the environment and our health of the different fuel is very complex. The Federal Government’s Green Vehicle Guide
considers the emissions generated by the car and emitted at the tailpipe. The following table is an extract from this
guide (December 2010) and shows the top 10 cars according to their green star
rating.
Table 1 - Federal Government’s Green Vehicle guide (December 2010
Vehicle |
Fuel |
Urban fuel use |
Greenhouse
Pollution Rating |
Pollution Rating |
|
Mitsubishi
MiEV |
Electric |
|
|
||
Tesla
Roadster |
Electric |
|
|
||
|
Elec/Petrol 95RON |
|
|
||
Smart
fortwo Cabrio/Coupe 52kW |
Petrol 95RON |
|
|
||
Honda
Insight VTi/VTiL |
Elec/Petrol 91RON |
|
|
||
Suzuki
Alto GL/GLX manual |
Petrol 95RON |
|
|
||
Smart
fortwo Cabrio/Coupe 62kW |
Petrol 95RON |
|
|
||
Fiat
500 1.2L |
Petrol 95RON |
http://www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au/GVGPublicUI/SearchResults.aspx
- # |
|
|
|
Suzuki
Alto GL/GLX auto |
Petrol 95RON |
|
|
||
Holden
MJ Barina Spark CD/CDX |
Petrol 91RON |
|
|
4.3 The above table shows that
EVs are the “Greenest” cars and that hybrids and not necessary better than
conventional petrol cars as it depends on the rate of fuel consumption which is
complicated. The key reason why
small-engine cars are better for the environment than hybrids is for the simple
reason that they use consume less petrol and hence less emissions. The list below gives an indication of some the
factors that need to be considered when comparing rate of fuel consumption:
· Engine size and efficiency
· Transmission type
· Car weight and body style
· Driving style
· Road conditions
· Vehicle maintenance
4.4 There is criticism of
comparison of emissions created at the tailpipe with many arguing that most
electricity is generated by coal and that this is no better than petrol. Most electricity in Australia is generated by
coal but this is not the full picture.
4.5 Oil extraction is by
drilling and coal by mining, both methods of extraction create environmental
impacts. Coal is produced domestically
while 40% of Australia’s oil is imported and it is estimated that environmental
impacts from transportation is greater for oil.
Next in the process is refining: Oil needs to be refined which creates
environment impacts while coal is not refined and so has no impacts. Coal is
burnt at the power station and the electricity is distributed via the grid
while oil products are distributed by rail or road, which again have higher
impacts. Oil products are dispensed at
service stations which create emissions during refilling while recharging an
EVs creates zero emissions. It can be
concluded that in general the impact of EVs, even if using 100% coal power is
less than the use of petrol in combustion engines. The use of bio-fuels such as E10 is only
marginally better than normal unleaded which will be phased out in July 2011.
4.6 Electricity is generated
24 hours a day from a mixture of different sources in addition to coal (and
gas). The sustainable forms include
wind, hydro, solar, biomass (using waste natural fibres) and cogeneration
(using waste heat). The production of
these sources varies across the day, along with their associated
emissions. For example wind generated
electricity is often greatest at night with coal and gas power stations make
use of waste heat from the daytime generation.
4.7 The electricity generation
market is becoming greener through public demand and legislation. Many EV recharge companies use 100% Green
Power and recharging an EV overnight is likely to use a significantly greater
proportion of less pollution power than during the daytime as described
above. In addition, EVs themselves also
generate electric and recharge their batteries during braking and make use of
heat generated which is lost in conventional cars.
4.8 There is also debate
whether the electricity generators have the necessary infrastructure to produce
and distribute more electricity. The electricity market will grow and upgrade
as a response to increased demand in the same way it responds to increased
residential and commercial demand. In
addition, the supply/take up of EVs will occur relatively slowly overtime in
parallel with the decline of oil production (and petrol use). The key benefit of EVs over petrol cars is
that can reduce the negatives impact on the environment and our health and this
impact will reduce overtime as the amount of Green power electricity increases.
