In one of my early columns, I said how much I enjoyed owning and driving an electric vehicle and every article I’ve written so far has aimed to show the benefits and practicalities of having an EV.

Despite my own love of, and confidence in, these vehicles, I am aware that there are still concerns and misconceptions surrounding them. In this column, I will look at some of the worries and try to allay any fears.

  • Range

It is safe to say that some people are concerned about the range of an EV. This is something which puzzles me, particularly in Jersey, where the average distance covered is around 4,000 miles a year, which works out at 77 miles per week.

Vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf – the world’s best-selling electric car – come with a range of battery sizes, the largest delivering up to 239 miles, so there is no need to worry about running out of charge during the school run. Even cars with smaller batteries can still deliver around 80 miles on a single charge.

  • There are not enough charge points

Another worry is that there are not enough charge points in the Island.

Jersey Electricity has invested significantly in this area in recent years. The Evolve public-charging network now features more than 100 charge points across the Island, which means that you are rarely more than a mile and a half away from a charger.

Meanwhile, people with off-road parking spaces can make life even more convenient by installing a charge point at home, which enables you to charge your vehicle easily and economically overnight. Our Easycharge solution offers a fully installed charger, plus inclusive mileage from as little as £30 per month.

  • It takes too long to charge a vehicle

The first thing to say here is that your vehicle will only charge as fast as its on-board battery allows. For example – and please excuse all the numbers in this section – a BMW i3 is fitted with an 11kW on-board charger for AC charging. This means that even when it is connected to a fast charger, such as the 22kW Evolve model, it will only be able to charge at 11kW.

Having said that, it is possible to extend your vehicle’s range very quickly using the Evolve chargers. In fact, if you use one of the 50kW chargers, located at Red Houses, Longbeach and The Powerhouse, it takes just five minutes to add 13 miles (the distance to cross the Island from St Ouen to Gorey Pier) to your vehicle.

  • Evolving the network

The majority of the points on the Evolve network are 22kW.

Most vehicles’ AC batteries are designed to take between 6.6 and 11kW of charge so the Island’s infrastructure is future-proofed.

Many of the charging locations also have spare capacity to accommodate additional chargers should demand grow.

Jersey is an ideal place for an EV and hopefully I have helped to debunk some of the common misconceptions.

Your Customer Number

Your 5 character Customer Number can be found in the top right and bottom left corners of your bill.

Example electricity bill with the customer number highlighted

Daily Service Charge

The Daily Service Charge covers energy support services such as metering, billing, Customer Care, safety obligations and other energy support services.

Off-peak

Off-peak means not at the most popular time. Some of our tariffs provide discounted rates at off-peak times - for example, during certain periods at night.

Off peak charging times

Our current off peak electric vehicles times are from 00:00 to 06:59.

Dedicated supply circuit

A dedicated supply circuit is an electrical circuit that is set aside for a specific purpose, such as powering a boiler. It will work with a single appliance only.

It will have its own circuit breaker in your fuse box, and no other device or appliance will be able to draw power from it. A dedicated supply circuit ensures that appliances can draw the current they need without overloading your system, blowing a fuse or tripping an electric circuit.

Invoice Number

This can be found on the top right corner of your bill here

Example electricity bill with invoice number

Premise Number

This can be found on the top right corner and bottom left corner of your bill.

Example electricity bill with premise number highlighted

Payment Slip

This can be found at the bottom of your bill here

Bill payment slip example

Peak Load

Peak load or peak demand is a short period when the demand for electricity is at its highest.

Kilowatt Hours

Electricity consumption is usually measured in kilowatt hours, or kWh for short. Each kWh of electricity equates to 'one unit of electricity' for billing purposes. A 1kW (1,000 Watts) appliance in use for one hour = 1kWh (one unit). The cost per unit used depends on which tariff you are on.

Three phase

Residential homes are usually served by a single-phase power supply, while commercial and industrial facilities usually use a three-phase supply.

One difference between single-phase and three-phase is that a three-phase power supply better accommodates higher loads. Single-phase power supplies are most commonly used when typical loads are lighting or heating, rather than large electric motors.

Another important difference between 3-phase power and single phase power is the consistency of power delivery. Because of the variations in voltage, single-phase power supply does not offer the same consistency as a three-phase power supply. A three-phase power supply delivers power at a steady, constant rate.

kVA

A kVA is simply 1,000 volt-amps. A volt-amp, or ampere, (VA) is the voltage times the current feeding an electrical load.

Embedded generator

Embedded generators like wind turbines and solar panels are connected to your electricity supply and provide electricity for onsite use. They also have the capability to export back to the grid.

Smart Card Number

Your Smart Card Number is the 19-digit number displayed below the barcode on your Smart Card.

The Smart Card Number also contains your six-digit Meter Number that is also displayed on your meter. You need this to top up a Smart Pay As You Go Meter whether at a Payzone outlet or online.

Example of Smart card for meter charging

Smart Card

A Smart Card contains your unique Smart Card Number used when topping up a Smart Pay As You Go Meter.

Example of a smart card for meter charging

F-Credit

F-credit is a Pay As You Go meter display and means Friendly Credit. It is the period between 9pm and 8am. If the credit on your meter runs out during this period, your supply will remain on until 8am.

Decarbonise

The process of reducing carbon by replacing fossil fuels with fuel that is less harmful to the environment such as low-carbon electricity.

Regenerative braking

With conventional braking systems, the kinetic energy that was propelling the vehicle forward gets converted to unwanted and wasted heat by the friction of the brakes.

Regenerative braking recaptures much of the car's kinetic energy and converts it into electricity, so that it can be used to recharge the car's batteries.

In addition to improving the efficiency of a vehicle, regeneration can significantly extend the life of the braking system, as the mechanical parts will not wear out as quickly.

Power factor

Power factor is the ratio of useful power in kilowatts (kW) to apparent power, measured in kilovolt amperes (kVA). A perfect power factor would be 1.0, however in reality this is almost impossible to achieve. Office buildings are usually between 0.98 and 0.92. Bad power factor is anything below 0.85.

Electric flow boiler

Electric flow boilers are simple to install, quiet in operation, 100% efficient and integrate into most existing radiator or underfloor piped systems. Plus, with no flue or storage tank, an electric boiler is a space-saving option that can be installed almost anywhere in your home.

Approved heating system

A heating system, approved by Jersey Electricity, on a dedicated supply for use on one of our discounted heating tariffs.

To learn more about what's required for an approved heating system, view our current approved heating guidelines.

20-digit payment code

The 20-digit payment code is issued with your receipt for a Pay As You Go (PAYG) meter top-up. If your meter did not charge automatically, you can do it manually with the payment code. Press button A on your meter then key in your 20-digit payment confirmation code on the meter keypad, then press button B. Your meter will recognise the amount paid and charge accordingly.

Single phase

Single-phase power supplies are most commonly used when typical loads are lighting or heating, as in a domestic home, rather than large electric motors and higher loads. Single-phase power is a two-wire alternating current (AC) power circuit.