Electricity Grid Boss Says Peak-Time EV Charging Should Cost More

So it begins. The idea that electric cars are cheaper to run than combustion-engined ones is already coming under pressure from a leading electricity network boss.

SP Energy Networks, which is one of the firms in charge of distributing electricity in the UK in the same way that Openreach is responsible for the broadband network, has suggested that anyone wishing to charge their EV in peak time should have to pay more.

Frank Mitchell, the company’s chief executive, is quoted by the Financial Times as saying that people charging at peak time should “have to pick up the cost of it.”

“I do think there is a difference between somebody who wants to have a fully controllable high speed [EV] charging unit at their discretion to do with what they want, versus somebody who is happy to have one that is a managed service that allows us to balance the costs to society.”

Mr Mitchell is referring to so-called ‘smart chargers,’ which only charge your EV when there’s spare capacity in the grid. In extreme cases that means you could plug your car in to charge, return to it later in the day and find almost no extra juice in it. EV supporters insist we’ll all charge them overnight and it won’t be a problem, but the world isn’t that black and white.

Is it just us, or does all this sound a bit like a capitalism versus communism argument? It sounds pretty much like the surrender of personal transport freedoms under the guise of ‘the greater good.’ At the very least it’s a fiscal punishment for those people who want to enjoy full freedom to drive and refuel when they want, as we do today. That hits the poorest people hardest, as real-world communism always seems to.

Imagine rocking up at the filling station at the time you need to use it, only to find a queue, followed by price hikes at the pump because it’s busy. We’re not sure we like the idea. While we understand the basic laws of supply and demand, to us this speaks of a system that simply isn’t ready or able to cope with the speed at which electric cars are being introduced.

The FT mentions that think-tanks like the Green Alliance have carried out research suggesting that charging just six electric cars on the same street at peak times could cause power cuts and local grid instability. The cost of upgrading the grid to cope has been estimated at between £6bn and £16bn over the next three decades.