Global statistics suggest that the market for BEVs and hybrid electric vehicles is expanding, with sales up over 50% yearly. State laws that encourage the purchase or use of electric cars over gasoline-powered cars also contribute to the growth rate.
According to data gathered, over 1.3 million electric cars have been sold in Europe over eight years (source: Wikipedia). According to the Romanian Auto Registry, Romania is still a young market for electric vehicles, with only 1112 electric automobiles.
Romania, like Europe, is increasing at a rapid pace but on a much smaller scale: the number of registered electric vehicles tripled in 2018 compared to 2017.
However, this does not yet appear on the map of electric charging stations. There are around 290 loading locations in Romania.
We ran a study of these places in December 2018 by cities and station type: type 2, CCS / SAE CHAdeMO, and 3Ph, and came up with some intriguing results.
The cities with the most loading locations are Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi, and Cluj-Napoca.
If the national trend of purchasing electric cars is maintained, charging will soon be a difficult task. The stations will be overcrowded with drivers, or the only stations in certain cities will be the last hope of long-distance electric passengers. Often, charging stations do not receive constant maintenance, and their failure can mean days of non-operation, which is terrible news for electric car drivers.
There are two possible solutions to these troublesome situations.
Drivers need a backup plan in these situations. This is always to carry a portable electric charger such as the MIA in the trunk, which can be plugged into a three-phase socket.
Three-phase sockets are usually found at town halls, boarding houses, and restaurants, but other locations can offer three-phase sockets.
In the electric rally made by SafeFleet in Păltiniș, a charging stop was made at the Sebeș town hall, which allowed the charging of 10 electric cars at their socket. Of course, only with portable MIA-type chargers.
Companies are beginning to realize how important a destination becomes to an electric car owner and their general route: where they stop to eat, where they stop to sleep. It all depends on the availability of charging at that location.
If an electric car driver wants to travel, he will choose hotels that allow him to charge quickly. Stops will be calculated based on loads and stations.
It is a premium advantage for these destination-type locations to have destination stations as well - they benefit from a select clientele. They can introduce friendly tariffs to cover their electricity consumption over time.
The Romanian market is still young, but that does not mean that drivers do not have solutions to prepare for long journeys.
And companies could be preparing for their electric clients because they will stop at some point at a location that will help them. Why not be their location?
What do you think? Do you vote for the driver or company option?
