Electric car future depends on grid, better energy supply says PWC survey

A new report released by PwC shows, among other things, that the biggest barrier to the electric car future is the lack of a robust power grid, and the inability to provide enough power during peak times.

PwC‘s survey of 200 executives in a variety of industries revealed the power grid cannot support a large number of electric cars as it stands today, and the government and industry professionals don’t want to invest in upgrading the grid or installing electric car charging stations because not enough people drive electric cars yet.

See the image below for respondents’ response to the question: “What is the primary roadblock preventing the nation’s power grid from supporting a large number of EVs?”

From this chart, you can see the two biggest factors restricting the evolution of the electric car network is a lack of investment, and a lack of capacity.

Unfortunately, the ‘lack of investment’ presents a “chicken or the egg” situation, where we aren’t sure which has to come first – an investment in a more robust power grid to support a network of EVs, or consumer demand to justify it – but we will not make progress unless one of these factors speeds up.

Keep reading to see some more of the stats and graphs from PwC’s report, Charging Forward: Electric vehicle survey.

What kind of eco friendly vehicle do people want?

When asked which type of alternative fuel technology vehicle provides the best value and practicality, respondents chose Hybrids as the #1 selection, and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) as a close #2. Following those options were Plug-In Electric Vehicles (PEV) and Flex Fuel vehicles.

See the full chart below:

Why would you buy an electric car?

When asked what the primary reason would be to buy an electric car, respondents answered with the following:

Clearly, the most important reason to invest in an electric car is to save money over the long run, but more interesting than that is that 32% answered that consumers would buy an electric car just to help the planet.

Current sources of power for electric vehicles

When you see where the energy that will be powering our electric vehicles comes from, they do not appear to be as green of an option. Still a whopping 45% of the power which is used in the grid is coming from coal.

See the image below for the rest of the energy breakdown:

Global eco friendly vehicle assembly by 2020

This final chart shows the forecast for eco friendly vehicle production – electric and hybrid cars – over the next 10 years.

Let’s hope this forecast is true, and we continue to see green vehicles being produced, and clean power energy sources fueling a more robust grid, to bring the electric car network to realization as soon as possible.