“Will the networks cope with EV charging?”

It’s a question we keep getting asked at Savic Motorcycles. As one of the country’s premier electric vehicle companies, we felt we had something of a duty to gather the facts and present you with some properly researched advice on charging your C-Series at home – and how it might compare to charging an electric car.

Fortunately, one of our most loyal and engaged customers works for an electricity distribution company, and has helped us to unravel the facts and present them in an easily digestible form.

Getting the timing right

There have been quite a lot of articles written lately about charging EVs at home – although by EVs, most people mean cars. Most of these articles proffer one overriding piece of advice: don’t charge your EV during times when the network has its heaviest or “peak” demand (from 6am to 8am, when we all shower and make breakfast; and more so the evenings from 4pm to 9pm, when we cook, use hot water, turn on the air-con, and a whole lot of other things).

So that leaves at least 17 hours on any given day to charge your EV. That should be plenty of time to be flexible with charging, and find the cheapest or most renewable means of charging.

If you have access to solar power (at home or work), charging during the day should mean free or cheap charging. 1 It also means that all the solar power flooding the networks can be put to good use. Charging after 9pm to early morning might not mean renewable energy – but it can also be very cheap. There are quite a few energy retailers who have tariffs with EV charging in mind, or just cheap rates during the day and overnight. If they’re offering them, why not use them?

If you prefer a traditional flat rate “at any time” for your electricity, you can still do the right thing. Timers at the power point, or using the smart apps that come with many EVs, can make this even easier. So why would you want to do anything else?

Doing your sums

If the average EV car’s daily travel is about 40km, that will equate to about 10 kWh. 2 Topping that up daily with a normal power point takes no more than five hours. If you drive hundreds of kilometres each day, you might need a faster charger – but again, those 17 hours should give you plenty of time to complete your charging.

So, what about motorbikes? Savic Motorcycles’ Alpha and Delta models are charged using a normal power point. Our 16.2 kWh battery can be filled from empty to full in about eight hours – or one easy overnight charge. Install a 15-amp power point and that time reduces to just over 4.5 hours, with additional “top ups” taking even less time. So, whether you’re using your C-Series for your daily commute or your weekend ride, you should always have enough time to charge it conveniently.

Power point charging doesn’t seem to be a concern to the networks, but nonetheless the same principles for charging should apply to either (i) get the cheapest or (ii) get the cleanest charging you can.

The more EVs that are charging at home, the more important the fundamentals of good charging practice become. The longer that EV charging is kept out of daily “peak” periods, the better for us all – regardless of how many wheels or propellers you may have (yep, we’re talking electric motorboats here too!). The networks should cope for many years without EVs becoming a burden on the system, or needing to build more capacity to support EV charging.

Charging on the road

Charging your EV while on the road is a different kettle of fish. But from a network point of view, when EV charging companies want to install their equipment in public charging stations, they’ll plan it directly with the networks to ensure that potential demand is met. (As long as the chargers are all working, of course – but that’s a different conversation entirely!)

Most electricity networks and retailers have information on EV charging, which you can find via their websites. Some will give you information about an emerging opportunity called Vehicle to Grid (V2G), through which you’ll be able to use your EV battery to supply some of your household needs – helping the networks and even, potentially, making a little money. Will “Savic Power” become a thing one day?

But for now, the story of EV charging remains basically the same. Solar power charging is probably the best and cheapest, and it should be simple to find a local retailer with a tariff that suits your needs. But just remember to stay away from “peak” times at all times. As long as you do, your bills will stay small – and the networks will manage just fine.

More reading

EV Charging At Home: A guide from the Electric Vehicle Council
EV charging habits: A consumer’s experience from The Driven