Electric mobility, renewables and smart grids: the state of the art
Professor David Gray
Robert Gordon University
Aberdeen
E harbours
Aiming to combine:
• Renewables
• Smart energy
• Electric mobility
Electric mobility in harbour cities
• Bikes and scooters
• Cars and light vans
• Heavier conventional vehicles (trucks, buses, vans)
• Heavier specialised harbour vehicles
• Boats and ships
Electric mobility ‐ types of electric propulsion
• Fully electric vehicles or vessels ‐ fully powered by electricity from batteries that can be recharged via a connection with the electricity grid (Nissan Leaf?)
• Conventional hybrid propulsion ‐combining a conventional gasoline engine with an electric motor
• Plug in hybrid propulsion – IC engine and an electric motor with a stronger battery pack, which can be recharged via a common household electric socket
Electric mobility ‐ types of electric propulsion
• Fully electric vehicles or vessels ‐ fully powered by electricity from batteries that can be recharged via a connection with the electricity grid
• Conventional hybrid propulsion ‐combining a conventional gasoline engine with an electric motor
• Plug in hybrid propulsion – IC engine and an electric motor with a stronger battery pack, which can be recharged via a common household electric socket
Electric mobility ‐ success stories
• Electric Amsterdam ‐ Over 400 electric vehicles and 100 charging points
• Autolib Paris – aiming to have 3,000 electric vehicles for public use in Paris next year
• Rotterdam – aiming for 1000 electric vehicles
• London ‐ aiming to become the electric car capital of Europe
Why are electric vehicles currently the exception?
• Cost of vehicle
• Range – fully charged battery = 10 litres of fuel
• Battery durability (vehicles have much longer life than batteries) and...
• ...replacement cost
• Range reliability (can reduce by 50% in winter)
• Re‐charging time (typically several hours)
• Limited number of recharging points
Electric cars
• Currently used mainly as big city ‘run‐arounds'
• Replacement or additional vehicles?
Conventional hybrids• 3% of vehicles in USA, but share is not rising
Why?
• Vehicles tend to more expensive than equivalent sized petrol or diesel
• Not vastly more fuel efficient than latest generation diesel engines (but more expensive), so little financial incentive to own one
•
Plug in hybrids
• Many demonstration vehicles but no production models
• A battery that has sufficient energy density to power plug in hybrid might cost $6,000...
• ...and might save $4,000 over the course of a vehicles lifetime...
• ...assuming a replacement battery is not required.
• Will rising fuel prices make them more attractive?
Electric mobility – green credentials
• ‘Well‐to‐wheel’ low carbon credentials of electric propulsion is not necessarily clear cut
• Depends on carbon intensity of power generation
• Electric vehicles powered by renewables vs. a plug in hybrid vehicle powered by coal fired electricity?
• Complex relationship ‐ influenced by factors such as national energy mix and time of day of recharging
Electric mobility – breakthroughs required to increase market share
• Progressing battery technology
• Standardising technology
• Building a recharging infrastructure
• Developing a sound business model for electric transport
• Making use of renewable energy and Smart Grid technology (such as vehicle to grid technology ‐ V2G)
Electric mobility – targets
• European Commission aiming to reduce the number of "conventional cars" in cities:– by 50 percent between now and 2030
– by 100% between now and 2050
• What contribution can harbour areas and harbour cities make to meeting those targets?
• Can harbour cities meet those targets before 2030 and 2050?
Stimulating electric mobility in harbour cities
• A port is potentially a closed system for trialing technologies such as fast charging, battery swapping, smart metering, V2G, etc.
• Harbour regions generally have space and infrastructure for development of renewables
• Larger ports might have sufficient vehicles to justify investment in electric vehicle technology
• Ports also can make use of electric boats and invest in smart energy infrastructure to interface with hybrid and electric vessels
E‐mobility ‐ contribution of e‐harbours
• The use of smart energy to power electric vehicle recharging points in harbour car park (Zaanstad)
• Looking at ways to increase the uptake of electric boats (Amsterdam )
• Developing charging point technology for electric vehicles, and possibly supporting an electric taxi business in port area (Malmo)
E‐mobility ‐ contribution of e‐harbours
• Looking at the potential of electric mobility (and other interventions) to reduce energy demand from small harbours (PURE Energy and Robert Gordon University)
• Develop links and knowledge exchange with projects and organisations developing electric and hybrid vessels ( e.g. what smart energy infrastructure is required on the shore side?)
Thank you for listening