Heliox Blog

Decarbonising deliveries

Admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 12:12:48 GMT

To cut its carbon footprint, Netherland's based supermarket chain Albert Heijn is transitioning to electric vehicles – and Heliox is at the heart of its plans.

Interview: Heliox and First Bus power UK’s largest fast-charging depot

Admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 14:36:24 GMT

First Bus Caledonia Bus Depot and Heliox have made history by installing the UK’s largest fast-charging e-bus site to date. Heliox installed a total of 80 Rapid 150kW Modular (160 DC outlets) chargers and two 40kW Mobile chargers. The depot is fully capable of simultaneously charging 162 vehicles with a total installed power of 12MW.

Here, Property Project Manager at First Bus, David Seaton shares his insights on the project, working with Heliox, and the benefits of electric transport for cities and residents.

The Impact Of E-Truck Adoption

Admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 13:12:14 GMT

Fleet operators are already investing in electric vehicles (EVs), with greater numbers of electric vans and trucks forecast to hit the roads across the EU. The technology is ready to scale, but there are significant barriers to widespread adoption, including a lack of public rapid charging infrastructure that could slow adoption and limit environmental benefits. We explore the impact widespread E-Truck adoption could have on operators, the public, and our planet – and what companies can do to prepare.

Why electric trucks make the difference

Admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 08:29:34 GMT

How electric trucks can boost savings for businesses and supercharge the EU’s green transport plans.

Trucks, heavy goods vehicles and freight transport is big business. In the EU alone, trucks generate €4.9 billion in annual trade surplus. With the revolution in e-mobility well underway, e-trucks hold a great deal of promise and potential for both decarbonising transport and streamlining operations and maintenance costs for businesses. In this article, we dive into why the future of trucks is electric, and how EV-truck fleets can make the difference for a sustainable businesses model and healthy environment.

4 Top Tips for Designing the Ideal EV Depot

Admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:44:06 GMT

For fleet managers, future-proofing transport services is vital. Going electric with your fleet can yield huge advantages including reduced costs and maintenance with minimal service disruption. But how do you get started? In this blog, we’re offering the top 4 things you need to know to get started designing the ideal EV depot for your fleet.

DC Charging: A complete Guide to Hardware

Admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 07:31:00 GMT

DC charging is the most effective way of powering an electric vehicle battery. Scientists and engineers have made incredible progress. A new generation of DS fast chargers allow even faster recharges of up to 80% of total capacity in less than an hour.

How to get started with EV charging: a guide for public and private fleet operator

Admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 07:32:00 GMT

Global surface transport by road and rail accounts for a staggering 37% of the world’s CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Fortunately, the green transport revolution is underway, with governments and policymakers across Europe incentivising the uptake of electric vehicles for private, public and commercial use. For fleet managers there is a lot to consider on the road to zero emissions transport. That’s why, at Heliox, we’ve outlined all you need to know before making the decision to switch to a future-proof, electrified fleet.

Why Fuel Retailers Should Add EV Chargers to Their Gas Stations

Admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 23:00:00 GMT

What are the gains for retailers? Would it help retailers maintain traffic, volume, meet emission goals and even reduce demand for standard fuel.

‍Can consumers be assured that their vehicles will be charged in a convenient and comfortable manner?

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With ever-increasing concern for environmentally friendly and sustainable behavior, fuel stations may soon start taking on a whole new meaning. Will retailers create a new avenue for forecourts with convenient and comfortable EV charging stations across the globe or are strategies like these too far ahead of their time?

As gas prices climb, and many believe it will continue to increase in the coming years, more consumers are looking for alternative ways to get their hands on fuel. As electric vehicle adoption increases at a rapid pace, fuel retailers have no choice but to consider whether they should start adding EV chargers to these stations.

90% of drivers who made the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) are finding no desire to turn back to their less environmentally friendly vehicles. The evidence points towards an electrified future where the need of charging stations to power this shift to electric mobility is a fact.

Will this be a new avenue for forecourts and retailers to reduce emission goals? Can consumers be assured that their vehicles will be charged in a convenient and comfortable manner?

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Benefits of adding EV charge points to gas stations

There are many advantages to adding EV charging stations to gas stations. From providing a new convenience to consumers, to helping retailers meet emission goals and even reduce demand for standard fuel. Demand for such a service is likely to explode as more businesses and residential properties add charging points, making fueling stations less relevant.

Gas stations and retailers are in a unique position to help accelerate EV adoption by making charging as easy and pleasant as possible. In the process, the retailers help themselves with renewed interest in visiting the fuel retails even with EVs. Of course, it will be more challenging to serve customers at slow charging speeds, but with the developments taking place in the industry many electric vehicles are increasing their ranges and sooner than later this is not going to be an obstacle anymore.

