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By Jérôme Faissat, co-founder, Andersen
Until quite recently the electric vehicle (EV) was viewed as an idea largely promoted by environmentalists. However, there has been a rapid rise in the popularity of EVs.
In 2010, only around 100 EVs were sold in the US, yet by 2017 over 200,000 were sold. In total, there are estimated to be over a million EVs currently on the road in the US alone. Research suggests that by 2030 there will by 500 million EVs worldwide and that, given the exponential growth rate so far, even that figure may be an underestimation.
There is an infrastructure issue currently facing the EV market – availability of charge points. There is a shared pain for all drivers worrying about how far they can drive before they might get stranded.
Given the rapid speed at which the EV market is evolving and the issues for mass-adoption, let’s look as what may happen to increase charge points.
EVs are still rather limited in terms of range, maxing out at around 240 miles on a single charge. As such, we need to see an increase in commercial charge points for those driving long distances.
Fortunately, governments and private businesses are on the case. The European Union is pushing for charge point facilities to be available in new residential and commercial buildings and governments, such as the UK, are providing consumer subsidies for charge points. In fact, the UK government recently unveiled plans to become a world-leader in low-emission tech at the world’s first Zero Emissions Vehicle Summit.
Nissan predicts that the number of charge points will overtake petrol stations by August 2020. This is due both to the decline in petrol stations and the increase in charging points. Over the next two years, you’d be hard-pushed to find any car manufacturer that isn’t unveiling their hybrid or electric vehicles so they recognise the need to solve the charge point issue.
The variety of charge points is also increasing. EV customers and businesses now have a choice, albeit limited, between a range of functional, utilitarian charge points and more aesthetically-pleasing options. For example, Andersen EV’s charge point was nominated for a Design Week Award, demonstrating the mainstream attention charge points are receiving. For luxury hotels, golf clubs and other venues, aesthetics are important, so the availability of design-led charge points should help to increase adoption.
Huge strides have been made in terms of the speed of charging. A few years ago fully charging an EV would take several hours. Far too long for drivers to spend in a service station!
Now, with Three-Phase chargers, most modern EVs can charge to 80 per cent in 30 minutes. While this is a significant improvement, it doesn’t compare to the five minutes it takes to fill a tank of petrol.
The good news is that manufacturers are looking at solid-state batteries which use graphene as a potential solution and, meantime, we expect a graphene/lithium-ion hybrid to increase the range and charging speed of EV batteries.
Efficiency in battery design will be matched by improvements to charging points, allowing far more voltage to be run from the charge point. This is likely to double every few years, leading to rapid charging of much higher capacity batteries, which in turn will minimise range anxiety.
Along with improvements in battery and charge point design, there will be a significant shift towards diversifying the sources of power for EVs. I don’t expect any of these alternatives to provide all of the power needed to charge an EV, but if each one contributes a little to the charge of the vehicle, it will keep them going longer between stops at charge points.
Solar panels, otherwise known as photovoltaics (PV), have already become much more efficient at capturing the sun’s energy. They can already be seen on commercial and residential buildings, but increasingly they will be seen on the roofs of EVs, helping boost the car’s energy as you drive.
Another source of energy will likely lie under our roads, charging EVs as we drive. As early as 2015, the UK government was testing charge-and-drive solutions for buses, providing a small amount of charge at each stop to keep EV buses operating their entire route without having to plug in. The same approach could be installed at traffic lights or even along stretches of motorways to give EVs a welcome energy boost.
Some suggest that the rise of autonomous vehicles will signal the end of car ownership. Instead, they suggest that cars will be booked and drive passengers autonomously to the destination.
While this seems inevitable with the amount of money Uber and Google are ploughing into the technology, I still think there will be a place for personal vehicles and family cars. Longer trips, for example, will require the vehicle for long periods and anyone who’s tried to organise their kids for a holiday will know how long it takes to pack the car!
I think personal autonomous vehicles will make use of wireless charge points, which will become the new standard for EV charging. Wireless charge points use induction to charge the vehicle from underneath, eliminating the need for a human operator to plug them in.
Many cities around the world are become increasingly congested with pollution skyrocketing. This means there will be considerable pressure on this technology to keep evolving. It’s an exciting time for the industry and a chance to contribute to a better, greener environment.
Jérôme Faissat is co-founder of Andersen, makers of premium electric vehicle (EV) charging points. Timeless design, hand styling, superior quality and the latest technology are all key to every Andersen EV charging point.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Battery, Charge, Environment, Guest Post
By Marc Hurr and Daniel Eduardo Suero, co-founders of iBAN Wallet
It’s an inescapable fact that banking is changing. A perfect storm has been created for the big bank following the 2008 global financial crisis which eroded consumer confidence. In addition technology and smartphones are providing new opportunities for FinTech businesses.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Banking, Finance, Guest Post
by William Sachiti, Academy of Robotics
Have you ever wondered how an autonomous vehicle sees? How it manages to navigate its way around obstacles and avoid pedestrians – even if one runs out in front of it?
To teach an autonomous vehicle to do all these things, we need to start by gathering huge quantities of data. To do this a data gathering car is used.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Automotive, Guest Post, Robotics, Technology, William Sachiti
by Rohit Talwar, Steve Wells, Alexandra Whittington and Helena Calle, from Fast Future
Cortana. Siri. Alexa. One of the subtle strategies designers use to make it easier for us to integrate AI into our lives is “anthropomorphism” – the attribution of human-like traits to non-human objects. However, the rise of AI with distinct personalities, voices, and physical forms is not as benign as it might seem. As futurists who are interested in the impacts of technology on society, we wonder what role human-like technologies play in achieving human-centred futures.
For example, do anthropomorphized machines enable a future wherein humanity can thrive? Or, do human-like AIs foreshadow a darker prognosis, particularly in relation to gender roles and work? This article looks at a continuum of human-like personas that give a face to AI technology. We ask: what does it mean for our collective future that technology is increasingly human-like and gendered? And, what does it tell us about our capacity to create a very human future?
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Artificial Intelligece, Gender, Opinion
Hugo Tilmouth is an award winning Entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of ChargedUp. He has a background at the intersection of clean tech and startups.
In this conversation, Hugo talks about ChargedUp. ChargedUp is a network of dispensing stations that allows users, for a small fee, to borrow a battery pack from one location, charge their mobile device and return the battery to another location. All the batteries are recharged using 100% green energy. Located in restaurants, cafes, transport hubs, sports stadia, and tourist attractions; users will never be far from a ChargedUp station.
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Interview
Tagged as: Battery, ChargedUp, Conservation, Environment, Hugo Tilmouth, Interview
by Rohit Talwar, Steve Wells, Alexandra Whittington and Helena Calle, from Fast Future
In many places summer means electrical grids working overtime to keep cooling and ventilation systems going. In less developed parts of the world, temperatures will reach levels where people will die. Our comfort and survival depend on our ability to continue to power the planet. But energy resources are not equally distributed.
Many see this situation being addressed slowly over the next fifty years – too late for those without reliable energy supplies. But what if we embrace a fundamental shift in thinking? In our book, The Future Reinvented – Reimagining Life, Society, and Business, we explore alternative, surprising, and unexpected scenarios of how we might change the path to the future. To look at the reinvented future of energy, we use these perspectives, and explore four scenarios which draw on a workshop our team designed and facilitated at the Finland Futures Research Conference in Tampere, Finland in June 2018.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Energy, Guest Post, Reinvention, Rohit Talwar
By Gus Bartholomew, Supplycompass
With the number of consumers putting ethics and sustainability at the top of their list when purchasing from a brand, and with the number of brands describing themselves as ‘sustainable’ or ‘ethical’ on the rise, more brands are asking themselves the how they can create a genuinely ethical brand. With terms like ethical, sustainable, conscious, responsible, transparent and organic often being used interchangeably, it can be confusing to know what word is right.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Brand, Ethical, Guest Post, Gus Bartholomew
by Dean Anderson, Gamestatix
It won’t be too long before it’s possible for every player to make a living just by playing video games, writes Dean Anderson.
Playing games is a fun, rewarding and transportive experience for millions of people. However, gaming is rarely seen as anything more than an enjoyable hobby. Yet, if you’ve ever tried to complete Dark Souls, nail every challenge in Myst, or just get the better of Mike Tyson in Punch Out!! on the NES, you will understand the skill and dedication it takes.
Having a true passion for something means knowing it inside out – becoming an expert – and this a worthy skill, particularly if this knowledge is used to improve the art itself.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Guest Post
Tagged as: Gaming, Guest Post
By Dave Millett, Equinox
2017 gave some exciting new telecoms products including the iPhone 10 and for example, people from the UK were allowed free roaming in Europe.
Looking at the big picture for 2018 clearly the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence will place increasing pressure on our technology infrastructure wherever in the world we are. Though some countries are better placed than others!
Filed Under:
Phones
Tagged as: Dave Millett, Guest Post, Telecom
Technological changes are defining the world of 21st-century business. They are also prompting questions about the future of work and how we can navigate to the ‘next horizon’.
How businesses respond to these challenges and exploit the benefits of smart technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), will be a key contributor to success going forward.
Roles that have been traditionally thought of as requiring a high-level human intellect are now being automated – thanks to AI. Whilst this undoubtedly boosts efficiency, decision makers must be mindful of how this may impact brand identity and user experience.
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Guest Post
Tagged as: AI, Artificial Intelligece, Guest Post, Workplace
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