Electricity has left the home.
It has stopped running only inside the walls of buildings, and has started powering how we move. Electric mobility is not limited to automobiles; it has much more potential in terms of driving well-planned systemic change, demonstrating that it is one of the essential keys to a greener future. Technology has evolved and the market has developed, and now electric-powered transport is competitive — and we’re not just talking about price.
Ranges that last several days
According to a study by Volvo,, 58% of US consumers say they will not buy an electric vehicle because they fear they will run out of battery before they can reach their destination; 65% of electric vehicle drivers say they felt this anxiety when they first started driving their vehicles, although the same study shows it is a feeling that fades away over the ensuing months.
This question can be answered with reference to the vehicles’ range and the charging infrastructure. As for range, the answers are encouraging — and they will be even more so in the future, since this aspect of electrical mobility is improving all the time. A decade ago, the first 100% electric vehicle to be sold on a large scale had a range of 160 km and earned the European Car of the Year title. No manufacturers currently market cars with a range of less than 300 km, with 500 km becoming increasingly commonplace — with these metrics growing, there are already several models with a range of 600 km between charges.
These ranges are already effective for those who need to travel long distances, but the 100% electric vehicle has been adapted perfectly to city travel and the commute from home to work for some time. A study carried across several European countries by a number of European institutes shows that eight out of ten European drivers drive less than 100 km a day, with six out of ten driving less than 50 km.
Electrifying mobility — especially private cars or even company fleets — means changing the way we look at the vehicle’s range. In the case of cars with internal combustion engines, we do not normally associate the amount of fuel in the tank with the vehicle’s range. This is a question that arises today in relation to electric vehicles, partly because the charging infrastructure is still being implemented bit by bit around the world.
The coming end of the internal combustion engine
In 2020, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles accounted for 4.6% of global car sales. This may seem insignificant, but we ought to note that many developing countries have no infrastructure in place, and that this figure should be viewed in comparison to 2019 — when plug-in sales accounted for 2.5% of the global market. The pace is accelerating to the extent that according to EV Volumes the sales of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles is expected to have grown by 98% by the end of 2021. This will mean 6.4 million of these vehicles will be on the roads.
In Europe, electric cars (including plug-ins) accounted for 14% of sales between January and June 2021 — compared to 7% in the same period of 2020.
Some regions are particularly advanced. “Norway is a compelling example of electric mobility and the role the state can play in encouraging change. It is estimated that the last car with an internal combustion engine will be sold in Norway in April 2022.” This example is from Henrique Sanchez, President of the Association of Electric Vehicle Users (UVE). He also notes that this has been the direction of travel for a number of years: and that as one of the world’s largest oil producers, Norway uses the funds it has raised from the oil industry to pay for the energy transition; this is in a country that only uses green electricity, produced mainly from hydro sources. In September 2020, 93% of cars sold in Norway were either plug-in hybrids or 100% electric. Of this total, 73% were fully electric.
During the same month, the figures for Portugal also show a rapid growth in demand for this form of mobility: 25% of vehicles sold were electric (100% or plug-in), with the end of year figure expected to be around 17% of total sales.
The introduction of laws and state programs to encourage this transition has proved essential. Parts of the world that lead the electric mobility charge — Europe, the United States, Canada, China and Japan — have introduced fiscal incentives for this change. The European Union is a leading example of this. At the peak of the pandemic it approved a 20 billion euro package for the sale of electric vehicles and the installation of electric and hydrogen chargers. In addition to financial support, the legislation has the power to guide the market. The European Union has already decided that from 2035 onwards there will be no new cars with internal combustion engines on its territory, and an agreement that has brought together 32 countries and some major global companies (including EDP) is aligned with this target.
A network of chargers across Europe
This leap towards electric mobility as a preferred, and virtually exclusive, form of travel, will only be possible with an extensive public charging network. While ranges are getting longer and most vehicles are charged at work or at home, a public charging network will always be indispensable for ensuring a secure transition to the electric vehicle.
