Countries across the world must bolster their power grids in order to support suitable numbers of vehicles, a cutting-edge green technology firm has said.
In London, Sadiq Khan has set a target for London to be net-zero carbon by 2030. On November 24, the Mayor announced a further 100 new rapid charging points to be installed across the capital.
Despite praising the Mayor’s push for to bolster e-vehicle numbers, Rami Reshef, CEO of Israeli firm GenCell, said “we need to rapidly increase our grids” in order to meet current targets.
GenCell specialises in green hydrogen fuel cell technology. The firm’s fuel cell works by extracting hydrogen from liquid ammonia – which is less expensive than diesel - to combine with oxygen in order to produce clean, non-emission, electrical power
The long-lasting and low maintenance cells can be used as either back up or as green off-grid power generators.
In September, the firm launched its EVOX charging solution for e-vehicles to provide completely green, sustainable energy for cars, as opposed to relying on current power grid sources which is largely supported by natural gas in the UK.
“It doesn’t require a large footprint and it is not a massive installation – it can be installed, commissioned and operated in two weeks.
“It’s easy to install, easy to operate and it will be completely green,” Mr Reshef said.
Co-ordinated via a central operating system, Mr Reshef said one plant can charge 16 cars simultaneously and in the future, the firm hopes to provide high-power, high-speed charging within 10 minutes at cheaper prices. Crucially, these stations would be reliant on their own hydrogen power as opposed to fuel imports from elsewhere.
“Our energy has a dual use: powering electrical cars and supporting the grid. But in the case of a blackout or outage, you have an energy box which can keep your system running and avoid losses.
“If we can add uses which could be injecting power, providing back up energy, or charging electrical cars, then we will be able to make the network more reliable and more resilient.”
In London’s case, there are 11,000 charging points in the capital. This is a third of the UK’s total and a 170 per cent increase from 2019.
“I’m in no doubt that the shift to electric vehicles is imperative to cleaning up our air and bringing down harmful emissions,” Mr Khan said. “It’s vital we don’t take our foot off the pedal now and lose momentum.”