5 The supply and demand of EVs
5.1 EVs have been around in
Australia for decades but the technology has taken a leap with significant
advancements in battery technology which until now created heavy, slow short
range vehicles. EV enthusiasts have been
active in Australia since the early 1970s and converted conventional petrol
cars to electrically power. In Sydney
these were supported with public access to power points in Western Sydney car
parks (Westpoint Shopping Centre Blacktown, Hornsby Westfield and Woolworths
Dural).
5.2 The EV industry in
Australia is in its infancy with Europe, North America and Japan more advanced
but still in very much in the early stages of development. Many car manufactures are still trialling EVs
prior to producing production models for example for Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Worldwide, hybrid cars (including PHEVs) are
in greater production, demand and use than EVs.
5.3 They are very few
production EVs models for sale within Australia and very little battery
recharge infrastructure to support them.
This is due in part to very low worldwide production rates and because
most car manufacturers are concentrating on larger, more mature markets in
Europe, Japan and North America where there are significantly more public
recharge facilities. The reason for this
is because these countries have forced the car industry to change through
legislation. For example in Europe the
EU regulations require car manufacturers to have minimum fleet average air
emissions which are driving traditional high polluting car manufacturers to
produce greener cars like the Porsche E2 Cayenne Hybrid.
5.4 In 2010, 1,400 of the much
hyped Mitsubishi i-MiEV were produced of which only 70 were available in
Australia (on a 3 year lease/trial).
Mitsubishi has plans to increase worldwide production to 30,000 by
2012/13. In comparison, Holden sold over
44,000 Commodores in Australia in 2009 demonstrating just how small the EV
market will be for several years.
According to the NRMA the hybrid car market in Australia is
approximately of 0.5% of all new cars.
5.5 In Australia, there are at
least two new EV conversion companies including Blade Electric which uses the
Hyundai Getz and Energetique which uses the Mazda2. Another Australia company EDay plan to launch
their Australian designed Chinese built electric vehicle in 2011.
5.6 The demand for EVs and
hybrids are extremely low due to the low supply, as shown above, and the
general lack of awareness around EVs. In
comparison, the conventional car market is very well developed offering cheaper
cars. It should be noted the despite the
fact that the technology is still being developed, the running costs of an EV
are significantly less than a petrol equivalent. EVs are cheaper to run that hybrids as they
use less fossil fuel.
5.7 The lack of demand can
also be attributed to the differences in performance between conventional cars,
EVs and hybrids. In general hybrids have
marginally lower performance (speed and acceleration) c than conventional cars
but with significantly longer range.
This varies depending on the type of hybrid – see Appendix B for more
details. Generally EVs have a lower
performance than hybrids and conventional cars and a significantly reduced
range. But again this is not true for
all EVs. The Tesla Roadster can
accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 4 seconds with a speed limited to
201 km/h.
5.8 Hybrids are the stepping
stone between conventional cars and EVs, and it is suggested that the demand
for them will continue until EVs can better match the performance and range of
conventional cars coupled with other external factors such as the price of
petrol and the ability to publically recharge EVs. The PHEV (Plug-In Electric Hybrid Vehicle) is
predicted to be stage in development of EVs as they have the characteristics of
a hybrid with the ability to be recharged and thus have less petrol consumption
than a normal hybrid.
6
Electric Vehicle Recharge Infrastructure
6.1 The key issue for EV
drivers is the distance that the car can be used before it needs to be
recharged, this is often referred to as range anxiety. PHEVs overcome this issue by using an
internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. Battery technology has advanced rapidly over
the last decade or so with smaller batteries, reduced production costs, reduced
recharge time, increased power and thus reduced time between recharges, and
longer battery life. Despite this the
typical range for an EV is 150km or less.
There are two solutions to this issue; More opportunities to recharge,
for example publically accessible recharge power units or exchange the battery.
6.2 Better Place is the only
company that is developing a battery exchange service as a faster alternative
to recharging. Better Place has an
ongoing trial in Japan using 3 taxis and a demonstration site is Israel with
plans for one in Canberra. The battery
exchange trial demonstrates that it is possible to exchange a battery, located
on the underside of the car in a minute using a robot. There are benefits of exchange over recharge
for some vehicle uses, like taxis, delivery vehicles and other commercial
fleets which are continuously used for long periods of times compared to
private vehicles.
