The electric car and nuclear industry – what’s happening?

What is “Charged”?

At the beginning of the conversation, the natural question was “Who are you and what do you do?”. Mr Gūžys explained that at the moment, EVs and EV charging solutions are still new to society, and people need to “get used to them”. This is proven by both the State Enterprise “Regitra” and European statistics – in Lithuania, so far, only two cars out of a thousand are powered by electricity. So it is still an innovation that raises many questions and fears. In this context, the mission of “Charged” is to introduce people to the industry, to make the process of charging an electric car as simple as possible and, of course, to help address the issue of charging station infrastructure in Lithuania.

Development of the electric car industry

According to Mr Gūis, even though the EV industry is only 10 years old, it already has a number of advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. The first advantage is that EVs are more energy efficient. As much as 80-90% of the energy consumed by EVs is used for energy efficiency. The energy goes to the wheels, while VDVs are only 40% efficient. The second is that there are 100 times fewer moving parts in an EV, which results in minimal maintenance costs. The third is that an electric car is more efficient in the city (VDV cars are more efficient in the countryside) because they use virtually no brake pads. They are only used in emergency situations where braking has to be done mechanically. In the normal case, braking is done by an internal inverter. In this way, the electricity is fed back into the battery. So if your daily routes are limited to urban areas, this is a great way to drive more economically. On average, an electric car consumes 15-20 kWh/100 km. In the countryside, electricity consumption is higher because of the higher speeds involved. Also, most electric cars have only one gear and the high speeds mean that the engine has to run faster, which reduces efficiency.

Both agreed that people such as Tesla founder Elon Musk have contributed to the development of electric car technology. He has shown that this innovation is applicable to everyday life. Of course, the development of electric cars is also driven by environmental and global warming issues, which are regulated by various laws. For example, car manufacturers have to take into account CO2 emissions. It has to fit within the limits set. Otherwise, heavy fines await, but car manufacturers have found a solution to this. Tesla, for example, produces only electric cars, so there is no need to worry about CO2 emissions – they have free ‘quotas’. These are sold to other car manufacturers at a lower price than the amount of the fine for exceeding the CO2 limit.

Electric car batteries are becoming more efficient

The development of technology is not limited to batteries for electric cars. Their capacity is increasing, with more and more energy packed into one kilogram. This leads to a greater range, which, according to Mr Gūis, is one of the most important questions and fears he hears from customers, but there is nothing to fear. Practically all electric cars with a battery capacity of more than 60 kWh can drive from Vilnius to Palanga on a single charge. Another important aspect is that the batteries are gradually becoming cheaper, which is particularly important as they are one of the most expensive components, often accounting for up to half the price of an electric car.

It is also important to know that the law protects consumers’ rights and that when you buy an electric car, the manufacturer will give you a warranty period of 8 years or 160 000 km, whichever comes first. The battery’s efficiency cannot drop below 70% during that period. Once this has been reached, you should already be thinking about replacing the battery, as the battery becomes unpredictable (e.g. from a 20% battery life to 0% can be faster than normal). However, used batteries are not discarded. They can serve as emergency energy sources (in case of power failure) or as energy storage, e.g. for solar modules. They can also be recycled and used in new electric car models.

And how can you cover longer distances more easily?

P. Gūžys, CEO of “Įkrautas”, shared two mobile apps that will make planning journeys easier and longer distances less daunting.

The first mobile application is ABRP. It allows you to choose the model of your electric car and provides information about it. This includes average energy consumption, maximum speed calculation (if you need to get to a bus stop and the battery is running low, the mobile app will calculate the maximum speed you can drive to reach the stop). You can also set up your route, finding not only the exact locations of charging stops, but also information about charging points, activities near them and even estimated charging times.

The second mobile app is Plugshare. It shows all charging points. People can check that they have charged their electric car at the corresponding charging point and that the session was successful. This way, when you open the information about the stop, you can see who has been charging and how successful it was.

Nuclear energy

V. Astromskas, creator of the “Simply Podcast”, presented the energy situation in the world. He shared memories of a scientific conference in Belgium. The global energy profile is distributed as follows: 5-6% nuclear, 12-15% wind and solar and about 1% other energy sources. Coal and gas make up the largest remaining share.

However, global warming risks and industrial development factors will change the profile over the coming decades. Nuclear power is set to double, wind and solar to become the main source of energy, and fossil fuels to be minimised and used only in exceptional cases. Only in this way will risks be reduced.

V. Astromskas provided interesting facts about nuclear energy. It is the most efficient form of energy (up to 99% efficient) and has recently been awarded green energy status. There is also no need to worry about possible incidents. Reactors are very advanced and if there is a malfunction, it would have no consequences as the reactor is immediately shut down and immersed in water, which prevents further reactions.

So the technology behind electric vehicles and their charging principles is advancing rapidly. However, these steps are accompanied by fears and questions. Nuclear energy is also surrounded by doubts, due to past events. In fact, few people are aware that both industries are achieving incredible efficiency and are market leaders in their respective markets. They are also both environmentally friendly, which is particularly important in the context of global warming and pollution limits.