EV Charging at Stations

[PeterC]

So far every car I've seen on charge has been a model that will have a range of 200 miles of more!

The person who needs public charging will want a longer range as they aren't starting every morning on a full charge.

 

[wobman]

The person who needs public charging will want a longer range as they aren't starting every morning on a full charge.

Many e hybrid cars have a short range, bmw hybrid have 30 mile range. So a charge point would be ideal for many drivers, I know many people that have hybrid cars.

 

[jon0844]

The person who needs public charging will want a longer range as they aren't starting every morning on a full charge.

I wonder how many EV owners have range anxiety and always top up whenever they have a chance (much like I do with my phones), or are happy to let the range drop and charge when getting closer to zero, or a figure they feel happy with (say, 20 or 30%). The latter won't likely bother to find a place to charge when going to work, on my assumption that by and large commuters won't have driven that far to the station, so EV charging points aren't going to be that essential to roll out at train stations, compared to perhaps a retail park or leisure complex where people might travel from further away.

Also, the cars that do plug in for the day are always there very early. I wonder how much use the bays get over the weekend or later in the day? And, as the car park gets ever busier, how long until ordinary cars park there - or we even see EVs in a bay but not plugged in.

 

[InTheEastMids]

Without singling out specific posts in this thread, I would urge people to avoid a fallacy that is very common, perfectly human, but is definitely worth trying to catch yourself making:
Your rail/EV use cases, circumstances, priorities and values are not universal.

Reasons people may want to charge their EV at a railway station
- Very anxious about running out of charge / unfamiliar with EV energy usage
- EV battery degraded, heavy load or roofbox/rack leading to range anxiety
- No charger of their own at home
- Have driven a long way to the station (I've left my car at Rugby, Brum Int, Peterborough, MKC and Stanmore which are all a significant drive
- Are planning to drive a long distance upon their return

I wonder how many EV owners have range anxiety and always top up whenever they have a chance (much like I do with my phones), or are happy to let the range drop and charge when getting closer to zero

This evolves. People typically start out much more anxious/risk averse, but become less so as they get better at estimating how much energy they need for their use.

I must admit though, I am not sure a car park where someone dumps their car all day to commute by rail, and maybe used a fraction of 1% charge to get to the station in the morning, is a high priority.

At Hatfield (which has 25+ charging bays and one of the first to be done?) I've seen 4 or 5 in use at most - and the car park now seems to be back to where it was pre-pandemic almost.

Completely agree. However, to deliver the UK 2050 target, we need rapidly increasing uptake of EVs. So, a comprehensive national charging network is needed, to overcome range anxiety/lack of infrastructure. A bit of over-provision is probably a good thing.

GB rail stations are part of this network, and finally ought not to be making life difficult for EV users. Might as well have the advertising strapline: "Got an EV? A bit worried about getting home from the station? Well, tough."

The CCC think that EVs will have to go from about 1% of cars on the road today to 55% in 10 years time, so 25 chargers at Hatfield bit of future proofing against 55-fold demand growth in the next decade.
Plus, there is a bit of a land-grab going on as Charge Point Operators try to secure the best sites to make their network attractive to users, so filling the car park with your chargers locks out a competitor.

But these charging facilities are not free for the EV users, there's a usage fee to cover the cost of the electricity and recover the cost of the equipment. It's quite likely that in time they will become a source of extra revenue for the railway, just like the car parking charges and the coffee shops, snack shops and news agents.

...and the charges are quite significant.
The standard price for residential electricity is currently about £0.18 per kWh
To use an ultra-rapid charging is £0.45 (Gridserve) to £0.69 (Ionity) per kWh

The railway probably will only see a tiny bit of this - effectively a lease/concession fee or perhaps a revenue share from the CPO.
However, this avoids railway capital investment, and puts the revenue risk on the CPO.

 

[AM9]

...and the charges are quite significant.
The standard price for residential electricity is currently about £0.18 per kWh
To use an ultra-rapid charging is £0.45 (Gridserve) to £0.69 (Ionity) per kWh

The railway probably will only see a tiny bit of this - effectively a lease/concession fee or perhaps a revenue share from the CPO.
However, this avoids railway capital investment, and puts the revenue risk on the CPO.

Actually, the standard price for default tariff domestic power is about £0.30 per kWh, - in the autumn, it will likely be £0.40-30.45).