Electric Avenue Podcast

First, what does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for energy supply, content, pricing and the energy transition? With the war, supply chain disruptions, and contradictory short and long term energy pressures, will e-mobility still play the same role in energy independence and decarbonization as envisioned just a few weeks ago? Then - what about the electricity grid? A new report from Eurelectric and EY looks at if and how the grid will be able to provide the needed electricity for 130 million electric vehicles by 2035, and at what cost. We are joined by one of the report's lead authors for a fascinating and wide ranging discussion of current bottlenecks, opportunities, and solutions to turn EVs into assets for EV drivers and the energy system overall, and to address the '2 speed Europe' gap.

You can find the full report here: https://evision.eurelectric.org/event/2022/report/ 

In January 2020 before COVID, we surveyed a group of leading EV charging and user experience professionals from all over Europe for their key trends to watch in emobility in 2020. Now in February 2022, with the benefit of hindsight we're revisiting their observations on roaming and user experience, industry consolidation, and the EV charging and energy convergence. Did they pick the right topics? How were their predictions? You may be surprised at what you hear!

Wondering what it is like to drive long distances in an electric vehicle? How do you plan for such a trip? Where will you recharge along the way? Summer 2021 saw lots of families go on their summer holidays in an electric vehicle, and we interviewed 4 of them to hear in depth about their - very varied - experiences traveling and recharging all over Europe. There are a lot of insights here for industry insiders and policymakers as well as the EV curious, and a few good 'hacks' for your next (or first?) long distance EV trip.

Some of the most important laws governing the EV marketplace and EV charging infrastructure business in Europe are being revised and updated right now as a part of the 'fit for 55 package' as Europe deepens its climate ambitions and aims to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. These changes will have significant impacts on our industry and so we’re joined by special guest Julia Poliscanova, Sr. Director for Clean Vehicles at Transport & Environment for an insiders look at the current state of affairs and what we could – and should – expect

Season 2 launches just as the electric vehicle charging business is beginning to grow rapidly. It is seen as a key area for investment in the EU Green Deal and for European recovery funds. How should countries approach this moment? What are the key criteria countries can use to develop their own EV charging plans? This is a moment that cannot be wasted and we discuss it.

Even among those who support the growth of the e-mobility there are differences of opinion and ideas for how to best develop a customer-centric pan-European electric vehicle charging network. Dimitri Vergne from the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), and I, who come from different perspectives, debate and discuss the recommendations of their report “Making electric cars convenient" and topics such as how to structure and display pricing at charging stations, payment methods, pricing structure, roaming, business models, and more issues that come up between drivers of electric vehicles and operators of charging stations.  

What happened to the EV charging infrastructure industry in Europe during the COVID-19 lockdown? While driving, especially internationally, plummeted, with predictable consequences, the charging industry continued to develop and mature. With a new industry association, ChargeUp Europe, growing market share for EVs, and institutional investors entering the industry, there was a lot taking place in the sector, even while we sheltered in place.  

First, how has the Corona virus pandemic affected the EV recharging industry? Then, part 1 (of 2) of our discussion of “Recharge EU: How many charge points will EU countries need by 2030?” the exhaustive recent report from Transport & Environment, with lead author Lucien Matheiu.

What is experience anxiety? Will vehicle to grid finally become a commercial reality? What new market changes are coming in 2020? These topics and more are tackled by leading e-mobility experts in Part 2 of our Trends 2020 special. If you want to know what the defining trends in the industry will be, this episode is for you! 

Will 2020 be the year of the electric car? Will we see more range anxiety or experience anxiety? Leading experts from across the industry share their views on the top trends to watch in the fast changing world of electric mobility from electric vehicles, to charging infrastructure, to user experience, to energy. This is part 1 of a not-to-be-missed 2 part special look at the year ahead.

Wondering how to make a podcast? How this one got started? How each episode is produced and distributed? Meet the rest of the Electric Avenue team who contribute to the making of each episode. Find out what they do and what they've learned over the year - and a little bit about what's in store for the future. Whether you're a regular listener, a podcast novice or enthusiast, or curious about production, we've made our 20th episode, 1 year anniversary, last show of 2019,  "behind the mic" special just for you!

New, tougher EU CO2 emissions standards. Fridays for the Future. Vast improvements in battery technology.  Major automotive investments in electric vehicles. 2019 was a pivotal year for e-mobility and its emergence to the mass market – and, also the first year of Electric Avenue Podcast. Join for this look back on 2019 and at many of the key moments that propelled e-mobilty forward.

European Battery Alliance. Clean Energy for All. Decarbonization. These are just some of the initiatives of the Energy Union under European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. As he leaves that job to take on a different portfolio in the new European Commission, he sat with us for an interview to reflect on the progress made, challenges, and work left to be done on EV and energy related issues.