6.3 It is unclear how much
support car manufactures have for battery exchange over battery recharging and
there are issues with the wide variety of batteries expected in terms of
performance and size. It is predicted
that the battery exchange model will be a marginal premium service.
6.4 There are a large range of
possible recharge locations. Most
recharging will be “opportunity recharging” – the situation whereby the car is
parked and driver undergoes their normal activities rather than waiting for the
car to charge such as work, shopping or at home. The majority of recharge units will be
provided at home, work and publically accessible car parks, the number of
on–street recharge units will be very small in comparison.
6.5 The speed of the recharge
point is usual linked to the parking duration for example 8 hour recharge
overnight. If recharging occurs in car
parks or on-street then the normal parking charge still applies along with the
parking restrictions. Often the car
parks spaces are reserved or restricted in some way. Some UK Councils have issued EV parking
permits to restrict on-street parking bays with EV recharge units to those with
EV permits.
6.6 It is predicted that the
battery exchange rather than recharge will have a small market share as the
majority of EV drivers will recharge their batteries as part of their normal
daily routines. Battery exchange will
require a specific site to exchange, store and recharge batteries (for
exchange) this could be the service station of the future combined with
recharge facilities. Battery exchange
would be useful for long trips which are a very small proportion of all trips,
and high intensive use for example local goods delivers and taxis. Future battery and car technology is
predicted to extend the battery range from the current typical range of 150km.
Recharge units
6.7 There are three broad
types of recharger unit which are classified by their relative power used to
recharge the battery (this also determines the time to recharge). Recharge
units around the world differ according to the local national electric
distribution network power specification.
6.8 EVs recharge at different
rates according to the power of the recharge point, EV battery and the car’s
onboard electrically management systems which regulates the rate of
recharge. Some rechargers/EVs recharge
quickly in the first period and then recharge more slowly after that as safety
feature to prevent the electrical equipment overheating.
6.9 Australia appears to be
following the American classification of recharge units of Level 1, 2 or
3. The equivalent UK or European terms
are Standard, Fast and Rapid.
Level 1
6.10 This includes the uses of
standard domestic electric power points (220V 10A) to 15A power points (250V
15A). Many commercial properties may
already have 15A circuits already installed while residential properties
require a separate 15A circuit installed for increased safety.
6.11 Specifically manufactured
recharge units rather a simple power point provide additional safety features
and a data link which can provide information on the battery condition and
recharge progress to both the driver or network operator. Level 1 recharge units are generally shoe-box
sized wall mounted units with a small LCD display.
Figure 1 - Level 1 Recharge units (ChargePoint)
at Rouse Hills (left) and recharging an EV in
6.12 Level 1 recharger power
points use standard plugs while 15A power points and recharge units use 15A
plugs all typically take 8 hours to recharge.
Level 1 recharge power points and unit can be configured to supply as
well as draw down electricity which can assist power supply companies with the
peaks and troughs of demand; this process is commonly known as Smart Grid. It may be possible to take advantage of
cheaper off-peak electricity rates to recharge EVs overnight. The Victorian trial is investigating smart
electricity metering which can regulate electricity supply according to price
and time of day.
6.13 Typical locations of Level
1 recharge power points and unit are off-street an include residential garages,
private workplace car parks and publically accessible car parks including those
at railway stations, shopping centres and stand alone large shops such as
supermarkets and bulky goods. Level 1
recharge units are currently provided on-street in America and Europe however
these are likely to be replaced with Level 2 to reduce parking pressures.
Figure 2 - On-street recharge units in
Level 2
6.14 These recharge units
typically use 230V 32A (3 phase) with a recharge time of 4 hours. There is no predominant electrical plug
connection for Level 2 or Level 3 chargers and it appears that there is
preference for the Northern America plug (SAE J1772) over the European one (Mennekes or Blue Commando). Typical locations of Level 2 recharge unit
are off-street as per Level 1 rechargers and on-street locations.
