Electric cars and the national grid – future problems and possible solutions.

On the back of the UK government’s decision to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2040, focus has been on the adjustment to electric cars as the main form of travel. The biggest area currently under scrutiny is the charging aspect of electric vehicles.

As reported by several media outlets, the relatively quick uptake of electric cars by the general population, plus the requirement of charging facilities at home have led to the national grid issuing a warning that the current infrastructure may not be able to effectively handle the extra usage.

However, it is claimed that this extra usage would only increase demand by less than 10%, therefore making the strain on the grid negligible. This means that until this scenario actually occurs, it will be hard for experts to effectively predict its effects.

Current suggestions range from quick charging stations near suburban areas, to the more complex solution of updating of the full national grid. The latter would be incredibly costly, but would be the most effective way of dealing with the charging issue, this being at the high end of the scale regarding cost and time to implement. Therefore, an effective solution would be more small scale, localised charging stations, as this would limit the drain on households.