3 Challenges facing the transition to EV’s in the UK

Most people in the UK are aware of climate change issues and the need to reduce carbon emissions, even if they don’t fully understand how to go about it. That’s not surprising considering industry experts still don’t have all the answers.

Transportation historically contributes a significant amount to carbon emissions and the one thing that almost everyone agrees on is that efforts to decarbonise need to accelerate. In general there is public support and an understanding that switching from internal combustion engines (ICE’s) to electric vehicles (EV’s) is inevitable.  This is evidenced by the fact that although in general car sales have been down since the onset of the pandemic, EV car sales in the UK are growing.

But change is never easy, especially not when you’re talking about the generation of energy, infrastructure or energy storage at a time when there’s an energy crisis. There’s already controversy about what constitutes “clean energy” and whether nuclear power generation is a part of that. The argument from fossil fuels is that they will never die because renewables are too unreliable. Energy from waste (EfW) and biogas are other examples of a grey area in terms of “green energy”. Then there’s the argument about the waste components – what happens to decommissioned wind turbines and batteries from EV’s that have a limited lifespan?

There’s no easy solution. However, we have to start somewhere, and with more expertise, cross-industry collaboration and innovation, it increases the chances of finding a sustainable solution. Sometimes it helps to face the reality of the challenges ahead and to be aware of the cost of failure. It’s often then that the best solutions come to the fore. Let’s consider each of the 3 major challenges:

EV charging and the energy infrastructure

Driving a petrol powered vehicle in an urban environment is very different to driving an EV in the rural countryside. Fuel refills are easily available and it takes only a few minutes to top up the fuel tank and be on your way. By contrast, EV charging infrastructure is not as developed, especially in rural areas, plus it take time to recharge a vehicle. It’s fine if you’re staying overnight, or going shopping for an hour or two and can plug in to recharge, but what if you want to continue your journey right away? These are some of the concerns being highlighted as people prepare to transition to EV’s. Road trips will require careful planning in future.

Another challenge is that in high density urban environments, there is currently limited EV infrastructure. Parking garages and shopping centres may offer EV charging, but many of these are beyond walking distance of where vehicle owners stay. Even curbside parking charging presents a new challenge requiring major investment. New legislation requires that all new homes are equipped with EV charging, but this does little to address charging infrastructure for existing homes or who will foot the bill to put that infrastructure in place.

EV’s and recycling

Another major challenges to EV’s is that the lithium ion batteries have a much shorter lifespan than the vehicles themselves. Batteries are notoriously hazardous to recycle and are often the cause of fires in recycling plants. Increasing the volume of batteries in the marketplace without the infrastructure and resources to be able to recycle them properly, puts a dent in the circular economy ambitions that form part of the transition to EV’s. Several major waste processors have recently announced they’re expanding their battery recycling capabilities and it’s an opportunity for further growth. But it highlights that a holistic view of the challenge is required if there is to truly be progress in terms of sustainability.

Energy storage

The UK is currently experiencing intermittent grid reliability when demand is high. Relying on renewables, when wind speeds are high or the sun is shining renewable energy generation soars, but the industry is yet to implement an effective plan for energy storage. The default is often to think in terms of batteries, but even they have a limited lifespan and then need to be recycled or disposed of. It’s not really a sustainable solution. There’s talk of repurposing decommissioned coal mines and using compressed air for energy storage.  For decades hydro-electric plants have be used in many countries around the world, but that isn’t really a broader solution for the UK as it relies on hilly terrain. Most of the UK’s hydro-electric plants are located in Wales or Scotland.

But there may be an even better energy storage solution, not requiring mine shafts, hydro-electric dams or lithium ion batteries. An innovative project in Switzerland is using gravity and concrete blocks to store energy. Because of the use of concrete there’s an additional opportunity to collaborate with the waste sector and use bottom ash to make the concrete blocks and reduce carbon emissions even further in the process. The Swiss innovation entails using a giant crane that looks a bit like a windmill to slowly pull concrete blocks up to a height. This is done during the daytime using renewable energy sources. Then at night when the energy is required the blocks are released. The kinetic energy generated as they fall is fed into a turbine which generates energy. It’s a simple but effective solution to energy storage that could be implemented in almost any geographic environment. It’s innovations like these that could help bridge the gap between renewable energy generation and having the ability to deliver power on demand.

The transition to EV’s is already cast in stone for the UK. Legislation demands that sales of new ICE vehicles must halt by 2030 and car manufacturers are already preparing for that future. What’s less certain is the availability of EV charging infrastructure and suitable energy storage. The next few years are primed for innovation as the industry seeks to address these challenges. It’ll be interesting to see what cross industry collaboration occurs and how the waste and recycling sectors can contribute to sustainable solutions.