EV chargers are divided into two key types: AC chargers and DC fast chargers. These two types are identified based on charging speeds needed for each type of EV. Some models will take several hours to charge if plugged into a charger, others need a few minutes only when plugged into a DC charger. Typically using rapid chargers ranging at 175kW, it takes 10 minutes for an EV to be charged from 0-80%. A charging hub is a public station solely designed for rapid electric charging.

Since 2020, over 5000 petrol stations have closed in the UK, signaling the onset of a paradigm shift. With Shell’s recent conversion of its Fulham fueling station to the first-of-its-kind electric charging hub, forecourts and retailers have some serious questions to address if they want to continue to remain alive and competitive.

Charging hubs can be built on existing petrol stations premises like Shells or as standalone stations. In some cases, there are even more services than just EV chargers - these stations could offer solar panels while also adding functionality like car washes and grocery stores such that all shopping needs can be accomplished at one station. This model, which is not far from some of the actual petrol stations’ provisions, is helping make the switch.

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How do EV charging stations’ future plans look like?

The benefits of retrofitting petrol stations to charging hubs is straightforward. By using petrol stations’ existing infrastructure, forecourts and retailers can avoid investments in electricity upgrades and be cost efficient. In fact, they can use EV charging as an additional revenue stream to drive footfall into their retail shops on top of charging services.

What's more, charging hubs can help forecourts mitigate unexpected price fluctuations and spikes associated with renewable energy, by balancing demand and supply via the need for more electricity and the strain on power grids. An anticipated energy congestion will cause the cost of electricity delivered to potentially increase by 20% in 2050 when building out renewable power assets and grid infrastructure. Thus, smart energy solutions pivoting towards charging hubs allows for cost-saving practices by using existing locations whilst also serving customers growing needs

Converting gas stations to EV charging hubs is no easy feat, especially without the right guidance, infrastructure and future-proof outlook. Reliability and interoperability are two key “need-to-haves" which make the switch further daunting.

Let’s consider a step-wise approach, the Heliox way. First, are the infrastructure considerations. In comparison to a relatively standardised gas station, an EV charging station/hub involves considerations around power generation, type of charging points to be used (today, and potentially in the future), and the charge cycles. It's important to remember that every charger will increase electricity demand while promoting cleaner transport.

Second, to incorporate potential growth in size and scale of supply as a response to increased demand, provisioning for future growth and technological upgradations are also key considerations. The size of the charger is bound to shrink, but if your own growth exceeds the rate of shrinkage, capacity within the existing premises is a key consideration.

And finally, whilst charging times can range from 10 minutes to 45 for a basic EV, what extra accessorizing could be carried out to add to a station’s business case?

A drive down some key roads of global cities, and the shift to EV is palpable. Developing the charging experience to be as similar or better than the current fueling experience will be key to helping consumers make the switch. And in this process, if traditional fuel stations can identify infrastructure and business design, this would be a win-win for fuel retailers and EV drivers in the quest for sustainable transportation and green alternatives.

Charging technology continues to change, with many options and alternatives open to manufacturers. At Heliox, we can provide expert insight and advice to help you identify the charging hardware you need to power your fleet and accelerate your business. Get in touch with one of our experts.

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Images Credits: Heliox

The Net Zero Transition in Green Transport – Winners and Losers – a Heliox Study

Admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 23:00:00 GMT

What are European nations and US states doing in terms of green transport to become more sustainable for their citizens and the planet?

Data on European countries Net Zero aspirations shows the Netherlands is leading the charge with its access to EV chargers and its plans to phase out fossil fuels.

The infrastructure investment has accelerated the ambitious net zero plans in the US, where access to EV chargers and green public transportation make California champion.

‍The recent adoption of green transport in some countries is indicative of the shift to more environmentally friendly practices taking place around the world. While not all aspects of this shift may be known, there are places that are making headway into green transport.

But what measures are governments and leaders taking to curb carbon emission and improve transportation? Which country or state is doing the most? In this article you will find out how Europe's top countries and U.S. states rank in comparison.

Heliox has conducted research evaluating EU countries and US states across a series of criteria to measure intent and actions towards this green transport transition, and now releases the rankings of the most advanced countries in Europe and states in the US when it comes to achieving green transport goals.

The piece will review the top 10 for each region, highlighting each major country and state, and evaluating them using a combination of criteria including: access to public transportation; availability of green public transportation; public EV charging stations; green passenger vehicle incentives; zero emission goals; and phase out and net zero.

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Smaller countries rank top for navigating the green transport challenges in Europe

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From an overall evaluation, European countries are committed to meeting their sustainable goals by expanding green vehicles and reducing carbon emissions. The analysis found that the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark rank higher are the most advanced countries in terms of green transportation initiatives and infrastructure. These European countries expressed their commitment by improving access to public transportation and promoting the use of green passenger car vehicles, and short-term net zero goals. The United Kingdom, Estonia, France, Lithuania, and Austria rounded out the Top 10 list.

