Electric Vehicle

Welcome to the Revolution

The automotive market is currently going through its most significant change. The internal combustion engine, the central technology for the development of cars is being phased out across the world. Instead vehicles will be electric, with banks of rechargeable batteries powering powerful drive train motors.

It is predicted that by 2035 nearly all cars sold across the globe will be electric and by 2050 nearly all trucks will be electric. Some countries are making the transition early. Norway will stop the selling petrol or diesel cars in 2025. The UK will follow shortly with no petrol or diesel cars by 2030. The EU has committed to change by 2040, but there may be plans to transition to electric vehicle in 2025.

Leading vehicle manufacturers have committed to stop making petrol or diesel engine cars. Jaguar, Ford Europe and Volvo have committed to have only electric vehicles by 2030.

Clearly this will change the way we drive and have a significant impact on the way we live and how we travel. From simple stuff to petrol forecourts being a thing of the past or will there be charging hubs instead? How we get our electricity will change. To supply the increased demand needed for electric vehicles our global power infrastructure will change to renewables instead of fossil fuels. By 2050 experts believe that renewable energy will account for 90% of our power generation.
This is all being done to reduce carbon emissions and slow the rate of global warming, in the hope that prevent further damage to the natural world.

Types of Electric Vehicles

There are many different terms around electric vehicles that may get confusing, so let us help bring some clarity.

• Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) sometimes called Full Hybrid, is the combination a standard fuel engines working with electric motors. The vehicle will run on petrol for the main elements of driving, with the electric motors cutting in when stationary or driving slowly. They don’t need to be plugged in - full hybrid can run on full electric for short distance, where as a mild hybrid cannot travel on electric power only.
• Plug-in Hybrids have both electric motors and standard fuel engines. Compared to HEVs, Plug-in Hybrids can travel potentially up to 30miles on electric power
  after the vehicle has been plugged in.
• Full Electric vehicles rely solely on electric power to drive electric motors and require no petrol or diesel, the power is supplied by electric charging points.

The change has started and will grow.

Demand for battery powered vehicles will grow at a faster rate. Brands like Tesla have become household names as we start to move to electric vehicles, but with the governments moving to electric, sales will account for over half the global vehicles, by 2040.

Just looking at the UK in 2020 there were over 164,000 pure electric vehicles and over 373,000 Plug-in Hybrids. This according the SMMT accounted for 10% of new car sales.

Range Anxiety

Charging Cables

You will have noticed charging points popping up all around the country at service stations, supermarket car parks and public car parks. The charge points are either tethered or untethered.
Tethered units come with charge cables attached making them convenient to use.
Untethered charge points require the user to provide their own charge cables. As a result many motorists driving an Electric Vehicle keep a set of charge cables in the boot in case they need to use an untethered charge point. 

EV Charging - how it works

The cable connects to a charge point and vehicle, which connects a circuit, which allows for a charge to flow. Once connected, the current will flow from a charge point to the vehicle and the battery system to charge up the drivetrain batteries. Once they are full, or the vehicle has enough charge, the cable can be disconnected, stored, and the vehicle is ready for the road.

As there are different types of Electric Vehicles, there are also different types of Electric Vehicle chargers. The type of charger and connector depends on the vehicle and speed of charging.

Type 1 or Type 2 Charging Cables

 Electric vehicle charging cables will have a Type 1 or Type 2 plug and one end that fits the Electric Vehicle or plug-in hybrid's connection point. European charging points all have a Type 2 connection. So even if the EV has a Type 1 connection, the socket that plugs into the charging station/point will be a Type 2 at the other end of the cable. 

Ring's new range of EV cables are available as either:

Phases and Ampage

As well as there being two different types of plugs for EV charging, there are also cables which use different Ampage and phases. It is important that EV owners know the details of charging speed, charging cables and charge capacity suitable for their vehicle. 

Single phase electricity is the standard in domestic homes supplying 7kW. Three phase is the power supply used in commercial buildings. The cables are thicker (have three cables instead of one) and have the capacity to carry more electricity over a shorter period of time - 22kW, making them 3x faster for charging an EV.

Some cars are just designed to take charge from single phase charging. If the EV has a Type 1 charging connection, it will only work with single phase power supply. The maximum charging speed of electric cars vary. Therefore, before purchasing a three phase charging cable, the car's highest possible charging speed capacity needs to be checked.

Charging at Home

Most Electric Vehicle owners prefer to charge their cars at home. After all, a car is parked at home for 80% of its time. Charging points can be installed at home that can deliver faster, more effective charging.
To discover what charging point you need, visit rightcharge