Level 3
6.15 These units typically use
500V 200A and use DC rather than AC to overcome the issue of overheating during
recharging. Only the Nissan Leaf and
Mitsubishi i-MiEV currently have the capability of Level 3 recharge via a
second power socket. The typically
locations are dedicated off-street sites which could become the service station
of the future. Australia’s first Level 3
recharge unit is due to be installed at Mitsubishi in Adelaide and will have
the capability of recharging to 50% in fewer 12 minutes and 80% in less than 30
minutes.
Figure 3 - Artist’s impress of a Level 3 recharge unit
6.16 The size and shape recharge
units vary greatly and partly depend on the recharge Level. Generally the slower the recharge the smaller
the unit increasing in size to Level 3 recharge units that are similar to a
typical petrol pump/browser. The design
of the units are generally designed to best suit the location and include
various methods of mounting including wall, pole and bollard. Some recharge units are combined for example
with solar panels or parking metres.
Most recharge units are available with multiple outlets.
Figure 4- Greenlots solar assisted recharge unit
Safety and security of recharge units
6.17 Recharge units and their
cables are designed for their environment and this includes weather and damage
protection and security. A typical
concern with recharge units is the risk of electrocution. The severity of electrocution increases with
higher rates of volts and amps, but the likelihood does not necessary increase
as there are safety standards and management systems to control this. The potential safety issues need to be
considered in perspective and compared to existing situations. The outdoor supply and use of electric
including the public domain is common for example street lighting or the
outdoor events such as those in Church Street Mall. Everyday new car drivers use petrol stations
for the first time without any training and this is a very high risk and high
severity task however it is a widely accepted risk. Despite all the relevant safety standards and
methods of risk management it is not possible to prevent or deter all acts of
human stupidity.
6.18 Outdoor recharge units have
weather protection and those located at the kerbside are usually contained
within bollards or other robust boxes to limit damage from accidental strikes
from vehicles or vandalism. The outdoor
cable is more durable and often brightly coloured and coiled or retractable to
prevent trip hazards. Some recharge
units have a cable that is permanently attached to the recharge unit.
6.19 The recharge units have
different levels of security depending on their environment. On-street or public recharge units can often
only be accessed with a membership swipe card or credit card to activate the
unit. This then releases the security
covers to allow a cable to be interested and connected to the EV. Normally the electrical charge is not
released until these are correctly inserted which are then held in place with
security closures or magnetic locks to prevent the cable from coming loose or
being pulled out at both the recharge unit and EV. Normally EVs will need to meet certain
conditions before they can accept charge such as in “park” with the hand brake
on.
6.20 Site visits to EV recharge
locations in Sydney revealed that the electric cables connecting EVs and
recharges units tend to be left untidy creating potential trip hazards. The use of coiled or retractable cables would
significant improve this situation.
Access to recharge units
6.21 Access to recharge units
fall under three categories private, member and public. Private recharge units include those at
individual residences and places of work where the home owner, employer or site
owner pays for the supply of electricity.
6.22 Private Level 1 power
points or recharge units are used in the same way as a domestic power point
with no restrictions on access noting that there are generally access
restrictions to the premises.
6.23 Recharge units in the
public domain require a member’s smartcard (sometimes referred to as a RFID,
contactless, or proximity card) or credit card to be used to access and pay for
their use. The smart card can identify the user which can be linked to a
payment plan or generate a bill.
6.24 Networking the recharge
units allows the owner or service provider to monitor usage and assist with
fleet management. The cost of the
electricity can be included in the membership or access charge or per rate of
usage. Payment plans are similar to the
mobile phone market where some are pre-paid while other are post-paid. Currently many recharge units supply
electricity free of charge but this is either part of a trial or to help
stimulate the market at this very early stage.
6.25 Networked recharge units
also allows the status of the recharge to be provided to the driver via the
internet, email or text to let them know the current charge or when recharging
is complete. There are many future uses
of this communication link including the history of use and maintenance of the
battery. An added feature is that the
status of networked recharge units can be displayed on the internet so drivers
can plan trips or locate their nearest available recharge location.
7 Key players in the EV market
7.1 There are many key players
in the emerging EV market all with they own agendas offering both solutions to
existing problems and new products or services.