Developments in Europe show how the expansion of both the electric fleet and public infrastructure can be symbiotic. In less than ten years, from 2011 to 2020, there was an 84% increase in the number of public chargers: there are now more than 200,000 chargers on the continent and an average of 19 fast charging stations for every 100 km of freeway. There's still a way to go, though.
The European Commission estimates that by 2030 around three million public chargers will be required — 15 times more than there are currently. Shell recently announced a plan to install 50,000 chargers on the roads by 2025. That's about 90 every day. To achieve its decarbonization targets on the basis of the European Green Deal, Portugal will require 53,000 public chargers by 2049. There are presently 4,000, so it will be necessary to install around 16 every day to meet the target. In order to accomplish the same thing in Spain, where there are fewer public chargers per head, it will be necessary to install 60 new chargers each day to reach the ideal figure of 200,000 chargers: only 8,000 exist today.
Perante estes números “há a questão da operacionalização: é essencial caminhar para uma instalação mais simples e rápida dos carregadores”, diz Pedro Miguel Ferreira, da EDP Inovação. Este é ainda um trabalho complexo e prepara-se para transformar a paisagem da cidade. “Os carregadores são mais um elemento do mobiliário urbano e devem evoluir para, cada vez mais, estarem adaptadGiven these figures, “there is the question of operationalization: it is essential to move towards a simpler and quicker charger installation,” says Pedro Miguel Ferreira of EDP Inovação. This is still a complex job, and is set to transform cityscapes. “Chargers are yet another element of urban furniture and must evolve in order to be better adapted to urban dynamics — this is the ideal time to understand, for example, where these new elements should be placed,” he adds.
In addition to public spaces — streets, parks, public parking lots, for example, that often cannot be impacted by the presence of chargers — some private areas with public access may offer a solution. EDP has 1,100 charging stations in Portugal — and was the player with the most growth in 2020 — and most of these stations are the fruit of partnerships with private spaces, such as Saba parking lots, or parking lots belonging to restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King, and hotels such as Vila Galé or Pestana.
EDP's partnerships, however, go far beyond this. They involve the development of charging solutions with automobile manufacturers like Hyundai, Mercedes, Opel, Volvo, and Smart, and the electrification of TDVE and hire company fleets. Companies are moving out of their traditional place in the value chain — car manufacturers, for example, are starting to think about shared mobility and are offering charging solutions,because it is this ecosystem that allows, nationally and internationally, the shift to future mobility and to a network with integrated charging options.
Smart charging
It is in this sense that charging solutions are also a route for EDP, which is not, in terms of electricity mobility, simply a supplier of energy. Partnerships with car manufacturers and showrooms allow integrated charging — whether at home, at work, or at a public Mobi.E. network station — once a CEME card associated with an energy supply contract has been issued.
Most vehicles around the world are charged either at home or at work. The reasons for this are simple: it is more economical and more practical. It is estimated that about 20% of vehicle charging is done using the public network, particularly during long journeys. Vehicle charging habits will change with the electrification of mobility: drivers will stop traveling to a location to charge theirs cars, and instead will take advantage of the times the car is stationary in order to charge it.
It costs less to charge at home, especially when smart charging options are adopted, which favor charging during off-peak hours, essential for the efficient use of the network in urban areas, where it is most sensitive. Having a number of vehicles charging during busy office hours may cause an overload.
There is increasing investment in forms of charging that combine all the needs of a city without exceeding the power available. One way to start doing this to use load management applications, such as the EDP EV app Charge. This smartphone app has all you need for charging — public network, home, and work — so that switching from one to the other is neither bureaucratic nor complicated. The ability to start and finish charging remotely through this app, thus managing consumption, is essential for smart charging usage.
There are also solutions that help manage charging at businesses and condominiums, with the same goals as smart charging. On EDP EV Charge's condominium portal, neighbors in the same building can load a wallet in order to transfer the charge value to their condominium account immediately. There is a similar function for companies, which can choose to charge their employees for charging their vehicles.
