Range
Some people are concerned about the range of an EV. In Jersey, 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 whilst out and about. 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 note 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 would only be able to charge at 11kW.
It is possible to extend your vehicle’s range very quickly using the Evolve chargers. 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 infrastructure in Jersey is future-proofed. Many of the charging locations also have spare capacity to accommodate additional chargers, should demand grow, which is likely following the Government of Jersey’s proposed EV incentive scheme.
Jersey is an ideal place for an EV and hopefully this helps to debunk some of the common misconceptions.
