What If we all Drove Electric Vehicles?

What If we all Drove Electric Vehicles?

Electric vehicles could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provided the electricity required to power them is from renewable generation. However currently New Zealand has so few electric vehicles that we are not seeing any benefit, the Director of UC’s Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre), Dr Allan Miller says.

Dr Miller will deliver a free public lecture on electric vehicles and their potential in New Zealand at the What if Wednesday lecture series at University of Canterbury on Wednesday 27 May.  See here for more information: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/wiw/ 

“Light passenger vehicles are a large contributor to New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions because our vehicle fleet is almost entirely based on inefficient fossil fuel powered internal combustion engine vehicles. Converting to electric vehicles would make a tangible difference to our emissions, but would require the additional electricity consumption to be met with new renewable energy,” Dr Miller says.

However, Dr Miller says there are other environmental aspects to consider, and the impact on the grid of many electric vehicles switching on at once to charge requires careful management. There will be a need for skills and training in New Zealand to cope with such issues from the rise of new technologies in the electricity sector, including electric vehicles.

As well has his role at EPEC, Dr Miller is also the Director of the GREEN Grid research programme looking at integrating renewable energy and other new technology into the national grid.

ENDS

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