The focus in the construction of charging infrastructure in Poland in the next 2-3 years will shift from locations along routes to those geared towards electric car drivers who do not have the possibility of charging at home, according to EV Klub Polska CEO Łukasz Lewandowski.
“There is currently a development of two-speed infrastructure. This is due to the fact that operators of charging station networks are primarily interested in fast chargers and the construction of charging hubs that will allow electric cars to move freely on the road. At the same time, electric owners living in blocks of flats are still so few in number that meeting their needs is not a priority for these operators for the time being. However, looking at markets more mature than Poland in the area of electromobility, this will gradually change,” Lewandowski said.
According to him, today the availability of chargers on the routes is already much better than it was just a few years ago.
“I expect that in a perspective of 2-3 years, the focus of infrastructure construction will shift precisely to locations geared towards drivers who do not have the possibility to charge at home,” he added.
According to him, the percentage of people in Poland who do not have the possibility of charging their car at their place of residence does not exceed 35% of drivers.
“For those actually excluded from having their own charger, public infrastructure must be developed and this is a task for operators. Interestingly, at this point, the cost of charging only on publicly available chargers can still be relatively low,” Lewandowski.
The current range of electric cars is completely sufficient for the vast majority of users and is therefore unlikely to increase further with further developments in battery technology, according to EV Klub Polska CEO Łukasz Lewandowski.
“I wouldn’t expect any more significant increases in range, because the one that modern electric cars have is completely sufficient. Hardly anyone, regardless of the type of propulsion system, drives 500-600 km without a break in the journey. A range of 1 000 km is unnecessary insofar as, statistically speaking, we very rarely drive such a distance at one time more than a few times a year,” said Lewandowski.
According to him, the insufficient range of electric cars is one of the popular myths operating in the public space, which has been dispelled by the results of the EV 1000 survey conducted by EV Klub Polska among electric car drivers.
“As many as 68% of those surveyed declared that they drive a maximum of 75 km per day in their car. 17% cover 76-100 km, 10% cover 101-150 km and only 4% cover more than 150 km. These are distances comparable to those covered by owners of combustion cars. Not everyone is a sales representative who drives 200-300 km or more per day, and for whom an electric car does not really seem to be the best option today,” – he stressed.
In his opinion, a much more important parameter than range nowadays seems to be the charging curve, which is growing very rapidly with new car generations.
“Just a few years ago, it took an average of 30-40 minutes to charge an electric car’s battery between 10-80% on the fastest available chargers; today, this time has been reduced to just 15-20 minutes, which is the time it takes to use the toilet or do some quick shopping,” concluded Lewandowski.
EV Klub Poland is a foundation, established by the Polish Alternative Fuels Association, which aims to actively support the community of EV owners and users in Poland and abroad.
Source: EV Klub Poland and ISBnews