Providing insight into the findings, Michael Colijn, CEO of Heliox, “though operating in different manners these countries are leading the charge with their multifaceted approach, bringing them a step closer to a zero-emission future. So much so that they’re leaving a blueprint for every country to follow suit in their decarbonization journey”.

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Despite larger nations such as the UK, France and Germany planning to invest a total of €200 billion to meet net zero goals, smaller countries such as Luxembourg and Sweden rank above them. The Netherlands, which has the greatest EV charger infrastructure with more than 90.000 charger locations, has outlined an ambitious goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 and for 100% of vehicle sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030.

Because Sweden, Luxembourg and Estonia have small populations we can expect them to have a larger density of EV chargers. However, except for Luxembourg, their economic incentives to promote green transport are what is boosting their overall position. Estonia was ranked the most favorably for economic incentives for private EVs, offering their citizens up to €18K which is limited to a maximum of  50 percent of the vehicle price, whilst the UK and the Netherlands ranked 19th and 20th.

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California, New York, and Washington: the most committed states to green transportation initiatives and infrastructure

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The infrastructure investments have accelerated the already ambitious net zero plans of the top ten states on our list by making billions of dollars available to replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles.  When combined with EV passenger vehicle infrastructure and subsidies and ambitious net zero goals, five states rose above the rest. The analysis finds that California, New York, Washington, District of Columbia, and Massachusetts are the most committed to green transportation initiatives and infrastructure. Rounding out the Top 10 list are Vermont, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, and Oregon.

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“These states are leading the way–and providing a blueprint for other states–in their multifaceted approach to cutting carbon and envisioning a zero emissions future,” said David Aspinwall, president of Heliox in North America.

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California demonstrated a commitment to both greening their public transportation and promoting the use of green passenger vehicles through economic incentives, charger availability, and net zero goals. Los Angeles, like the Netherlands in Europe, has outlined an ambitious goal to become carbon neutral, and for 100% of vehicle sales to be zero-emission, by 2030.

New York’s promotion of public transport, and its support of electric passenger vehicles with a commitment to install 50,000 chargers by 2030, have made the state another emerging leader in green transportation. Washington State’s generous sales tax exemption for the purchase of new or used clean alternative fuel passenger vehicles and its zero emission vehicle grants are helping catalyze the shift to electric transportation across the Pacific Northwest. Massachusetts also makes the top five as the state with the second highest EV charging density (1:1500 ports/residents), as well as being top three in EV incentive funding both the purchase of electric vehicles and EV charging infrastructure.

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Promoting green transport for a greener world

Creating a world where environmental pollution is minimized, eliminated, guarded against. Hopefully, as countries invest in being more sustainable and preserving the environment, the future of green transport presents many options to reduce our carbon footprint without requiring substantial changes to our lifestyles. Imagine a world where it will soon be possible for everyone to commute one way or the other without the process being too hurtful for our planet. That sounds like a world worth living in - and it is totally feasible and accessible, as we can already see.

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Thumbnail image by: Mirco Hunziker

The Power Revolution: Battery and Charging Technologies for the Transition to EVs

Admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 23:00:00 GMT

Are we on the verge of a power revolution?

In this article, we’ll be looking at four new battery and charging technologies that could accelerate the transition to EV mass adoption and reduce e-mobility’s reliance on harmful fossil fuels. But first, let’s take a look at the current bottlenecks and hurdles for the EV industry.

The two main bottlenecks for the mass adoption of the EV industry are the manufacturing of battery cells to keep up with global demand and the successful rollout of workable public charging stations to keep vehicles on the move. Consumers prefer to wait for technology to mature before buying, and manufacturers don’t tend to invest in technology until they see demand from consumers. This is referred to as the chicken and egg problem and it’s happening in the EV world.
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According to Graham Anderson, industry and commodities expert:

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“If we are to get anywhere near our emissions targets and maximise the development of EVs, we need significant investment in both manufacturing capacity and the raw materials supply chains – and we will need it soon.”

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In general, battery voltage and battery density are improving over time which is helping our chicken and egg problem, but some scientists and research companies are hoping for a ‘hail mary’ breakthrough which will open up our EV bottlenecks and allow fast mass adoption to take place. Is this even possible? What does the future hold for batteries and charging technology and how else can we alleviate these bottlenecks before a major breakthrough occurs?

