December/January 2022

E lectric vehicles are driving the UK’s green transition, helping the nation on its journey towards sustainability and net zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this goal, the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned after 2030, meaning that the future roads are guaranteed to look more electric. With the increase of electric vehicles comes the issue of charging. Of course, it makes sense that we should all be able to charge our cars at home. Nipping to the petrol station during the rush hour commute will be no more, as recharging will be done on our doorsteps. However, do you have an electric vehicle charger at your home yet? The answer is most likely no. After all, we’ve not had much use for them up until now. At some point, we will all need to upgrade our homes to be compatible with new electric cars. But with a rapid increase in the use of electric vehicles, how can our homes sustain the electricity demand? It’s clear that our homes will become central to the green revolution, even on the roads. Here, we explore how homes will navigate the electric vehicle revolution and help our national environmental ambitions. What’s the charge? There are over 35,000 charge points across 13,000 locations in the UK. This means that there are now more public places to charge than there are petrol stations. However, the time it takes to charge can vary between 30 minutes and 12 hours, depending on the size of the car 38 AFTERMARKET DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022 TECHNICAL www.aftermarketonline.net Will it be our homes that really drive the transition to EVs? ALL MOD CONS: WILL HOMES DRIVE EV REVOLUTION? battery and the efficiency of the charging point. It is clear that the solution for electric vehicle charging lies at home. Leaving your car on charge overnight while it sits parked on the driveway or in the garage means that you will never fall on an empty tank again, but how much will your electric car contribute to your home electricity expenses? The answer; Less than your petrol or diesel costs and with the added benefit of being more environmentally friendly. In fact, on average, electric cars cost 4p per mile while petrol cars cost 9p per mile to run. This means that petrol cars cost over twice as much to run in comparison to electric cars. So, shifting your petrol costs to your home energy costs may boost your home bills, but you will be saving in the long run. Even better, charging your car from your home has additional environmental benefits. The ban on new non-electrified cars aligns itself with the target to power all UK homes with wind by 2030. So, we can rest happy knowing that our cars will be charged with renewable energy at home. Steering homes towards sustainability It is not only our roads that are becoming more sustainable. Our homes are quickly becoming leaders in the green transition, finding more sustainable ways to improve energy efficiency, use more renewable electricity, and lowering our home expenses. Charging your electric car could instantly become an act of environmental proactivity when you install solar PV panels on your roof. In fact, PV panels are quickly BY Ella Pumford, Content Manager at St. Modwen Homes