This discussion session was the second of a series focusing on energy transition in traffic and transport. For this series, we partnered with the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Technology, Society & Economics. 37 participants, including 26 KIVI members (not counting the 3 speakers) gathered in the Metrozaal of CROW's Utrecht office on 29 January to discuss the 'traffic engineering' side of the electric car - and especially charging.

If the share of electric cars (EVs) will grow as currently predicted, charging them will place an increasing burden on public space. How do you deal with this as a government, while the same government also has the responsibility to facilitate the growth of the necessary number of charging points? Three speakers highlighted current and expected developments from various perspectives (user monitoring, network manager and municipal government respectively).

Simone Maase of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, project leader of the IDO-Laad (Intelligent Data-driven Optimisation charging infrastructure) research project, outlined how the use of 11,480 public charging points in the Randstad, is being monitored and researched, especially in the G4 municipalities and the Amsterdam and Rotterdam/Den Haag metropolitan regions. This research is co-financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

For each charge point, data on the customer (or charge card number), the start time and duration of the charging session and the number of kWh charged are registered for each charging session. As a result, per charge point per month, the number of kWh charged, the average occupancy rate, the 24-hour occupancy rate, the number of charging sessions and the number of users can be tracked. It has now been shown, for instance, that in The Hague an average of 10kWh of electrical energy is charged each time.

As well as analysing the use of the charging infrastructure, IDO charging also analyses the charging behaviour of various user groups and investigates the effect of policy and incentive measures; using, among other things, developed simulation models. This makes it possible to study the extent to which charging behaviour can be steered, for instance to ensure that charging sessions are postponed to times when energy is greener and cheaper. We can also see how excessively long charging sessions (by so-called 'charging pole stickers') can be prevented; 30% of charging sessions last longer than 24 hours.

Willem Alting Siberg, theme owner Sustainable Mobility at Enpuls, discussed the consequences of the ambition expressed in the coalition agreement that by 2030 all new cars in the Netherlands must be emission-free. That ambition is lofty. Enpuls is a business unit of Enexis, the network operator for the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland, N-Brabant and Limburg.

Enexis considers growth to 2 million EVs realistic for passenger transport until 2030. The price and production development of batteries are important factors in this. A fall in battery prices is currently already underway, while the huge battery factories announced by the industry have yet to be realised. Battery (lithium-ion) prices fell by almost 80% between 2010 and 2017! The price per kWh drops from €209 to €100.
To achieve the - desired - rapid growth in the number of EVs, an incentive policy of owning EVs over fossil-fuel-powered alternatives is needed. But in addition, there is a huge task to realise sufficient charging infrastructure and associated energy supply to ensure that charging becomes easy and affordable. To facilitate at least 2 mln. EVs by 2030, 1.8 mln charging points must be realised between now and that year, or 700 per day!

The electric energy to be supplied via those charge points will increasingly be generated by solar and wind; and it will be increasingly decentralised. Incidentally, these new charge points will increasingly be realised by companies on their own premises. The procedures for this (for permits and the like) will have to be adapted accordingly. Realising a charging station on one's own premises can still be quite a challenge: Enpuls took 3 months to install a fast charger!

Floris van Elzakker, project leader at the municipal project organisations Den Haag Elektrisch and Utrecht Elektrisch, is directly involved in realising charging points in both municipalities. The municipality of The Hague applies the principle of 'charging follows parking'. Anyone who parks on their own property must also install a charging point there; charging points on public roads are facilitated by the municipality for EV drivers who have to park on public roads.

It is expected that by the time all cars are fully electric, there will be one charging point for every 20 parking spaces in the public space. Currently, the municipality receives 30-40 requests for charging points per month. In The Hague, the existing charging points in public spaces have a monthly 'turnover' of 400,000 kWh. When installing charging points, the municipality wants to be able to anticipate demand in the immediate vicinity; for this purpose, it is important to be able to predict where new EV drivers will live.

Realising charging points on public roads is more 'technical' than many think, by the way. Using lampposts seems attractive; after all, the power connection is already there. But that connection must be capable of supplying many times more electrical energy than is needed for an average street lamp. Moreover, experience has shown that such a lamppost requires a much heavier and therefore more expensive foundation than an 'ordinary' lamppost. Even 'plug-in solutions' such as, for example, in 'Amsterdammertjes' that are on the market, prove costly in practice; particularly because a relatively long cable length is required to power such an installation.

Nor does induction charging as a 'wireless' solution alternative prove easy to implement. A technical pilot was carried out in Rotterdam in 2016. The yield loss is still disappointing and interoperability (between car installations and shore installations) still poses problems. Moreover, when applied in public spaces, you will also have to prevent a cat from getting under the car at the charging point...

The presentations of the three speakers can be downloaded via the link to the right (under 'Documents').

The concluding joint discussion was moderated by Stijn Santen of the KIVI Department of Technology, Society and Economics. Among other things, the following emerged:

  • Two 'steering models' can be distinguished when realising charging points: the concession model and the assignment model. In the concession model, the government grants the right to operate the charge point to a market party in exchange for realising and maintaining the charge point. An example is the concession for the operation of 2250 charging posts with a total of 4500 charging points in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, which was awarded to the company Ecotap in mid-2018. In the commissioning model, the (provincial or municipal) government is commissioning authority for the realisation. The advantage of this is that it is easier for that client to 'strategically build' and take (or weigh up) risks in the process. A concession holder is less likely to take risks; as a result, less profitable locations may fall by the wayside, to the detriment of geographical coverage in the area concerned. Incidentally, in The Hague, 'profitable' charging stations pay for themselves in about 4 years.

