As electric vehicle use increases the availability and access of (EV) charging will become an increasingly important factor for a broad range of electric vehicle users.
What is (EV) charging?
An (EV) charge point is a piece of street furniture that is used to supply electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, Battery (BEV), Plug in Hybrid (PHEV).
To facilitate charging, (EV) charge points come in a range of charge point types.

Standard charge points: ​

​

• Charge an (EV) at up to 3kW.
• Makes use of a normal household 3 pin plug connector to draw power.
• Time to charge the (EV) 6 – 9 hours.

 
 Fast charge points

• Charge an (EV) at up to 7kW - 22kW.
• Common type of charge point for workplaces, public car parks, food stores and leisure centres.
• Time to charge the (EV) 2 – 4 hours.

 
Rapid charge points

​Electric vehicle charging infrastructure allows consumers to charge their electric vehicle by buying electricity. Often described as the “chicken or egg” problem electric vehicles won’t be popular until charging is readily available and charging won’t be widely deployed until electric vehicles are popular.
Recently a report from the International Energy Agency, (IEA) claims to the year ending 2019 there are now 7.3 million chargers worldwide, unfortunately 6.5 million chargers are private charge points found in homes and places of work.
On the positive, the report also had good news for public charging stations, which they believe grew 60% last year:
“Publicly accessible chargers accounted for 12% of global light-duty vehicle chargers in 2019, most of which are slow chargers. Globally, the number of publicly accessible chargers (slow and fast) increased by 60% in 2019 compared with the previous year, higher than the electric light-duty vehicle stock growth.”

​As shown in the table above there are now over 18,000 public charge points in 11,500 locations across the UK, these will include over 1,000 rapid charge points and new charge points are being added daily.
 
Rapid charge points which allow an electric vehicle to be charged in approximately 20 minutes can now be found in majority of motorway service stations across the UK. 
 
Need a charge?  Check out the location map at Zap Map, https://www.zap-map.com/live/

Battery electric vehicles, (BEVs) & hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, (FCEVs) don't produce any pollution at the tailpipe however, both have the potential to produce pollution when their "fuel" is created.

• The fuel that a (BEV) runs on is electricity, this is used to charge the batteries.
• The fuel that a (FCEV) runs on is hydrogen, this is used to generate the electricity.

 
Are (FCEVs) greener than (BEVs)?

• A (FCEV) runs on a motor powered by electricity.
• What makes a (FCEV) different from a (BEV) is where the electricity comes from.

 
Hydrogen Fuel Cell

• Instead of using a battery, a (FCEV) makes use of a hydrogen fuel cell.
• The hydrogen fuel cell is a device that converts chemical potential energy (energy stored in molecular bonds) into electrical energy. 
• In a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2) is used as the fuel.
• The hydrogen fuel cell takes hydrogen the most abundant element in the universe and generates electricity from it while the vehicle is running.
• The waste products of the reaction in the fuel cell are water, electricity, and heat.

 
How does the Hydrogen Fuel Cell work?

• A hydrogen atom consists of a (PROTON), this has the positive electric charge and an (ELECTRON), this has a negative electric charge.  Note, hydrogen is the smallest, lightest atom in the universe.
• Inside the hydrogen fuel cell both the hydrogen’s (PROTON) and (ELECTRON) are separated.
• The flow of (ELECTRONS) are free to go their own way to become the electricity that runs the vehicle’s motor.
• For the (PROTON) this becomes a hydrogen ion, this is a hydrogen atom with a positive electric charge, it will bond together with any oxygen atoms in the vicinity to form water.
• Note, water is nothing more than two hydrogen ions with an oxygen atom attached. This process releases a lot of heat so the water becomes steam and the steam becomes the exhaust of the hydrogen fuel cell.

 
 
Where does the electricity and hydrogen come from?
Today, electricity is sourced from a range of power sources; renewables, nuclear, and in the majority of cases electricity is still produced by the burning fossil fuels, coal and gas.
 
In the case of hydrogen, this fuel is mainly produced by the steam reformation of fossil fuels such as natural gas.  With the emerging hydrogen economy “green hydrogen” using the electrolysis of water from wind, hydro or solar photovoltaic energy are viable alternatives that offer zero emission hydrogen energy.
 
(BEVs) and (FCEVs) both have the potential to offer non-polluting forms of transportation, but we do need to quickly move away from producing electricity by burning fossil fuels.   Instead, we need to embrace wind, solar and hydro-electric generation.
 
Concluding comment
 
“Hydrogen has higher energy storage density than lithium ion batteries, both in terms of energy stored per unit weight and energy stored per unit volume”.o edit.

A fuel cell electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle that uses hydrogen as a fuel which is fed into a fuel cell to generate electricity for the vehicle’s battery to power an electric motor. 
 
So what is a fuel cell? A fuel cell is described as an electrochemical device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction. It successfully converts chemical energy to electrical energy. 
 
Where do you store the hydrogen in the vehicle? The hydrogen used in the fuel cell is stored in a storage tank on the vehicle.
 
How long does it take to dispense hydrogen into the vehicle ?
With the fastest electric chargers it takes around 25 minutes to charge a battery electric vehicle.  In comparison to fill up a hydrogen vehicle it will only take a couple of minutes, almost the same time to fill up a traditional petrol/diesel vehicle.
 
How far can you travel on a full tank of hydrogen?
Unlike a battery electric vehicle the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle doesn’t need to be plugged in, they can easily cover a distance of over 300 miles on a full tank of hydrogen.
 
The important difference between a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle and other electric vehicles is that the hydrogen vehicles produce the electricity themselves.
 

​Hydrogen Facts
 

1. Over 50% of the hydrogen produced in the United Kingdom is sourced from Teesside.
2. Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element.
3. Hydrogen must be separated from other elements.
4. A typical hydrogen tank will hold 4kg of hydrogen.
5. As a fuel the hydrogen fed into the fuel cell will only emit water and heat.

Question: What is the distinction between a plug-in hybrid vehicle and a conventional hybrid?

To answer this question we first need to understand what is a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).  

A (HEV) is a vehicle that combines the use of a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with an electric propulsion system. 

Advantage of a Hybrid Vehicle (HEV): With the integration of the electric powertrain the driver should get better fuel economy and performance from his (HEV) when compared to the conventional (ICE) vehicle.   

Environment & Air Pollution: A (HEV) can reduce harmful emissions by as much as 90% and they will cut the emission of global warming gasses by at least a third to half.

Knowing that all hybrid vehicles are powered by a combination of an (ICE) system and an electric motor, we can now clearly define a mild hybrid vehicle as a vehicle that uses an electric motor to support the (ICE) engine but only during acceleration and cruising, the electric motor cannot independently power the vehicle.

Hybrid facts: Toyota has sold more than 15 million hybrid electric vehicles worldwide since the Prius was first launched in 1997. ​The most popular selling (HEV) is the Toyota Prius.

​Hybrid distinctions
 
Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)
 

• (ICE) engine is the main power source
• An electric motor is used to support the (ICE) engine
• Electricity is generated on board

 
 
Plug – in Hybrid (PHEV)
 

• Battery powered electric motor is the main power source
• The engine is used to complement the electric motor and help extend the range.
• Electricity is supplied from the grid
• Bigger energy savings than the (HEV)