It’s not just-just running completely out of power on the electric car. Among other things, this became a topic when more than two thousand cars were left standing E18 after several lorries got stuck in December.
Common practice is that powerless electric cars are picked up by tow truck and driven to the nearest charging station, but other solutions are being worked on.
It is Teknisk Ukeblad which now discusses NAF’s testing of new solutions for stranded electric cars. Including a service car with a battery bank, which can move out and provide electricity on site, so that the car can drive itself to the nearest charging station.
Senior communications consultant at NAF, Nils Sødal, says that they have tried out this car for a couple of years in the Oslo area.
Becomes Norway’s cheapest electric car
Small capacity
– We have made many valuable experiences, and it works. Nevertheless, there are a number of logistics challenges associated with this.
The battery bank can provide power to two or three electric cars, and then it has to be charged, which takes time.
This often makes it easier to transport them to the nearest fast charging station on a flatbed truck.
The battery bank used is also not cheap. Sødal says that the price tag is over 100,000 kroner.
– You have to use your head
Sødal also adds that it takes some time to get enough power on the battery when it is completely discharged.
– But we are following, and want more of that as the technology progresses. It is about capacity going up and the price going down, he emphasizes.
– For now, it’s easier with a jerry can with petrol and diesel, he says with a smile. (A jerry can is a petrol can developed in Germany, and derives from the English nickname jerry / german, according to Wikipedia).
They also follow developments in heavy vehicles and envisage replacing lorries and vans, when the time is right.
– Here we envisage hydrogen in the long run.
Goes too slow
However, NAF is not alone in testing new salvage solutions for electric cars.
Sales and marketing director Sjur Jensen Bay in Viking Redningstjeneste says in an email that they have tested and operated an electric service car with a mobile charging station in different variants since 2015.
This is what the Vikings’ first truck looked like. It was put into operation in 2015. Photo: Viking Rescue Service
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– Our experience, however, is that even the fast mobile solutions in practice are too slow and to a large extent still means that the unfortunate motorist must have another charging stop. We think that is unfavorable. Even with a standard fast charging speed, the waiting time at a shoulder, rest area or the like can be experienced as much longer than at an ordinary charging station, which normally has a better service offer nearby.
– With increasingly faster charging, this problem increases. In addition, in recent years there have been relatively few cases of powerless electric cars along the road. A few mobile charging stations also have little value as they are often located in terms of volume where the availability of fast chargers is already good and the need for a share is at least, he writes in the email.
Bay also emphasizes that Viking is a technology optimist, and that they follow the market closely to offer this to a greater extent when the combination of size, weight and charging speed is where they think it is necessary.
– This also enables installation in Viking’s latest generation of all-electric service vehicles that are already in operation, and which solves a larger proportion of the challenges that may arise along the road. In this way, we can help as many people as possible, in the best possible way, Bay continues.
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