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1. Ultra-Fast chargers

In essence, there are three types of charging speeds:

Slow or overnight chargers: 3 kWh – 7 kWh (mainly used at home)
Fast chargers: 7 kWh - 22 kWH (mainly used at business locations and car parks etc)
Ultra-fast chargers: 50 kWh to 300 – 350 kWh+ (mainly used for rapid charging of EVs and larger commercial vehicles)

Why is charging speed so important? Well, it comes back to our bottlenecks. Speed of charge, which in turn makes charging more convenient and also significantly reduces range-anxiety – are cited as main factors in hindering widespread EV adoption. According to Mer Energy:

“For a typical electric vehicle with a battery size of 62kWh, and a range of 200-240 miles, a 15 minute charge at a 150 kilowatt charge point would deliver a range of 120-145 miles.”

Considering most EV drivers on-the-go need to stop for food, a comfort break and to stretch their legs, 15-minutes is more than acceptable for most people. The reality of on-the-go charging right now is not of speeds that would allow this kind of turn around. But that is changing rapidly.

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2. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers

So vehicle-to-grid technology is already here, but it’s certainly not top of the list of most consumers or businesses. The chargers in most cases are too bulky and too expensive. But this is changing. Prices are coming down as well as the size of the units and clients are enquiring more and more about future-proof chargers.

What exactly is V2G? These chargers allow electric vehicles to be much more than just transportation devices. This technology allows EV batteries to store energy and release it back to the electricity network when needed. For example, when demand on the grid is high or when there are power outages due to adverse weather conditions or infrastructure problems or upgrades. According to Virta Global:

“Globally there will be 140-240 million electric vehicles by 2030. This means that we'll have at least 140 million tiny energy storages on wheels with an aggregated storage capacity of 7 TWh.”

This grid balancing technology will become ubiquitous in chargers of the future and consumers and businesses will expect it to come as standard in the not too distant future.

3. Mobile chargers and battery swap technology

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One potentially disruptive technology is that of battery swapping. You drive in and a mere three minutes later you have a fully charged new battery automatically added and your old one is taken out and begins recharging as you drive off. It seems ideal.

So, why hasn’t it taken off yet and will it be the future of charging? Some EV manufacturers like Nio in China seem to think so, but there are hurdles. According to Jeremy Michalek,

“Since batteries are so expensive, bulky and resource-intensive, creating vast networks of swappable packs—which must be stored, kept charged and maintained—would be a waste of money and resources, while expanding carbon footprints. Many surplus batteries would end up sitting around, waiting for customers. Ultimately, customers would absorb these exorbitant costs. Seeing the conundrum, swap proponents have begun touting the possibility of stored batteries returning power to the grid.”

With battery manufacturing being a major obstacle, the world cannot afford for precious battery packs to be laying around unused and ready to go.

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Mobile chargers are certainly not new, but their use case and demand is growing as the EV adoption curve moves up and to the right. With mobile charging, there’s no need for structural changes, no huge financial outlays, and no more problems for EV fleets who need fast roadside charges – which is one of the first applications of mobile charging packs.

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4. Battery tech - solid state & lithium sulfur

What about battery packs that charge in seconds, last for days and can start charging over the air with no wires needed? Sounds idyllic. Well it might not be that far away. According to the Harvard Gazette:

“Long-lasting, quick-charging batteries are essential to the expansion of the electric vehicle market, but today’s lithium-ion batteries fall short of what’s needed — they’re too heavy, too expensive and take too long to charge.”

A lithium-metal battery is considered the holy grail for battery chemistry because of its high capacity and energy density. This battery technology could increase the lifetime of electric vehicles to that of petrol powered cars — 10 to 15 years — without the need to replace the battery.

Lithium-sulfur batteries could also outperform lithium-ion. The new battery technology is said to have a lower environmental impact than lithium-ion and lower manufacturing costs, while offering the potential to power a vehicle for 1000km (620 miles), or a smartphone for 5 days.

Rather than using costly cobalt, which is vulnerable to fragile global supply chains, they use sulfur, which is a cheap raw material available as a by-product of the oil industry. And their costs per unit of power can offer substantial savings. There are however a few problems with this type of technology. The main problem is that current lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries cannot be recharged enough times before they fail to make them commercially viable. It is all in the internal chemistry: charging a Li-S battery causes a build-up of chemical deposits that degrade the cell and shorten its lifespan.
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Another potential breakthrough comes from NIMS or the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan which is developing a Lithium-Air battery. Their prototype has an energy density of over 500Wh/kg. By comparison, lithium-ion batteries found in Tesla vehicles have an energy density of 260Wh/kg. This type of tech could even be used in the advancement of electric planes. According to NIMS:

““Lithium-air batteries have the potential to be the ultimate rechargeable batteries: they are lightweight and high capacity, with theoretical energy densities several times that of currently available lithium ion batteries,”

Other technologies include capturing energy from WiFi, sound, nature and even sweat! Sweat for example could be used to power wearables when exercising. So the possibilities for battery charging technology are endless. The main thing for consumers and businesses is that they are safe, cheap, reliable and ubiquitous. No easy task. But the brightest minds are on it.