If you've read the series up to this point you should now have the knowledge to become an EV ready garage, and get the jump on your competition. So now you have this knowledge, what next? Read on...
A lot of customers (and many garage owners and technicians for that matter) do not like EVs. There is a range of reasons why this may be the case but not having the proper information often plays a part. You know how it goes:
“My mate’s friend’s brother on Facebook said that EV batteries only last ten years and then they all have to go into landfill…”
Part of getting your EV business up and running will include being able to bust some of the myths or the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) that still surrounds the EV market. On world EV day (9th September) the charger company egg published a blog post busting some of these myths. I have used some of these and added my own thoughts.
EVs aren’t environmentally friendly
One of the biggest myths surrounding EVs is that they’re bad for the environment because electricity comes from coal or oil. In fact, EVs cut greenhouse gas emissions in half, regardless of how the energy used to power them was produced. They do create more CO2 during construction, but this is very quickly ‘paid back’ because during their use phase, they consume much less energy. If running on green energy (I charge mine from solar panels) then the emissions are even less.
Figure 1 A large amount of energy is used just getting oil out of the ground before we refine it and finally burn it in our cars (Source: Wikimedia)
EVs are too expensive
You can definitely spend a lot of money on an electric vehicle, just as you can on petrol and diesel cars. However, there are now more cheaper EV options out there. A key thing however is that there are fewer running costs for electric cars. The cost of electricity to charge a car is much cheaper than petrol – even with the recent price hikes. Electric cars have significantly fewer moving parts, so servicing and maintenance for EVs cost less than a petrol or diesel car. At the moment EVs are road tax exempt. These savings can more than make up for any additional cost of purchase.
There aren’t enough public charging points
Of course, there could be more EV charging points around the UK, just as there could be more petrol stations in rural areas. In fact, the UK now has over 43,000 charge point connectors and counting, including over 10,000 rapid charge point connectors – and the numbers are increasing (2020). In particular, the infrastructure is growing because more charging points are being installed at places like supermarkets, car parks, workplaces and even in lampposts.
Electric cars don’t have enough range
The fear that EVs don’t have enough range, even when fully charged, to complete their journey is something that crops up all the time. In fact, the range capability of modern electric cars is quite impressive. Most affordable electric cars typically offer a range between 150 and 300 miles. The Nissan Leaf, for example, currently has a range of around 235 miles. In reality, the average UK driver only occasionally does a 300-mile round trip – a 30 mile round trip is much more common. Do we need to compromise a little to reduce CO2 production? Yes, but not anywhere near as much as the naysayers would have you believe!
Electric cars are slow
Most EVs are much faster than equivalent petrol or diesel cars, when looking at acceleration in particular. This is because the torque curve is flat in the main usage range. Full torque is therefore available at almost any speed. The current Nissan Leaf, for example, accelerates from 0-60 in under 8 seconds. The Audi RS e-tron GT promises 0-62mph in 3.3s with a top speed of 155mph.
Figure 2 ICE and EV torque curves compared (Source: Quora)
Summary
In this series we have looked at the stages needed to convert your business from ICE to EV. This will happen over a period of time but it is inevitable that most businesses will need to adapt sooner rather than later.
I would like to finish by going back to the advice I offered in first article in this series. I encouraged you to make the decision about whether you will be working on EVs or not. Remember, whatever you decide(d) is fine, but I am sure by now you will have noticed the steadily increasing number of registration plates out there with a green stripe…
Read the rest of of the series:
