Is the world ready for an electric vehicle revolution?

There are over 10 million electric cars on the road globally
after a decade of rapid growth, representing around 1% of the
world’s car stock. But there are questions about whether there is
the infrastructure to match. In many countries there are not
enough chargers being installed to cope with the number of
electric cars being sold. There are also doubts about whether
existing electricity grids have the ability to store enough
capacity to cope with charging demand and whether the amount of
energy required can be fulfilled by green electricity alone.


This week we look at Norway, an early adopter to electric
vehicles, or EVs, and have been through a quick adaption period
in which they improved their electricity grid to support night
time charging, as well as improving the network of fast chargers
around the country to enable EVs to take their drivers long
distances.


We then look at Vancouver in Canada has been looking at ways in
which they can improve their EV infrastructure, to encourage the
public to make the switch away from internal combustion engines.
But do they have enough public chargers to serve those without
access to their own private driveway?


And finally we take a look at how Sub-Sahara Africa is
electrifying motorbikes and minibuses. Many rural communities
remain off-grid because demand for electricity is so low that it
is not financially viable for them to build the infrastructure.
For these rural areas, electric vehicles will bring a solid
demand for electricity, bringing the potential for companies to
make a profit from introducing solar mini-grids to those
communities that don’t yet have electricity.


Mora Morrison and Jordan Dunbar are joined by: Christina Bu,
Secretary General of Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association
Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai, Founder of Electric Drive Africa Ian
Neville, Senior Sustainability Specialist for the City of
Vancouver With special thanks to Katherine Collett from the
Energy and Power Group at the University of Oxford.


Producer: Dearbhail Starr Researchers: Immie Rhodes and Lauren
Stanley Reporter in Vancouver: Max Collins Series Producer: Alex
Lewis Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith