Massification of Electric Cars Possible Only by 2030

A project coordinated by the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto (INESC Porto) and funded by Mobile Energy Resources for Grids of Electricity (MERGE) has concluded that the current European electricity grid is prepared for more consumption arising from charging electric vehicles until the year 2020. In the country of Portugal alone, electric cars will make up for only 2% of the total number of vehicles on the road by 2020.

The project also lays down certain conditions for recharging electric vehicles over the next 10 years. It recommends that batteries of electric vehicles should be charged at consumer residences or sites that are privately owned such as car parks or shopping centres. Charging at residential areas should ideally be done only during the night as consumption from the electricity grid will be comparatively lesser than the consumption during the day.

Charging electric vehicles outside residential areas should ideally be done during the day. Adopting these methods can enable the government to offer electricity at reasonable prices. Governments will be able to enforce further electricity management and control strategies only by 2020 to 2030. Many research projects are already in the process of identifying possible solutions for electricity management so that they can be implemented in time.