In a series of blogs, Miel Horsten, Group Regional Director at ALD International, describes his experiences as an EV driver.Get acquainted with the daily practice of using an EV in his international field of operation.
In the third blog in the series, he talks about the world of EV charging. Miel drives a lot of international kilometres and has recently moved from Belgium to France, so he is in an excellent position to compare the situation in different countries. In the European context, the Netherlands is ‘Paradise City’!
My EV parked at your filling station
“I’ve always been a big fan of the man who unleashed a revolution from his hotel bed in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I don’t have the courage - or musical talent - to start a revolution from the petrol pump by fighting for better infrastructure. But I should at least spark a discussion about more common sense, respect and intellectual honesty in the debate about EV infrastructure.”
It’s a moonlight shadow
“What did I learn over the course of my 115,000-kilometre ‘road trip’ through the Benelux and France? I’ve found that EV maturity varies widely from country to country. The Netherlands is like a paradise for the EV driver. You don’t have to think or plan ahead; just go with the flow. It’s a bit more complicated in Belgium, though. Thank God for Van der Valk Hotels! They offer quick chargers in many locations, but otherwise quick charging is difficult in Belgium. When I travelled to Luxembourg, I always ended up having to stay the night. But I have to admit; there are worse things in life than the excellent restaurants and comfortable hotel beds in that cute little country. My new home country France is unfortunately still a developing country when it comes to EV infrastructure. That was a surprise to me, as it’s home to strong energy companies like Suez and EDF and avant-garde carmakers like Renault. The French network system by IZIVIA has been largely out of order for months, and it’s a Bermuda Triangle for all things electric. If you want to travel to Southern France by electric vehicle, then I’d definitely suggest you buy a ticket aboard the TGV. So no, we’re not there yet.”
Breaking down
“Should we keep harping on about the inability of the EV infrastructure to keep up with the growing popularity of electric mobility? In my opinion: no. As far as I know, we’ve never seen kilometre-long lines for charging stations in the Netherlands and Norway; they’re scaling up their infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for charging. Personally, I’m fairly certain that at the current rate of transformation, everything will work out fine and nobody will get stuck on the side of the road.”
Poor lamb
“People have a tendency towards herd behaviour. Let’s take my countrymen and -women, for example. In April, we Belgians all go to the lovely area around Borgloon for a ‘solitary’ stroll through the enchanting Limburg countryside. In May and the summer months, we all want to enjoy the ‘deserted’ Belgian beaches, and we all wrap our Ralph Lauren jerseys over our shoulders to visit the beautiful Knokke-Heist. In autumn, we put on our hiking shoes and trek through the sparsely-populated Ardennes. Fortunately, few Belgians have discovered the beauty of my home town Hoogstraten and the forests around Wortel and Merksplas Kolonie. It’s only logical that the EV infrastructure can’t accommodate these peak traffic times, when we all want to return to the safety of our sofas on Sunday evening and are shocked - SHOCKED to see the state of our charging infrastructure. The long lines at the charging stations shouldn’t come as a surprise at that moment.”
So what
“The question then is: is that a reason to question the utility of electric mobility? Of course not! I’m not sure if you remember, but in the almost-forgotten days before COVID-19 ruined our social lives and our economy, we all had to commute to and from work every Monday to Friday, and that caused traffic jams on our motorways every day. Nobody questioned the utility of ‘the car’ or ‘internal combustion’ because of the long lines of petrol and diesel vehicles waiting to enter our city centres and industrial parks. So let’s keep things in perspective: the infrastructure will continue to develop and won’t stop the rise of the EV, even if human short-sightedness were able to slow it down.”
Respect… just a little bit
“The number of charging stations is still limited, so of course they’re extremely popular. That’s why it frustrates me to see situations like the illustration below. During my last visit to my parking place in Saint Michel, four out of the 8 EV parking spaces were occupied by internal combustion cars or EV’s that weren’t charging. Petrol cars blocking charging stations. EV’s that aren’t charging. Hybrids blocking OUR charging stations... I’ve seen it all during my EV Moonshot road trip. A bit of mutual respect would go a long way. Mr. Petrol and Ms. Diesel: for you it seems like an ordinary parking spot, but for me it means the difference between driving and sleeping in my car. Believe me: my girlfriend doesn’t accept that as an excuse for coming home late from work!”
Honesty... is such a lonely word
“Honesty naturally comes from both sides. Although I think that many internal combustion fanatics look for excuses not to switch to an EV, I have to admit that I know a lot of EV ambassadors (most of whom probably sell charging stations or EVs themselves) 😉) who have a tendency to avert their eyes from the few remaining problems with EVs. Yes, driving electric is fantastic, but we’re not quite there yet. Planning a long-distance drive can be a stressful experience. That will go away eventually, but we shouldn’t deny the facts. It can be extremely difficult to find a charging station that’s available and that works outside of the Netherlands. I don’t believe that the early adopters of EVs were also big fans of websites that we had to load via ADSL in the early 2000s. Charging an electric car is simply a slow process, even with quick charging. We can all pretend to enjoy sitting at the Starbucks next to the quick charging station, but let’s be honest; even if it only takes 30 minutes to top up the batteries, it’s still 25 minutes longer than the old-fashioned petrol pump. And that’s just irritating.”
The (wo)man in the mirror
“So is home charging the solution? When something goes wrong in our countries, we tend to point the finger at the government. Governments should invest more and do more for public and private infrastructure. But I’m afraid that’s only partially applicable to me. I think that the person in the mirror bears the greatest responsibility in the debate on EV infrastructure. I don’t see any reason why the government should intervene or subsidise private charging stations. We don’t seem to have a problem paying for a panorama skylight, stereo system or custom alloy wheels for our new car. But a home charging system... that’s a bridge too far? We spend a fortune on kitchens, barbecues, robot lawnmowers, but the government should pay for our charging station? Today’s home charging station, including installation, costs as much as two iPhones or iPads. Its service life is at least three times as long, and charging stations will probably become even cheaper over the next few years. So instead of a spare iPad for in the bedroom, invest in a home charger and you’ll soon discover that it doesn’t only increase the energy level of your car.”
Queen of the gas station
“Belgium recently announced that all company cars must be zero-emissions by 2026. Experts estimate that 1.5 billion euros will need to be invested in the infrastructure to make that possible, by rolling out quick charging networks and home- and office charging stations. But some things don’t seem right to me. If home chargers were the solution, then why don’t we all have pumps installed at home to supply our diesel or natural gas cars with the same source of energy that we use to heat our homes in Belgium? If we’re going to spend 1.5 billion euros, is that not almost the same cost as a new hydrogen infrastructure? Should we skip the electric cars and just wait for hydrogen? And what is hydrogen, exactly? I think the next time I spend 40 minutes waiting at a charging station, I’ll ask one of my heroes, hydrogen expert Mark Pecqueur, to guide me through that labyrinth. So stay tuned; I’ll need to get to the bottom of this!”