We see a lot of news stories about how heat pumps don’t work properly, EVs burst into flames or people get stranded with empty batteries. Or else these new technologies are no better for the environment than the old ones. Or that there’s no point as hydrogen will come along and save us.
The thing about news stories is that often a news site has an agenda, or else they don’t want to print good news as it isn’t much of a story. It’s way better for a headline that says “EVs burst into flames” as opposed to “very very few EVs burst into flames.” It’s bit like the headline “Nobody was bitten by a shark today.” (Fun fact: you are 5 times more likely to die from a champagne cork related incident than a shark attack.)
The National Grid ESO has confirmed that due to a 16% decrease in electricity demand over the past two decades, there would be no problem if everyone suddenly switched to EVs. This is due to the switch to LED lightbulbs, more efficient domestic appliances in general and more and more properties becoming energy efficient. A UK switch to EVs would only increase by demand by about 10%.
As vehicle to grid systems become more widespread EVs can be used to aid the grid by storing energy when it is plentiful and supplying back to the house at peak times when the demand on the grid is high.
Not true. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency concluded that EVs are 20 times less likely to catch fire than petrol and diesel cars. Obviously we see a lot more about EV fires in the news as the technology is much newer and so under scrutiny. There have been issues due to manufacturing faults but these have been the subject of strict recalls, e.g. by Hyundai in regard to the early Kona.
It is true however that if an EV does catch fire then it is harder to put out and new ways of dealing with EV battery fires are being developed.
Anything manufactured has a lifetime carbon footprint based on manufacture, transportation to consumer, EOL transportation to scrappage facility and ultimate waste disposal/recycling. An EV can offset any such lifetime carbon emissions due to the emissions saved by its use. See: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/when-do-electric-vehicles-become-cleaner-than-gasoline-cars-2021-06-29/ it can take just two years on average. In the UK 67% of electricity is sourced from zero carbon sources so “carbon payback” may be sooner. ICE vehicles cannot offset this at all as they emit all the time they are driving.
Also note that a lot of time you are able to choose when to charge. For example on an Octopus EV tariff, the charging can be automated so that by setting when you need the car and to what percentage you need the battery, it will only charge when the grid is using most renewable energy.
EVs tend to rely heavily on regenerative braking, which means less wear on brake discs or pads. This means that the discs and pads do not wear and shed particulates as much as with ICE vehicles. Pads and discs rely on being open to the elements in order to keep cool, however some EV manufacturers are now reverting to brake drums as there is far less need for cooling and being enclosed will not shed particulates into the environment.
Yes, EVs are slightly heavier so theoretically tyre wear is greater. However many fleet owners are report statistics that show the difference is minimal, even with heavy vans.
Furthermore most tyre wear occurs at higher speeds, ie not in built up areas wear pollution is more of an issue. While that is not an excuse as it appears to just be shifting the pollution to another area, we are aware that manufacturers are now making tyres specifically aimed to last longer on heavy vehicles. However when you compare overall particulate emission including engines and brakes, EVs are way lower than petrol and diesel.
Well, they are not silent when in operation they can emit a hum (which you are unlikely to hear from within the house). One of the main points about RetrofitSouthampton is that you can get real world experiences via our case studies. Believe the people with them installed not the sensational news items
Heat pumps work best, ie most efficiently, at lower water flow temperatures. Although this also applies to gas boilers, it may be more true of heat pumps. Quite often a retrofit heat pump will benefit greatly from upgrading some radiators. Provided a thorough survey of the property and heat loss calculations have been carried out and the correct heat pump is installed then there is no reason for it to not be able to heat a property. Again, see our case studies.
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