Electric mobility beyond the car
When we talk about electric transport, we are not just talking about cars. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted a trend that had already been in motion before 2020. The year of the bicycle boom — and not just conventional bicycles, but also electric bikes that can considerably extend the number of kilometers a user is willing to cycle. If the conventional bicycle is the fastest transport mode up to 6 km (Dekoster and Schollaert, 1999) in cities, the electric bike increases this distance to 8 km or more, regardless of the terrain.
With the desire to avoid public transport, the impossibility of leaving the large cities under lockdown, and a will to include some physical activity in the few quick exits from home, for many people bicycles were the logical option. Roads empty of cars brought a new sense of safety to cyclists, and the industry backs this up. Manufacturers suffered from stock disruptions and components were scarce as they attempted to respond to increased demand with increased production. According to the NPD Group,the bicycle industry in the United States grew by 75% in 2020. Worldwide, it is now worth 46.8 billion euros, according to GVR.
Portugal is Europe’s main bicycle manufacturer, and one of the largest in the world, among the few that produce bicycles in their entirety, from chassis to specialized accessories, with an economic “cluster” of approximately 90 factories providing 8,000 jobs, and more than one national quality control laboratory (ABIMOTA).
These days, the incentive for soft mobility comes not only from the appeal it holds for its users, but also from the cities themselves and the way they are beginning to reorganize themselves, little by little and all over the world, to give more space to people and less to cars. The concept of soft mobility is linked closely to its impact on city dynamics — and the environment.
Soft means of mobility are considered to be those that are either more environmentally friendly or active, such as those requiring physical activity like walking or cycling. The concept of micro mobility refers to these modes and others (such as scooters), as they occupy a smaller physical space and are lighter. Active mobility methods do not emit greenhouse gases and their speed reaches 25 km/h (45 km/h for super-e-bikes). Today, active mobility is already indispensable in large cities, and in what is being touted as the genesis of the smart cities of the future.
Public and green transport
“Active mobility is the mortar binding a good public transport system,” says Bernardo Campos Pereira, an architect and expert in urban mobility planning and policies, who advocates the use of shared and electric bikes for the “first and last mile” of the commute between home and the various public transport sectors, and between them and their final destination in large urban areas. The bicycle itself, whether conventional or electric, is already the smartest form of mobility in urban centers around the world. It is also one of the most environmentally-friendly options if we are talking about electric public transport. The bicycle is also one of the best weapons for combating the sedentary lifestyle and the health problems resulting from a lack of physical activity. Cities that are preparing for smarter mobility and emitting less pollution are primarily committed to ensuring that there is good infrastructure for walking and cycling within the urban setting, and that there is access to railway stations and public transport interfaces.
“When we think about electric buses, China is the great reference,” says Pedro Miguel Ferreira. All the buses in Shenzhen were replaced with 16,000 electric buses in one go; not a single internal combustion engine among them. This is the country that invests most in bus electrification, which is a difficult project given the size and weight of the vehicles. At present, electric mini-buses are a more frequent response when electrifying public transport fleets. They are also ideal for driving in some of the more restricted parts of the city and for neighborhood routes.
Electricity has been powering public transport for a long time. Trams, a traditional form of public transport dating from the early twentieth century, are a good example of this. In recent decades, trams have been preferred to buses throughout Europe, where they help take traffic off the roads and can safely cross a square or even a lawn.
While rail transport can reduce emissions within the city, it can do much more outside the larger urban areas. The European Union has made a big commitment to the railways, with 2021 designated the European Year of Rail. There are reasons to be excited: 75% of trains in Europe are electric, and trains are the safest form of land transport, with just 0.1 deaths per billion passengers per kilometer caused by rail accidents.
The train has been the only means of transport able to reduce carbon emissions since 1990, and today the European Union has one of the longest and most dense rail networks. If the extension of this network can connect a continent, its density is essential for connecting large metropolises to their satellite cities. This is the only way — by integrating walking and cycling in urban areas — that traffic can be removed from the roads.
Electricity is definitely here to stay in terms of collective, private and individual transport and light vehicles. It is not just a promise for the future: it is here today.
Less traffic, more space to live
Over the past few years, cities have become more aware of the impact of traffic on people's well-being and the environment. Drag the pointer to see the before and after of some avenues and squares.
Before:
After:
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