From CO2 emission standards to energy directives, batteries, and financing of charging infrastructure, Brussels plays an out sized role in the development of e-mobility and a cleaner energy future in Europe. With a new European Commission about to take office, what can we expect from them? We head to Brussels & talk with our plugged in purveyor of all things Brussels and e-mobility, Julia Polsicanova from T&E, for part 1 of our miniseries. . And, GreenWay managing Partner Peter Badik gives us his insights into the changes that the company has been working on for the past few months.

As new EVs, like the Porsche Taycan, Jaguar iPace, and Mercedes EQC, with bigger batteries capable of handling more power hit the market, at GreenWay we’ve been busily increasing the amount of power at a number of our 50kW charging stations to 100 and 150 kW. Hear directly from the heads of R&D and Asset Management about this experience, the challenges, and the lessons learned. And, an interview with Elias Pyory from Virta about their cloud based energy management system. It’s all about power and power management as we build towards installing our first Ultrafast charging stations and learn lots of things along the way.

 Is 2019 the pivotal year for development in EVs? A new report from Transport & Environment says that the market is about to Surge. So where will all these vehicles charge? We have an exclusive interview with the CEO of Chargepoint, the world's largest EV charging provider, and a discussion with Central & Eastern Europe leader GreenWay's managing partner. Plus, summer brings its own challenges & opportunities to the EV world. Ice cream anyone? (promo code is valid for new registrations at Greenway Infrastructure & GreenWay Polska only and expires Aug 31, 2019)   

Electric vehicles and electricity are inherently tied together. But how does the energy sector feel about EVs? Are they upstarts, or opportunities? In the face of the climate crisis,  how power is generated matters immensely. Do Europe's energy generators feel the need to decarbonize? Is the energy mix actually becoming carbon free? What role can EVs and new business models play in charting the energy future? We discuss all this and more, as well as get exclusive interviews to share, at Eurelectric's 2019 Power Summit.

Are you a company wondering how to access financing from EU institutions? We were and then through a lot of effort we made it happen. In this episode we share the story of unlocking 17 million EUR of financing, followed by a highly informative panel discussion with representatives from the European Commission, European Investment Bank, and Innovation & Networks Executive Agency.  If you're interested in public financing, this episode is for you! This is the third and final panel from a conference organized by GreenWay Infrastructure in March 2019 in Brussels. 

In this special episode we talk about the upcoming elections to the European Parliament and what it could mean for EU policies on emissions, clean fuels, EVs, and the decarbonization agenda. First we talk to young, talented students – debaters from Slovakia about their perception of, and approach to these elections and their criteria for their votes. Then we are joined by two EU experts from Brussels  – Julia Poliscanova, Clean Vehicles Manager at Transport & Environment and Petar Georgiev, Policy  Advisor for Climate and Emobility at Eurelectric. They explain the role of EU parliament, how the clean mobility & fuels agenda developed and evolved over time and how it works now. 

How should EU parliament approach environmental, clean tech and emobility issues to maintain Europe’s leadership and moving in a cleaner direction, especially when it comes to EVs? How can we persuade countries with large automotive industries to accept the stronger regulations, look at the future and invest in the inevitable transition? What should be the long term goals for  energy and climate across the EU? 

Join our debate and do not forget to vote, the time is now. 

Second expert panel of a series of three panels from conference that GreenWay Infrastructure organized on 26.3.2019 in Brussels to look at issues affecting the future of electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment and raise these issues for policymakers there.  GreenWay Managing Partner Peter Badik talks to his guests about the role of EV charging providers in energy management, sotrage capacity of EVs in the future and stationary battery storage in combination with charging infrastructure. 

 Today we'll talk about energy storage, EV charging & how they go together and why it matters. Also, as this time of the year is clean tech conference season we'll look at the topics trending in this field right now. And last, but definitely not the least, we'll bust a few myths about electric mobility. So buckle up, get into eco-mode, and join us for the ride! 

We organized a conference in Brussels to look at issues affecting the future of electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment and raise these issues for policymakers there. Distribution Tariffs - the prices that a user pays to the electricity provider for being able to access a certain amount of power - can be extremely high for electric vehicle charging service operators - often multiple times more than the charging station itself. These tariffs were conceived before EV charging, with irregular need for high power levels at varied locations, became so widespread, and are becoming a significant obstacle to the widespread deployment of electric vehicle fast charging infrastructure. A panel representing energy and EV sector representatives discussed this topic and possible ways forward. 

In this episode, we join the #Fridayforthefuture #schoolsstrike4climate in Bratislava, Slovakia and interview Jakub, one of the organizers. Then, we continue our journeys exploring the electric vehicle landscape of the region in Poland, with local EV expert Jacek Fior and GreenWay Polska CEO Rafal Czyżewski.

First, we're joined by colleagues from our Polish office who share some of what they are working on as we build the regional electric vehicle charging infrastructure network. Then, we continue our journeys throughout the region, this time to Bulgaria, where we explore the electric vehicle & charging landscape there.