Study: European EV roll out could slash grid costs by up to €1.3bn

Electric vehicles (EVs) could save the UK, France, Italy, and Spain between €500m and €1.3bn each year as the countries switch to renewable energy thanks to the utilisation of emerging smart charging and vehicle-to-grid technologies.

That is the central conclusion of a major new study released by European think tank Transport & Environment this week, which argues the growing market for EVs has a critical catalysing role to play in the transition towards ultra-low carbon energy infrastructure.

Researchers from Element Energy, which undertook the study, detailed how smart charging systems can help avoid peaks in electricity demand and provide extra storage on the power grid when there are oversupplies of renewable electricity, thereby reducing the need to build additional grid storage and power plants.

However, to take advantage of the savings opportunities, the EU and member states need to ensure all new EV charging infrastructure is smart charging-capable, according to green NGO Transport & Environment, which commissioned the study alongside energy giants Enel and Iberdrola, and carmaker Renault.

Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles and e-mobility manager at T&E, said that far from overloading Europe's power grids, EVs could spare grids from costly upgrades and allow more renewables to come online faster. "All that's needed is to charge them at the right time of day, for example during daytime in sunny countries," she explained.

The report also looks at potential future markets for reusing old EV batteries, which it estimates could cut costs for businesses by 42 per cent compared to the price of installing new batteries.

Potential uses for second-life EV batteries include power storage applications in places such as EV fleet depots to help charge electric bus fleets at night, the report explains.

However, the report states that Europe does not currently have enough capacity to recycle batteries from EVs which are already on the roads, and many facilities are only able to handle lead acid batteries rather than the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars.

"Recycling is not only a key pillar of sustainable battery production, it also has huge potential to keep critical metals such as cobalt and lithium in Europe, creating new green industries and jobs along the way," Poliscanova added. "Today the EU is not ready to capture these valuable materials. The next Commission should present a green industrial strategy with electromobility and batteries at its core."