| | JULY - 20209E ERGYTech Reviewelectric vehicles, with more EVs on the roads in China than in the rest of the world combined. For China, there have been several reasons for moving to electric vehicles: - Efficiency: EVs are more than three times more efficient than the internal combustion engine- Pollution: EVs have zero emissions at the point of use- Carbon dioxide emission reduction. And there is a further incentive for investment ­ leading the way in technology. In China, there are now over 100 manufacturers of EVs, with hundreds of other companies producing components for these vehicles. Chinese EV manufacturers are now starting to look at the export market, for example, in India, where favourable policies towards EVs have recently been introduced. Globally, vehicle manufacturers are investing heavily in electric vehicles. All major vehicle OEMs have announced their plans for conversion to EVs during the coming decade, driven mainly by governments raising regulatory requirements for emissions around the world. With all these investments in EVs and batteries, the technology is developing fast, and costs are coming down. However, one of the obstacles to growth often raised by consumers is "range anxiety" ­ the fear that your EV will not have the battery power to complete a longer journey without waiting for it to charge, or worse still, being unable to recharge the vehicle when and where you need it. But this issue is being addressed. In many countries, governments, municipalities, traditional service stations and EV manufacturers are investing in charging networks. The range of EVs is also increasing as battery technology develops ­ many EVs can now complete over 400km without recharging. Another obstacle to buying an EV is cost, but costs are also coming down. In DNV GL, we expect price parity ­ that is, when the full-life costs of an EV are the same as that of an Internal Combustion Engine ­ to be reached in 2025. However, for now, the take-up of EVs does still depend on favourable policies ­ for example, one of the main reasons why nearly 50 percent of vehicle sales in Norway are EVs is due to policies on taxation, including exemption from VAT, and a string of other benefits such as lower toll road costs, bus-lane driving and free parking in several municipalities. For many Norwegians,an EV is simply the best economic choice. Electric vehicles also have the potential to support the integration of renewables by providing flexibility through vehicle-to-grid support in balancing electricity demand and supply. EVs can be viewed as smart, connected batteries on wheels. As range increases, charging infrastructure improves, and the uptake of EVs accelerates, the option of using spare capacity in EV batteries for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services becomes increasingly valuable. If you were told you might never have to pay for the energy going into your vehicle, just by making your spare battery capacity available to the grid, you might well say `yes.' In future decades, as new vehicle sales are dominated by EVs, they will play a major role in frequency response and help to shift renewable generation to when there is greater need.So that leaves one final question: will your next car be an EV? Electric vehicles have the potential to support the integration of renewables by providing flexibility through vehicle-to-grid support in balancing electricity demand and supply.Lucy Craig
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