Going cheap or going green: Covid-19 shines a light on the future of e-mobility

European electricity prices have plunged into the red over the past six weeks as the impact of Covid-19 on demand has taken its toll on the energy industry.

A slump in demand – approximately 15% less across Europe – following lockdown restrictions, coupled with a huge surge in renewables generation has seen supply significantly exceed demand.  Add to that the inflexibility of fossil and nuclear energy generation, where a total shutdown of plants followed by a restart would be more costly than continuing production at negative prices, and it appears that some of the only people not feeling the pain of the current crisis are home owners on green tariffs uniquely being paid to consume and traders hedging on continued volatility.

But, despite the challenges, what the Covid-19 impact on market dynamics has done is give us a fascinating glimpse into the future of the electricity supply and what that means in particular for e-mobility.

Renewable energy generation – predominantly solar and wind – currently accounts on average for approximately 20% of power consumption across Europe. Putting that into current context, at one particular time in early April this year, renewables accounted for a record 70% of UK electricity demand.

Unpredictable renewable generation will undoubtedly rise as the energy and transport industries drive towards full decarbonisation targets by 2050, meaning that we’re likely to see more of this negative pricing phenomenon over the next couple of decades.

A worrying state of affairs? No, potentially not, assuming of course that technological innovation and digital transformation of energy continues to move full steam in the right direction. In fact, negative pricing and abundant green energy fuelling electricity supply open up some interesting possibilities.

On one hand, it could speed up the transition towards a decentralised distributed energy industry where consumers are transformed into prosumers and electric vehicles are key in balancing supply and demand.  Users would not only be paid to use electricity in their own homes during periods of negative pricing but could also earn more by supplying electricity back into the grid itself at times of peak demand through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems.

V2G technology enables the discharge of electricity stored in EV batteries back into the national grid to help balance supply during consumption peaks. It isn’t a new concept: Nissan supplied 66 Leafs to areas worst affected by the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami to supply back-up power. And it faces significant obstacles in scaling up to the levels required to make a genuine difference to grid supply, not least with incompatibilities around the current standard of charge poles or, further down the chain, grid connections which are not yet equipped to inject electricity back into the grid.

V2G is being helped along the way by improvements in EV battery energy storage; storage and grid flexibility are two key enablers in making a future commercial success of decentralised virtual EV-led power plants. There is a long long way to go but its promise shows off the enormous innovative, sustainable and financial potential for synergy between energy and transportation.

But the ramifications of negative energy pricing go further than the household prosumer. Let’s consider the possibilities for a global online retailer such as Amazon and the choice that its customers may be forced to make between ‘green’ or ‘cheap’ services.

One thing Covid-19 has shown us is the value of home delivery; it’s now a necessity and will only continue to scale as bricks-and-mortar retail further declines. So, imagine a future where the cost to charge all Amazon delivery van fleets, electric of course, during peak periods was simply too great an operational cost to sustain. It would leave the company, or rather the customer, with a decision to make.

To maximise RES use, Amazon would need to charge all its vans when there was an abundant clean supply – during the day for example – and drive them at a time when renewable generation dips, most likely at night. Good for customers who value sustainability but not necessarily the cheapest option for Amazon.

For that, the company would need to charge their vans during any off-peak periods when electricity was not only free but potentially, with negative pricing, would even act as an additional revenue stream. This would slash costs, making operational efficiencies they could pass on to the customer with cheaper delivery, but certain wouldn’t lend itself to fast ‘Next Day Delivery’ or even easy-to-predict delivery slots.

Green but potentially pricier, or cheap but unpredictably slow, that’s the question.

 

Take a look at our e-Mobility near real-time data solutions, re.alto Connect Mobility

Explore more

E-mobility

E-mobility

Smartcar and Eco-Movement: Driving e-mobility forward

e-Vehicle data hub Smartcar and Eco-Movement: Driving e-mobility forward As technology advances and industry players push the boundaries of innovation, the world of mobility is changing. Despite global economic challenges, there is no doubt we are seeing the exciting emergence of an interconnected mobility ecosystem with the potential to revolutionise

Read More »

E-mobility

Integration with BMW

e-Vehicle data hub Integration with BMW published 30.03.2022 BMW now available over re.alto Connect API   At the end of last year, we announced the launch of re.alto Connect. This product offers cloud-based, assetless connectivity to various kinds of high energy consuming applications at home and now also enables connectivity to

Read More »

E-mobility

E-mobility

E-mobility

E-mobility

EV Fleet Management: Dealing With Range Anxiety

e-Vehicle data hub EV Fleet Management: Dealing With Range Anxiety 13.09.2022 Corporate sustainability targets and environmental regulation are pushing fleet managers to switch to electric vehicles at an accelerated rate – or at least, faster than natural adoption based on driver demand. As such, fleet managers are left with the

Read More »

E-mobility

EV: Charge Pole Stickers Versus Facility Managers

e-Vehicle data hub EV: Charge Pole StickersVersus Facility Managers 08/11/2022 Electric Vehicles: Charge Pole Stickers Versus Facility Managers   The European directive known as the ‘right to plug’ obliges facility managers of publicly accessible parking lots to install charging infrastructure on at least 10% of their parking spots by 2025 and

Read More »

E-mobility

EV: Matrix Car Leasings and COVID-19

e-Vehicle data hub EV: Matrix Car Leasingsand COVID-19 15/11/2022 Electric Vehicles: Matrix Car Leasings and COVID-19 Over and under mileage are a huge problem for fleet managers trying to control the cost of their fleet. During the initial contract negotiations, fleet managers and consultants are often able to secure a few

Read More »

E-mobility

EV Fleet Management: Budgeting Issues and Standstill Losses

e-Vehicle data hub EV Fleet Management:Budgeting Issues and Standstill Losses 03.05.2023 Fleet Management: Budgeting Issues and Standstill Losses As the energy transition progresses, increasingly more companies are upgrading their fleet of passenger vehicles from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. While there are many benefits to this transition, fleet managers

Read More »

E-mobility

EV Fleet management: Smart Charging Cables

e-Vehicle data hub EV: Fleet Managers and Smart Charging Cables 18.07.2023 Smart charging cables: are they necessary?   What is smart charging?  With increasingly more companies (and individuals) transitioning to electric vehicles and with electrification increasing in general as fossil fuels are phased out, it is becoming more and more important

Read More »

E-mobility

An Alternative to Smart Charge Poles

e-Vehicle data hub Vehicle IoT: An Alternative to Smart Charge Poles 29/08/2023 Vehicle IoT: an alternative to smart charge poles / smart charge points. We are in a new era of mobility, with the uptake of electric vehicles firmly on the rise. With more electric vehicles comes the need for

Read More »