Our meeting on Wednesday 18 May 2022 was a face to face meeting with a speaker – Tim Sale, a member of our Club speaking on “Charging Battery Electric Vehicles”.
The move from fossil fuel transportation (cars, deliveries, freight, cargo etc.) to electrically powered transportation powered by batteries seems a “no-brainer” until you examine the problem at both the micro level and the macro level.
The production of an enormous quantity of batteries needs to be considered, not just for private cars, but also for delivery vehicles, goods distribution vehicles and cargo transportation. Tim’s talk looked at the cost per unit of energy in batteries compared to the cost per unit of energy stored in the form of hydrocarbon fuel. There is also the question of the materials used in batteries today, and in the future, and where those materials can be found and extracted.
There is also the question of the revenue that the government raises on the current use of hydrocarbon fuels – estimated at about £40bn per year. With the transfer from internal combustion engines to battery powered electric vehicles, that “charge” would likely be transferred to electricity usage.
Getting the balance of incentives and motivations with the required revenue in an uncertain future is just some of the problems that will have to be solved if we are to succeed in overcoming the challenges.
This was an inspiring talk, delivered most successfully by Tim.
