Electric cars that consume more and more energy at charging stations: what are the consequences?

Electric vehicles currently represent around 2% of vehicles registered in France, and a little over 15% of new sales. The park is therefore still quite limited and does not jeopardize the availability of terminals, which are increasingly numerous in France. But this does not prevent operators distributing final energy to customers from thinking about the future, and in particular when the fleet will be made up of 30 or 40% electric. Decisions have already been made by some, who have chosen… to modulate the power distributed according to schedules and load. This is what Virta, a historic Finnish company which manages an access platform to tens of thousands of terminals in Europe, and particularly in France, is announcing to us. Their updated report gives us a good idea of ​​the meteoric rise in energy consumed at terminals, which can be explained by two things: the ability of vehicles to charge ever faster, and increasingly larger batteries that accept recharges. fast more easily thanks to active cooling.

Energy doubled in 7 years

For the moment, the progression of energy consumed at the terminals is constant, according to Virta. “Throughout this period (2017-2024), we saw a 326-fold increase in annual charging sessions. Even more, the energy charged for each session saw an increase of 121%, from 13.6 kWh/session to 30.1 kWh/session”. Virta cites two other explanations for this increase: “The arrival of cheaper BEVs, with smaller batteries that are recharged more often at public terminals”and electric heavy goods vehicles which are gradually beginning to emerge. Even if it means jeopardizing the quality of service of the terminals in the future?

Less power, less expenses

The Finnish company has already found the solution, which may not please everyone. “Increased energy supply volume directly translates into increased transaction revenues and potential new sources of revenue from participation in energy markets and carbon offsettingexplains Virta. This strengthens the business case for DC fast charging. However, it also highlights the critical need for effective energy management strategies, to minimize capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX).”

To limit OPEX, in particular, Virta offers… power modulation. In other words, the operator offers its customers the possibility of voluntarily limiting the charging speed on certain terminals at certain times, in order to reduce its costs. “For example, Finnish airport operator Finavia supplied 58 MWh of electricity to electric vehicles via its airport chargers in one month. By slightly regulating the charging power for 51 hours (5% of the time), he was able to save 10% on the monthly electricity purchase cost”. Electric motorists will appreciate it. But Virta assures us, this had no consequences for the customers concerned, the operation having been completely transparent for them.