EV car manufacturers
7.2 Firstly there are the car
markers and EV component makers without which there is no market. Several new companies has been created and is
similar to the internet boom of the late 1990s when existing companies were
slow to make the change to new market conditions or opportunities.
EV Infrastructure providers
7.3 The EV infrastructure
providers including new companies manufacturing and providing recharge and
battery exchange services, electricity generation and supply companies, and
technology companies providing software management services.
Electricity generators and distributors
7.4 This group of companies
have an obvious interest in supplying electricity to a new market demand but
there are more reasons for interest. These companies are always looking to
better manage electricity demand and supply which varies throughout the day,
the term used to describe this is Smart Grid.
7.5 During the daytime it can
be difficult for electricity supply companies to meet peak demands while at
night-time there is often wastage as the demand is very low. EVs have the ability to help manage the peaks
and troughs of electricity demand.
During the times of peak demand, which can often be as little as a few
minutes, the electricity supplier can reduce the power to EVs on recharge or
even use the EVs as an additional power source to supply more power to the
electricity grid. EVs are equally useful
at night during periods of low demand.
EVs offer electricity suppliers a demand during night which is
particularly useful for green energy, such as wind which is produced 24 hours a
day and can be wasted if not there is no demand.
Car park providers
7.6 Both off- and on-street
car parking facilities provide space and opportunity for EVs to be recharged
while the driver is occupied with a trip purpose. These trip purposes have typically durations
of stay for example work is an all day activity while shopping, entertainment,
dinning and personal business trips range from less than an hour to several
hours. The duration of stay can be
matched to type of recharge facility provided to maximise the synergy. Car park providers can be either public or
private and include local Councils, private car park operators, employers,
retailers, shopping centres, restaurants/fast-food outlets and
supermarkets. In the UK, the car
providers who currently providing recharge facilities including local Councils
with on-street facilities at short-stay spaces and supermarkets with large
off-street car parks.
Fleet operators
7.7 Car fleet providers
include including Governments at all levels, private businesses, taxis, car
hire and car share organisations. There
are also significant opportunities for commercial vehicle operators providing
delivery services within metropolitan areas.
Governance and motoring groups
7.8 The EV market in
California and Europe is significantly more advanced than in Australia due to
Governments leading the change through legislation of vehicle standards,
planning controls, public parking control and supply as well as supported by
incentives including financial. Lower
levels of Government, motoring organisation and other peak or lobby groups have
varying levels of ability to influence higher levels of Government to implement
and create the required framework for EVs.
Research
7.9 The research of new EV
technology is invariable lead by car manufacturers but also by academic
institutes.
Environmental Organisations
7.10 There are many organisations
that come under the above categories’ but have a very strong environmental or
green ethos and are part of the new wave of environmental sustainable
organisations.
8 Overseas Experience
8.1 In the UK, there are
approximately 8,000 BEVs and 430 recharge units. In London there is an estimated 1,000 BEVs
and 135 recharge units are in London as well as 15,000 PHEVs. There are currently approximately 340 BEVs on
trial in the UK and majority of these are part of the national EV funding
program called “Plugged-In Places”.
8.2 The Greater London
Authority (GLA) has an EV deliver plan for 25,000 recharge units by 2015 of
which 500 will be on-street, 2,000 within off-street car parks and 22,500 in
private car parks in partnership with local businesses. The GLA fleet currently has 8,000 vehicles
(mainly Police vehicles) of which 20 are BEVs with plans to have 1,000 BEVs by
2015. In terms of planning it is
expected that by 2011 the regional planning controls will require at least 5
parking spaces or at least 20% of parking spaces to have EV recharge units.
8.3 Source London is
initiative to establish an organisation to deliver single card access (similar
to toll access card) to all public recharge units in London for an annual fee. This includes the rollout of 1,300 recharge
units from 2011.
8.4 Many London local Councils
have provided the EV recharge units (slow and medium) through the Plugged-in
Place funding. Most of these recharge
units currently have no charge for the electricity however access is restricted
or managed. Generally the Councils
charge a one-off fee which includes a parking permit, access card and a
recharge cable without which access is prohibited. The EV recharge units are provided at
on-street and off-street parking spaces with no exemptions from parking
restrictions or fees.
