The View from EVRT (e-mobility) London

I really like what the EVRT people are doing to promote the promise and reality of Electric Vehicles (EVs). I'm gutted that so far I haven't been able to join them on their trans-Europe or trans-Middle East road trips, but none the less, the conference in London yesterday was excellent. And let's be fair, that's not always the case with these things!

It was a pretty packed day, in terms of people and content, with a good range of speakers, experts and interaction. Of course the topic of e-mobility is a hot one. Something even the UK government seems to be fully behind, as recent funding announcements have shown. Not that it is a sector that needs subsidy; though as we saw in the presentation from the Norwegian EV association, it can certainly work wonders if done right. We do have in the UK, Scotland particularly, a number of funding schemes for vehicles and charging points, the Carbon Trust shared their knowledge here and I'm sure you can find out more on their website.

There are of course of a number of factors lining up at present to really accelerate uptake of plug in hybrids (PHEV) and fully electric cars (BEV). Perhaps most importantly, the variety of cars now available is much better, and will within 18-24 months improve enormously. Just for example Mercedes say they will have ten full electric models available by 2020. Next year Jaguar will produce the iPace, and of course Tesla model X and 3 will be in full swing, as well as the lovely model S. But pretty much all the major manufacturers are pushing out PHEVs and BEVs at pace, if you forgive the pun.

Dieselgate is also a big factor, since that story broke, and the reality of diesel emission levels and testing cheating has come clean, as it were. The papers are full on a daily basis of stories about air pollution and its effects, and the steps taken by major cities to fight this pollution. Across Europe from London to Paris, to Barcelona and Madrid, all are taking steps to ban or reduce firstly diesel vehicles, but then most polluting traffic.

Then of course you have those two big barriers of cost and range being busted. Batteries are reducing in cost at a significant rate, and therefore the cost of the cars. At the same time energy density is improving rapidly, so you get much more range for the same size of battery. It's already the case that most of our journeys and driving habits could be covered by the current crop of cars as far as range is concerned, but 'range anxiety' still exists, and soon it won't! I think the cross border travels of EVRT help to address that, in a Tesla at least, you can do a Grand Tour with an EV. Some associates I know have just driven a Tesla Model S around the coast of the UK, from Liverpool and back. Range will soon no longer be an issue.

So, if cost is down and reducing, range is up and increasing and choice is multiplying, where do we see the hold up!? Charging infrastructure. It's as simple as that. It's pants in the UK, and not great in most places, accept Norway and the Netherlands. This is the reason I just bought a hybrid rather than a full EV, the charging infrastructure in the Northwest of England is almost non-existent. In 18 months time, I fully expect to be able to trade up to a full EV. Much of the talk yesterday, and the presentations, were around charging infrastructure and what is being done in various countries and cities, including London. There is no lack of effort or investment in this for sure. We are working with major clients in this space, including EV-Box, one of the main EVRT sponsors, who have the plans, products and solutions to fix the problem.

The day as I say was pretty packed and I won't go through it all. Important areas were discussed like delivery vehicles, vans and taxis and how we can transition that space. Of course autonomous vehicles and driving are of huge interest. The guys that manufacture London black cabs were there, Uber gave an insight into what they are trying to do to electrify their fleet. We had car sharing services and clubs, a variety of apps and platforms for ride hailing to charge point finding, all presenting and talking. A real 'wow' factor came with the presentation from CEO of Formula E, perhaps it's not commonly known how much innovation from Formula One motor sport finds its way into your standard car, and the same will apply to Formula E. Not just does the attention and 'carnival' around the Formula E races promote EVs and e-mobility, but already huge technological improvements have been made, in battery technology and efficiency as a result of Formula E 'testing' and proving. There was also a really encouraging film and talk by the Norwegian EV association, gave real hope, and a personal highlight for me, a talk from Billy Wu from the Dyson school of Engineering on battery technologies. I had a nerd crush, and I wasn't alone.

The event drew an eclectic mix of people; academics, industry veterans, geeks and entrepreneurs, all with valuable insight, passion and investment in the e-mobility sector. Cars that are fast, fun and clean, what's not to like. On a serious note though, air-pollution really is killing people in the UK and around the world, it is an urgent problem, but with an almost immediate fix. It was good to see today the announcement that London EV-Charging company 'Source London' have committed to use only renewable energy for their charging infrastructure, and this is another squaring of the circle of decarbonising not just transport but society. It's a brilliant place to work. It's our passion at Hyperion, it's why we do what we do, and it's why there was so much passion, enthusiasm, investment, interest and innovation in the room yesterday, and long may that continue.

Bon voyage to the EVRT team as they head of to Paris and beyond.