Study Shows Wireless EV Charging Could Cut Fleet C
Post# of 173
As the world strives to switch to clean, renewable sources of energy, several countries have pledged to replace the internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles on their roads with zero-emission electric vehicles (“EVs”). However, EV adoption has remained low mostly because of high costs, range anxiety and insufficient EV charging infrastructure.
Experts have posited that rather than focusing most of their energy on pushing for the adoption of passenger electric vehicles, authorities should instead focus on electrifying fleets. Not only do the municipalities behind these fleets have the resources to purchase EVs and install private charging infrastructure, but they will benefit even more from switching to EVs.
When fleet electrification is coupled with wireless charging, fleet-associated costs will significantly reduce. According to a new study by wireless charging company WiTricity that evaluates the total cost of ownership (“TCO”) of owning and running an electric, last-mile, parcel delivery fleet, wireless charging can reduce TCO by up to 50%.
This partly has to do with how long the vehicles are out of service as they charge. Plug-in charging requires that fleet vehicles are taken out of circulation until they are fully charged, usually to the fleet’s central point. On the other hand, wireless charging allows fleet managers to bring the chargers to the EVs, allowing them to adapt their charging models to established business workflows. This is not possible with wired charging,
This results in reduced demand charges, which are payments made to utilities for maintaining the grid and providing enough power to supply clients at high-demand times, cutting down the overall costs of switching from fossil-fuel vehicles to electric cars. Wireless charging has been enjoying significant popularity recently, with companies even starting to develop wireless chargers for mobile phones, and the EV industry has noticed. With the space facing a shortage of public EV chargers, wireless charging technology provides a lot of benefits.
Due to the technology’s general minimalism, it doesn’t require a lot of space, allowing charging pads to be installed in different key locations at the depot. Thus, fleet vehicles can slowly recharge during the day, parking and soaking up energy between jobs.
Wireless chargers allow fleet managers to spread the charging load across more time, reducing demand charges as well as the overall stress on the grid. This also reduces the likelihood of utilities turning to back-up energy generators or dirtier fuels such as coal to generate energy during peak demand times.
Finally, a wireless charging system cuts down on maintenance and labor costs as it is largely autonomous and has no serviceable parts that need replacement. For businesses with last-mile delivery fleets, electrification will not just help them meet emission standards, it will also have a positive effect on their bottom lines.
Other companies such as Ideanomics Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEX) are also working on bringing additional wireless charging products on the market, so there are indicators that charging infrastructure is likely to improve greatly.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Ideanomics Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEX) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/IDEX
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the Green Car Stocks website applicable to all content provided by GCS, wherever published or re-published: https://www.GreenCarStocks.com/Disclaimer