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high petrol prices affect charging usage

Since January, the public charging stations for electric cars have been used considerably more than in the same period last year. It is not surprising that the corona measures have had a major impact on the charging behavior of electric drivers. What is striking is that charging station use has also increased compared to the period before corona. The rising trend can be seen throughout the Netherlands. The largest increase in absolute volumes can be found in Amsterdam and the surrounding area. At 35%, the strongest increase in consumption per charge point per day can be seen at Vattenfall's fast charge points. 

Vattenfall sees the charging consumption on its own network increase by almost 45% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first three months of 2021. And compared to March 2020, that increase even increases to 83%. The increase can be explained by the fact that the Netherlands was in lockdown and there were fewer traffic movements. The impact of covid can already be seen from the end of February 2020, when the virus first circulated in the Netherlands. The number of kilowatt hours charged per charging point per day is on average 2020% lower in 30 and during lockdowns last year than before. At the fast chargers at McDonalds, there was hardly any charging anymore in corona time. The sharpest drop, of 90%, can be seen there between February 2020 and April 2020.

But also looking at the charging behavior before corona, the increase in charging consumption is significant. “The increase can partly be explained by the fact that more charging stations have simply been added. But we see an increase in consumption of 20% to 30% per charge point per day compared to pre-covid. That means more loading as a whole. Moreover, it is striking that 20% more is loaded per session. One explanation for this is, among other things, the larger battery capacity of the electric cars that have come onto the market,” says Pieter van Ommeren, Director Vattenfall InCharge in the Netherlands.

“The sustainability awareness among both consumers and companies plays a major role in explaining the increase in charging station consumption. An increasing number of consumers are consciously opting for a more sustainable electric car and companies are also becoming increasingly active in electrifying their fleet. With the increase in the range of cars with a longer range, we see that more and more people are making the switch to electric.”

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Vattenfall-BMW i3

Van Ommeren also expects that the high petrol prices will influence charging use: “Electric driving is much cheaper than driving on petrol. With the current high petrol and electricity prices, electric driving still saves more than half in costs.” A calculation example: The average electric car needs about 20 kilowatt hours (kWh) to drive 100 kilometers. Assuming an energy price of 0,40 euros per kWh, you arrive at a price of 8 euros for that distance. For 100 kilometers driving with a petrol car, you will lose about 2 euros with the current fuel price of about 15 euros (at 7,7 l/100 km).

Electric driving is rapidly gaining ground. It is expected that in 2030 there will be approximately 1,9 million electric passenger cars on the road in the Netherlands. More charging infrastructure is essential to provide all these cars with power and logically contributes to increasing charging station consumption. Vattenfall alone has installed more than 4.500 charging stations since the beginning of 2020. In total, approximately 40.000 charging stations have been added since the beginning of 2020 (source CBS).

Also read: VDL wins order for electric buses

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