8.5 It is difficult to
investigate EV market in Europe but the Swiss Electric Vehicle Association’s
website (LEMnet) gives a good indication of the number of recharge locations as
follows: Switzerland 678, Germany 890, Austria 296, France 210, UK 80, Portugal
54, Spain 51, Italy 22, Belgium 13, Netherlands 4 and Liechtenstein 4. The data is biased towards Switzerland,
Germany and Austria and does not capture full number of recharge sites but it
does give a clear indication as to how advanced the EV market in Europe is
compared to Australia.
8.6 The Swiss Electric Vehicle
Association’s Park & Charge program has 300 recharge locations across Switzerland. The company markets the recharge units which
are wall or free standing electrical supply cabinets with 3 to 6 electrical
outlets. It is up the owner whether the
electricity is free or chargeable. The
cost of electricity consumption is claimed from Park & Charge. The benefits of providing free electricity is
the corporate social responsibility factor and as well as a method of
attracting customers. Access to the
cabinets is with a key which costs 68 Euros (AU$ 90) with electricity costs of 68
Euros (AU$ 90) for slow recharge and 96 Euros (AU$130) for medium charge. There
is an optional parking permit 68 Euros (AU$ 90) Euros.
8.7 In Barcelona, there are 65
recharge locations of which 34 are in underground car parks and 31 on
street. Barcelona plans to have 400
recharge locations by 2011 to service an expected fleet of over 2,000 EVs.
8.8 The 4 large regional
electricity distributors are the main players in Germany in providing EV
recharge infrastructure and closely linked to the large car makers who are
trialling their cars. Over 1500
additional recharge units are to be delivered by 2012.
8.9 Amsterdam Elektrisch has
45 recharge sites which are part of the Chargepoint network. Many of the recharge units have multiple
outlets for use with electric bikes, scooters and boats. A pre-paid charge card is used to access and
pay for the electricity. The first Level
3 recharge unit in Europe is planned for a Dutch service station in 2011.
8.10 There are still an estimated
400 recharge locations with old technology based on the last wave of EVs car in
the late1990s/2000s. Currently there are
numerous EV recharge providers, programs and trials underway in the USA. Some parts of the USA as significantly ahead
in the EV market most notably Los Angles and San Francisco along with
Portland. It is estimated that in
California 18% of fleet vehicle are either hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.
ChargePoint
8.11 ChargePoint currently has
170 recharge locations. There are a
total of 4,600 planned making use of Federal funding in association with Ford,
Chevrolet and smart USA across nine regions by September 2011. The recharge units are open access and
networked-enabled with the capability of texting or emailing notifications to
drivers on their recharge status. The
advantage of networked recharge units are that their location and status can be
viewed on the internet and mobile devices. The owner of the recharge unit
determines the fee for usage which can be modified to time and day to encourage
customers or generate revenue.
EV Project
8.12 Currently ECOtality has 130
recharge locations. There are plans to
deliver an comprehensive EV infrastructure program over 3 years with Federal
funding across 16 states and metropolitan areas and includes 15,000 recharge
locations (14,650 Level 2 recharger units and 310 Level 3 units) with 5,700 Nissan LEAF and
2,600 Chevrolet Volt Cars.
8.13 Portland General Electric,
a local electricity company, has 20 recharge locations coupled with another 20
recharge sites provided by others. In addition Shorepower has 30 locations
mainly in Oregon. There are also plans for an Electric Freeway from Oregon to
Canada with 10 fast recharge locations every 130km which can recharge the
battery to 80% in 30 minutes.
9 Australian Experience
9.1 They have been EV recharge
facilities in Sydney for some years but these are simply dedicated parking
spaces and access to the domestic power supply point. Locations included Blacktown (Westpoint
shopping centre), Dural (Woolworths) and Hornsby (Westfield). These facilities were used by members the
Sydney Branch of the Australia Electric Vehicle Association – EV enthusiasts
who mostly converted their cars to electrical power.
9.2 Standards Australia is
investigating the extent and need for specific Standards for electric vehicle
infrastructure in Australia and to this effect started a scoping study in 2009.
