The UK is among the few countries in the world with an EV strategy in line with its ambitious zero emissions target by 2050. The country’s Geospatial Commission has a dedicated EV charge point data program that focuses on utilizing location data for planning EV charge point networks and enabling collaboration across the public and private sectors.
“Location data is critical to the design of charge-point networks, but we can do much more, including making recharging an electric vehicle a seamless experience for driver”, says Dr. Steve Unger, UK Geospatial Commisioner
“We can even use location data to improve the range of electric vehicles, by maximizing the use of recuperative braking. This can be achieved by using information on road geometry and traffic conditions to slow down early enough that the vehicle can recover as much energy as possible”, he adds.
The cross-sectoral nature of EVs has opened collaborative endeavors. Carter Jonas, one of the UK’s oldest property consultancy, founded in 1855, is working along with ESRI UK to create spatial awareness in the country’s property sector about the opportunities presented by EVs.
Due to its multi-disciplinary focus and the maze of topic that fall under the ambit of property, Carter Jonas provides advisory on all aspects on EVs – from energy project viability, renewable transition, to battery storage, and charge point networks.
Power of location
Carter Jonas uses the location intelligence to identify the need for EV charge point infrastructure within communities. The Esri GIS system is used to create web maps to present the data and enable the fast assessment of all variables on the same map. This allows clients to test multiple different scenarios in the real world.
The property consultancy applies its geospatial expertise to consider multiple types of data simultaneously and speed up the complex process of defining where best to locate EV charging points and what type. Addition of a power grid to EVs further increases the complexity.
“For every new EV charging station opened, around 100 possible sites need to be examined, due to a high attrition rate,” says Simon Nigh, Head of Geospatial, Carter Jonas.
“Understanding where people live, where they work and how they transition the strategic road network is fundamental. However, the biggest challenge is understanding the spatial relationship between the power network and the capacity needed to support new connections”, he adds.
Making EV Transition Accessible
Another important challenge in the path of EV adoption is affordability and range. Till the time they reach a particular threshold, EVs may not become a popular mobility option.
“Price and range are still the main restrictions on uptake of EVs. Range is especially important commercially, given the increased loads that these vehicles need to carry. This should improve over time as we are seeing with consumer electric vehicles”.
While multi-national companies such as Amazon can afford the use of EV vans and bikes for last-mile delivery, unless the price point falls below a particular threshold small business owners may remain reluctant to adopt it. Same goes with wide range and connectivity of charge points.
“For large-scale migration to EVs, drivers will have to overcome ‘range anxiety’ so we need to have a network of more rural charging locations. Currently, Esri technology is being used by any number of car manufacturers to help answer this question: where do people travel between cities, in what volumes and where should (and can) I install an EV charging station”, says Terry C. Bills, Global Transportation Industry Director, Esri.
Underscoring the necessity of a well-distributed and properly spaced charge point network, he adds, “most experts feel that most city and suburban dwellers will either charge their car at home in the garage (for suburban dwellers) or at work, when they work at a regular large facility or campus like location. It is everywhere else that convenient (fast) charging stations will need to be located”.
A robust and widespread charge point network is crucial to ensure the viability of EVs, which are essential in advancing smart mobility transition and curtailing emissions.
For travel across long distances, commuters would require adequately spaced charging points. This is where the role of location and spatial technologies assumes salience – for site selection and proper distribution and optimization of EV charge point network.
