Field Dynamics become members of The Association For Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA)

Field Dynamics, one of the UK’s leading net zero data consultancies, is thrilled to announce its Renewable Energy Association (REA) membership

Beyond Future Energy Scenarios: How significant is the challenge of 12 million EVs by 2030?

National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios Customer Transformation pathway estimates that we’ll need 12 million battery electric (BEV) on the road by 2030 to meet our net zero targets. This is a significant number of BEVs but is it achievable?

Charging Forward To 2030 Report: Key Findings

Field Dynamics contributed to a RECHARGE UK report (Charging forward to 2030) that explores strategies to accelerate the rollout of EV charging infrastructure while addressing policy, regulatory, and geographical barriers.

If vans will need 26% of all charging power by 2050, are we planning the right way?

Despite only accounting for 12% of cars and vans in Great Britain, vans may need 26% of the energy requirement by 2050.

Does your EV infrastructure plan only need to support 350 high mileage vehicles?

To effectively plan your charging infrastructure, you need to know how many electric vehicles (EV) will be on the road and reliant on public charging infrastructure.

Do council EV infrastructure plans match this 7:1 ratio?

To effectively plan your charging infrastructure, you need to know how many electric vehicles (EV) will be on the road and reliant on public charging infrastructure.

Councils agree on the best electric vehicle adoption curve to follow

When planning electric vehicle infrastructure, you need to understand the potential growth of electric vehicle (EV) ownership.

Catchment, Competition, and Connectivity

This boiler is actually an EV

Well, it’s not actually a boiler but a heat interface unit (HIU) and, obviously, it’s not an electric vehicle… But it kind of is.

How many degrees from normal is owning an electric vehicle?

We’re creatures of habit, it’s literally how our brains are wired, so anything that might push us too far away from our well-trodden routines are usually rejected.  So how far away from normal is an electric vehicle (EV)?

Imagine a compass with north being the direction you find the most normal. When you’re navigating life, you want the easiest path you can take to reach normal north. You might be able to tolerate a few degrees either side of your true north because you’re still heading in the right direction but, at a point, you’ll find that you’re not going where you want to.

Say you’ve just gone from owning a petrol car to a diesel vehicle. There are some changes you need to make. You have to remember to refuel with the black hose and not the green one at the petrol station. When you consider the compass metaphor, that’s a tiny degree of change. Your routines are almost identical. It’s north, it’s normal and it’s easy.

Have you ever switched your phone from an iPhone to an Android? Does thinking about this fill you with dread? On one hand, it’s not really deviating from your normal routine because it’s touch screen, you make phone calls, and you go on the internet. On the other hand, everything looks different, you have no idea how to turn it off and all your old cables don’t work anymore. Going back to the compass, do those changes you have to make pull you too far off course from north?

How many degrees of compromise or change on that compass is acceptable? When is it too far from normal? How many degrees from normal is it?

How many degrees from normal is recharging your electric vehicle?

If you’re a petrol or diesel driver and switching to an electric vehicle, then somethings have to change, and some of those changes are a lot of degrees from normal.

The biggest change is that we now fill our cars with kWh electrons and not with litres of fuel. These electrons are delivered through a myriad of different options and fill your tank more slowly than we’re used to with fuel. You’ve got type 1 and type 2 chargers, slow chargers, fast chargers, rapid chargers, and whatever comes next. This change and choice means your deviating from north.  If we’re going to make the EV transition happen, we need to understand how many degrees from normal each of these options carry and how many degrees a mainstream customer base is ready to accept.

For example, lots of solutions require a driver to carry a charging cable in their boot – this isn’t normal, no-one carries a petrol hose in their boot.  So how many degrees from normal is this and is it too many?

EV “filling stations” charge at different speeds from achingly slow to expensively quick. Working out which to use and when requires considerable mental arithmetic.  Is that too many degrees from normal?

For those who can’t park off-street, there are even more options. Some require you to hunt for a suitable lamppost, while others ask the driver to carry a harpoon in their boot to stab the pavement, all a long way off normal but are they by too many degrees?

How many degrees from normal is too much for you?

Early adopters have made the decision that the degrees of change required were worth it. For some, simply the method of refuelling may be enough to unsteady the ship – not driving to a petrol station and filling up when the needle is on empty. For others, this change can be counter-balanced with the convenience of being able to charge at home and waking up every day with a car ready to go. For those who can’t home charge, inconvenience may start to creep in and tip the compass a few too many degrees from the ‘north’ they’re comfortable with. This is where the importance of understanding the degrees of deviation is important. How many degrees from north are we asking people to deviate if they can’t charge when and where they need to? What will they find acceptable and at what point does it all go south?