Dr Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot, assesses the challenges faced on the route to electric, shared, connected, and autonomous transportation, and explains why the future of mobility is underpinned by one thing – charging speed.
In the next decade, it is expected that the world will go through an enormous technological shift, greater than anything that’s happened in the last century. Industries are changing at a rapid pace, with machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced technology paving the way for a more connected, shared and autonomous world. This trend is most evident when we look to the transport industry. From Google’s driverless vehicles, to Uber’s meteoric rise, to the harmful impact of the world’s favourite mode of transport – the internal combustion engine (ICE) – the attention on alternative, environmentally-friendly modes of transport, has never been more frenzied.
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Of course, all the advancements are exciting, with some more likely than others to impact immediate change. For instance, it’s likely to be decades before totally autonomous vehicles are an everyday reality. The most interesting trend today is the noticeable shift in vehicle ownership, driving attitudes and habits. From the increased use of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) to shared mobility, the way we move through the world is changing, so it’s no surprise that the rapid developments in electrification and driver behaviour are interlinked.
Why electric, why shared, why now?
In 2020, the public interest in and perception of the climate emergency has reached new heights. Protest movements have swept capital cities across the world, with school children as young as 16 decrying the current impact of humanity on our planet. It’s no surprise then that mobility trends are also starting to reflect this public opinion. Many people are now seeking alternate forms of transport that will allow them to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. In May 2019, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reported that the global sales of conventional passenger cars had already passed its peak and that within two decades, EVs will replace over 56% of light commercial ICE vehicle sales in Europe, the US and China
Simultaneously, another shift in driving/car ownership habits is occurring, with many opting for car sharing or ride hailing as an alternative means of travel. It begs the question for what these models of shared mobility will mean for EV ownership.
Currently, shared mobility services account for less than 5% of all passenger miles travelled globally. As city dwellers become less concerned about or drawn to the idea of owning their own car, Uber, Lyft, Grab and DiDi now regularly feature in cities around the world. In Moscow for instance, car sharing tripled in 2018. In Berlin and some areas of NYC, it’s now easier to access a car sharing service than it is to hail (or e-hail) a taxi. Meanwhile, Beijing, a densely populated city, has a shared mobility market focused on ride hailing, valued at more than $700 million. City dwellers battle over-population, pollution, congestion and parking charges – all of which make shared modes of transport a far more attractive option. When coupled with ever-increasing public concern for the environment, experts believe that shared fleets will be the first to go electric, with BNEF predicting that by 2040, 80% of the shared mobility fleet will be EVs
Of course, there are many challenges for shared mobility models containing EV’s. Today, EVs can’t offer the same cost and user experience of the ICE. This is a drastic issue for private ownership, and even more so for shared fleets.
The need for charging speed
Shared mobility fleets thrive when their cars are fully utilized or have relatively little downtime. And given the current limitations of EV batteries – charging times and range – it’s no surprise only a small percentage of Uber, DiDi, Grab and Lyft fleets today are electric.
However, all of this will change when EVs can match the range and recharging/refuelling times of an ICE. At StoreDot, our R&D efforts are solely focused on creating a battery that can fully charge an EV in only five minutes. In June 2019, we demonstrated to the world alongside our key partner BP, that the technology is already capable of this. We showed the first full charge of a two-wheeled electric vehicle in only five minutes. For the wider industry, this was an important milestone in showcasing the viability of StoreDot FlashBattery technology, not to mention demonstrating the potential of ultra-fast charging urban scooters for bustling cities.
However, companies like ours cannot operate alone. Ultra-fast charging battery technology is critical to EV adoption, but without the necessary infrastructure to support it, progress will likely stagnate. Given the data we’ve already discussed, this could have significant consequences for the proliferation of shared mobility models.
But every day, we see this charging infrastructure start to evolve. In the UK for instance, BP Chargemaster has begun rolling out ultra-fast charging stations on forecourts across the country. Meanwhile in China, the world’s largest market for EVs, BP has announced a new joint venture with DiDi to build an EV charging infrastructure across the nation – a huge step. When it comes to the automotive manufacturers, we are already working closely with the likes of Daimler to ensure future EV models are ‘ultra-fast charging ready’.
Ultimately, to unlock the true potential of shared mobility models, it’s clear we need to overcome the cost and driver experience issues that prohibit effective and profitable EV use today. However, as the ecosystem and infrastructure required to enable ultra-fast charging continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we can expect the proliferation of shared mobility to grow with it.
This article ignores the elephant in the room, we have all seen the reports advising that the UK mains power capacity, supply and distribution will not have the ability to cope with the demand, should current ICE vehicle numbers be translated into EV, and clearly our current ability to expand the grid and build additional generating capacity will not keep up with the demand, this makes the arbitrary cut off dates for ICE just so much hot air.
I drive a self recharging Hybrid, have considered going fully EV when replacement comes around, but will have to live with a 3Kw charging point, as the existing mains supply would require major modification and a re-wire to support a fast charge terminal accessible from my drive, assuming that is, that the local power distribution would actually support the whole estate switching to EV.
Bravo Norman!
I have seen a few TV articles recently regarding the change to the deadline, and no one mentioned the power generation and distribution required. There is too much focus on charging points and tail-pipe emissions without any thought on the pollution from power generation, energy storage (either vehicle batteries, or static battery storage systems), and the environmental damage caused by extraction of lithium in, for example South America.
I am in the same situation and fully agree. Having had to pay for a new substation to cope with PV and heat pump that is now inadequate for more than 3kW charging.
There is only a single phase supply available.
Electric motors are great but the battery is best used for peak usage with the power supplied by a fuel cell. Until something better comes available the focus should be on a network of hydrogen filling points. All electric is not flexible enough or a practical option for large scale take up in rural areas.
Instead of focussing on more and more exotic vehicles the effort from vehicle manufacturers as well should be on installing the app 500TWH pa of energy generation coupled with a massive increase in the number of public outlets to permit people to travel, as industry, business, and government want us to do. Regardless of any other consideration and range is not particularly important if there is sufficient charging outlets, the feasibility of getting several hundred KWH of energy into a battery or even fuel cell equivalent within 5 or 10 minutes is the dinosaur in the room never mind the elephant.
I am in complete agreement with Stephen and Nick; why is there so much focus on high performance (and generally large) vehicles? What is needed is a Fiesta sized car with a range of around 400 miles, and a means of ‘self charging’ either by regeneration, or an on board power source, i.e. a form of hybrid. What happened to the gas turbine idea I saw some time ago? This seemed to provide a compact means of generating electricity, and with fuel management would be run at the cleanest it could be – possibly from hydrogen? This would allow recharging in locations without suitable power supplies and charging points, or even when all the correct type available points are in use as I often observe at motorway service areas.