  • Plug-in-hybrids (PHEVs) have a large share in energy transactions at charging stations. In The Hague, their share is as large as that of fully electric cars (FEVs). Contrary to popular belief, therefore, PHEVs are also intensively used as 'electric cars'.

  • This also has implications for the possible inclusion of a 'connection component' in the user tariff of the charging station, as a price incentive to counteract 'charging station stickiness'. So the user would then also pay for the time the EV is connected to the charge post, without actually charging. Only: this will often be the case with a plug-in hybrid, especially at night, because a PHEV has a smaller battery compared to an FEV, which requires less charging time. As a result, such a 'connection tariff' could therefore work to the disadvantage of the still large segment of PHEV drivers; after all, they have an equal interest in being able to charge during periods when green and/or cheap electricity is readily available.

  • Finally, to achieve the necessary energy transition to 'electric driving', large numbers of charging points will have to be added in the near future. Not just in public spaces, but also on private property and in private car parks, including in the garages of apartment complexes. This will require the cooperation of the owner or (association of) owners. However, the government has few legal instruments to bring this about.
    Therefore: if we want to promote the realisation of charging stations, more clarity is needed regarding the question: who is actually the problem owner?

PLEASE NOTE: Changed location, start time and lower maximum number of participants

Electric cars are on the rise. At the start of 2018, more than 123,000 registered electric vehicles were already driving in the Netherlands (source: RVO). In the coming years, that number will more than double. A much higher share of electric vehicles in the Dutch fleet is needed to meet the agreed environmental targets. Forecasts for 2035 are 2.5 to 5 million (source: Toekomstverkenning-elektrisch-vervoer-eindrapport, Ecofys i.s.m. TU-E, 2 December 2016).

Charging infrastructure is developing accordingly. Along the motorway, Fastned stations are a familiar sight. But precisely in the built environment too, the number of (mostly public) charging stations is noticeably increasing.
The national government hardly sees a role for itself in this; municipalities and provinces are taking steps to expand public charging facilities (source: Vision of the charging infrastructure for electric transport - Policy agenda towards 2020, Ministry of Economic Affairs, November 2016). In mid-2018, a concession for the operation of 2250 charging stations with a total of 4500 charging points in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel was awarded to the company Ecotap.

The necessary expansion of charging infrastructure has implications for the power supply and the load on the power grid; even with increasing demand, the stability of the power supply must be guaranteed. The public debate has therefore focused mainly on the positive environmental effects on the one hand and the capacity and stability of power supply on the other.

However, the rise of the electric car also has a traffic-related side; and this seems to have been somewhat underexposed so far.
This has to do with the use of parking space and, above all: its duration. 'Fully charging' the battery of an electric car at a public charging station easily takes 2-3 hours; for a heavier car like a Tesla, it can take up to 5 hours. Charging at a 220V 'home connection' takes 8 hours. Only at dedicated fast charging posts (such as near motorways) can it be done in 30 minutes.

How do you deal with this in public spaces, if the share of electric cars will grow as predicted?
What do we actually know about the use and users of charging stations? How can the (municipal) government, as road manager, control the use of parking spaces near charging stations? And in such a way that these spaces are occupied by charging cars for long enough, but not longer than necessary?
But also: to what extent can and is the electricity supplier willing to influence charging behaviour?
Does this imply a necessary shift from 'parking policy' to 'parking policy'? Wouldn't (national) policy then also be needed to ensure that sufficient charging infrastructure is provided in new housing and office developments? What barriers need to be removed to this end?
And is further government intervention desirable, for instance with regard to the development and price of batteries?

The KIVI Traffic & Transport Section is organising a discussion meeting on these kinds of questions on Tuesday 29 January 2019.
With speakers shedding their light on these questions from various perspectives (user monitoring, network manager and municipal government respectively):

- ms. Simone Maase of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, who is responsible for monitoring the use of charging stations in the Randstad, in particular the G4 municipalities and the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, within the IDO-Laad project (Intelligent Data-Driven Optimisation Charging Infrastructure, http://www.idolaad.nl);

- mr. Willem Alting Siberg, Theme Owner Sustainable Mobility at Enpuls (www.enpuls.nl), a business unit of network operator Enexis;

- mr Floris van Elzakker, Project Manager at the municipal project organisations Den Haag Elektrisch and Utrecht Elektrisch.

These presentations will be followed by a discussion in which Mr Stijn Santen of the KIVI Techniek, Bestuur & Maatschappij department will act as chairman.

This discussion meeting is the second in a series focusing on energy transition in traffic and transport. For this series, we are collaborating with the departments of Electrical Engineering (contact Paul van Moerkerken) and Techniek, Bestuur & Maatschappij (contact Stijn Santen). In line with the new interactive KIVI approach, this series will show how engineers contribute to solving societal challenges and the political goals linked to them.

Participants will be offered a sandwich meal.

Name and contact details for information

Department of Transport at AfdelingVV@kivi.nl

Specific for this lecture: henk@pauwels.org

Department website: https://www.kivi.nl/afdelingen/verkeer-en-vervoer

Documents