There are existing Australian Standards for electrical supply through a power
point but very little or no specific standards for EVs and their
infrastructure. It is understood that
EVs and recharge units are being approved on a one by one basis based on
existing international and overseas standards.
The Victorian trial is also assisting Standards Australia in developing
the necessary standards.
Current Trials
Victorian Electric Vehicle
Trial
9.3 This is the biggest EV
trial in Australia with 60 EVs allocated to 180 households, commercial and
Government fleets. The electric vehicles
will be provided by Blade Electric, EDay Life, Mitsubishi, Nissan and
Toyota. The recharge units will use
100% green power supplied by Better Place, ChargePoint and ECOtality.
Smart Cities Smart Grid
9.4 EnergyAustralia is leading
this demonstration of Australia’s first commercial-scale smart grid based in
Newcastle. The main part of the trail is
to understand how technology can be used to better manage the demand for
electricity. This includes a trial of 20
Mitsubishi i-MiEV with BetterPlace providing recharge units which will be
installed in residential garages, office car parks and at strategic locations
between Sydney and Newcastle.
9.5 This is trial is being
managed by CO2Smart and includes West Australian State Government and
University of Western Australia. The
trial involves 50 BEVs of which 10 new BEVs will be provided the remainder will
be from the Australian Electric Vehicle Association's Perth Branch
members. There will be 12 publically
accessible recharge units.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
9.6 Mitsubishi are trialling
of 110 of their BEVs which all have already been allocated and will be used as
part of the above trials. The EVs will
be leased for 3 years at a cost of $62,640.
DECCW has been allocated two EVs of which one will be based in the
Parramatta office. There is potential to
work with DECCW to establish an on-street recharge point within Parramatta city
centre.
Recharge Companies
and Suppliers with a presence in Australia
ChargePoint
9.7 This company is part of an
American global company which is currently estimated to be the world’s leading
providing of recharge units. The company
provides Columbe recharge units accessible with a swipe card or credit card. The recharge units are networked which allows
users the available of the recharge point and progress of recharge, they also
provide fleet management services
9.8 ChargePoint have 170
recharge locations in America and a big presence in European with recharge
units in Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany,
Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.
9.9 In Australia ChargePoint
currently has 13 recharge locations including Glebe, Roseberry, Pyrmont and
Rouse Hill in NSW with units also in ACT, Adelaide and growing number in
Melbourne (Cheltenham, Dandenong Frankston and Mill Park). Glebe is the only location where it is
on-street with the space reserved for a car sharing vehicle. Currently there is no RTA guidance on the
provision of EV recharging on-street.
Better Place
9.10 Better Place Australia is
part of the American based Better Place company. It is still developing its model of recharge
units and battery exchange in several countries including Denmark, Israel,
China, Canada, Japan and America. Better
Place currently has one recharge point in Belconnen ACT with more planned.
E-Station
9.11 This is the Australian
distributor of the Singaporean Greenlots recharge units which can include solar
panels. The company as provides
management services for the networked units for which they take a 10%
royalty. The recharge units cost from
$3,500 plus installation costs of approximately $500. There is one recharge
unit in Perth.
ECOtality
9.12 This American company is
trying to establish in Australia. The
company markets Blink recharge units which are predominately for off-street
location where the majority of recharging will be undertaken. ECOtality is installing 180 recharge units in
residential homes in Australia as part of the Victorian trial.
E-Green
9.13 This is an Australian
company that has developed a pre-production recharge unit E-Charger which is
combined with a parking metre.
David Gray
Manager, Transport Planning
APPENDIX A
Hydrogen Powered Cars
Hydrogen powered
cars
Hydrogen is an alternative to both fossil
fuels and electric vehicles that use batteries (BEVs). Hydrogen can be used in both an internal
combustion engine (ICE) and a fuel cell both of which both are currently limited
to very small trials.
A Fuel Cell vehicle is an EV and uses
hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity to power an electric motor with
only water vapour as the air emission. The Western Australia State Government
has been trialling hydrogen buses in
The ICE hydrogen vehicle is slightly less
efficient than a Fuel Cell and uses hydrogen and air in an ICE to mechanically
power the car in the same way petrol does.
The ICE hydrogen vehicle produces very small amounts of air emissions
(nitrous oxides) which impact on the environment and our health, but the level
of emissions is significantly less than that from the use of fossil fuels in
ICEs.
The advantage of hydrogen powered cars is
that it takes minutes to refuel and that they have similar performance and
range characteristics as conventional cars but with near zero emissions.
The main disadvantage is the production of
hydrogen and the vehicle technology is currently very costly and still under development. It is predicted that it will take 15 to 20
years before there are production hydrogen cars.
The most advance hydrogen car market is in
Issues with hydrogen include:
o It is mainly produced from fossil fuels (as
in the Perth trial), which produce emissions that impact on the environment and
our health whether they are from renewable resources like methane from waste
material or from oil.
o Hydrogen can be produced from wind and water
through electrolysis but is still under development with very high costs and
low volumes of production.
o Hydrogen production world wide is still in
its infancy and there is the need to advance technologies to reduce costs and
increase quantities. It currently takes
more energy to produce hydrogen than it creates.
o The distribution and storage costs of
hydrogen are high to due bulky size of hydrogen tanks and the lack of existing
infrastructure; consider the scale of the existing oil infrastructure already
established.
o A large vehicle fuel tank is needed as
hydrogen has low energy per unit volume; however the batteries in BEVs also
take up considerable space.
o Significant refuelling infrastructure
required similar to petrol refuelling infrastructure.
APPENDIX B
Electric Vehicles including Hybrids
Electric Vehicles (EVs)
There are broadly three types of EV
characterised by their speed (and performance)
· Low speed – small cars with speeds of less than 60km/h
· City speed – mostly small cars capable of between 60km/h and 90 km/h
· Highway speed – Small to medium cars capable of at least 90km/h
BEVs are electric vehicles powered by an
electric motor with energy solely supplied by batteries. The batteries are recharged when the vehicle
is parked by a charger (or recharge point).
They are also charged when they are driven but this is a very small
amount compared to the amount required to power the vehicle. The typical range of a BEV is 150km.
Hybrid Electric
Vehicle (HEV)
A HEV is any vehicle powered by electricity
and an additional power source, but predominately used to describe a vehicle
with an internal combustion engine (ICE).
Most hybrids are petrol hybrids but diesel hybrids are due to be
launched in 2012. There are three main
types of hybrid:
Parallel Hybrid (or
Mild Hybrid)
A Parallel Hybrid primarily uses the ICE and
batteries to power an electric motor to mechanically power the car. The electric motor is used in combination
with the ICE in periods of high power demand (acceleration and on hills). The batteries are also used to supply other
electrical systems normal powered by the ICE in conventional cars.
HEVs are significantly more fuel efficient
than conventional ICE by using the ICE less, reusing otherwise wasted energy
(regenerative braking, latent engine heat) and typical have a smaller engine.
The range of a hybrid depends on the consumption of the combustion engine and
fuel tank size but is typically 1000km.
Most production hybrids are parallel hybrids (including a proportion of
Plug-in variation – see below). There
are many production Hybrids including Honda’s hybrids, typically larger cars
are parallel hybrids and they uses more power.
Series Hybrid
Series Hybrids primarily use the electric
batteries to power car with the ICE used to recharge like a generator the
batteries (extend the range). The ICE is not used to power the car and its use
typically increases the range of the car from 60km to 500km. There currently no production Series Hybrids
available in
Power-Split Hybrid
(Or Parallel-Series Hybrid)
This hybrid uses the electric motor to
provide power in periods of low power demand (start-up, idle and speeds under
15 to 20km/h) and in combination with the ICE in periods of high power demand
(acceleration and on hills). The ICE is
used for speeds above 20 km/h. These
hybrids use the technology from both the parallel and series hybrids which
results in them being the most energy efficient hybrid. Series hybrids tend to be more efficient at
lower speeds while parallel hybrids tend to be more efficient at high speeds.
There are many production Power-Split Hybrids including the Toyota Prius.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle is simply a
hybrid with the ability to recharge its batteries from the electricity supply
grid in addition to the ICE. The
advantage of this is that more electricity rather than fossil fuel is
used. PHEV are usually Series and
Power-Split Hybrids.