or casual spectators, this weekend London’s ExCel arena and surrounding roads could resemble the Monaco F1 Grand Prix. Luckily for the people of East London, they won’t be faced with roaring engines and petrol fumes, but the hum of batteries that power electric cars to speeds of nearly 200 km/h.
The fully electrically powered ABB Formula E returns to London for the 2022 London E-Prix, in what is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular and action-packed motorsports.
The 2.1km circuit starts and ends in the ExCel arena and winds through the streets of East London. Founded in 2014, the tournament sees big-name teams, including Mercedes-EQ and Jaguar TCS, compete for the podium. With Mercedes-EQ leading the team championship and their driver Stoffel Vandoorne at the top of the drivers’ standings, they are the team to beat.
Motorsport is seeing tremendous growth with a younger audience as different formats like streaming and TikTok bring a whole new group of fans into the sport. The hashtag #formula1 has racked up billions of views on TikTok, and Formula-E is experiencing similar rapid growth. The total audience grew by 32% in the 2021 season compared to the previous year and that trend continues.
Formula E is known for having equivalent cars, which means that the drivers tend to overtake much more often than F1. Add that to the obvious advantage of being the only sport to be certified zero-carbon since its inception, and its appeal to a younger crowd is clear. It seems only natural that Formula E will tap into this new generation of motorsport fans.
The rising popularity of Formula-E has coincided with the recent increase in the global adoption of electric vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), EV sales doubled to a new all-time high of 6.6 million worldwide in 2021, with 75% more sales in the first three months of 2022 than in the same period in 2021.
This trend is also true for the UK, as data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows that one in five new cars sold in the UK in the first half of the year were electric.
No doubt e-mobility has a bright future, but the road ahead may not be smooth. The reality is that the charging infrastructure for electric cars is meeting the demand for electric vehicles in many countries worldwide, which ABB E-mobility knows all too well by delivering its portfolio of public and commercial EV charging hardware, software and services in more than 85 markets worldwide.
For example, recent data from the UK government in the first three months of this year stated that there was only a 6.7% increase in the number of public charging devices available.
The UK is off to a good start. They announced regulations last year requiring the installation of a charge point in new homes and major renovations, which is expected to add 145,000 additional charge points annually. But despite these advances, like many countries, there needs to be much greater cooperation between the government and the private sector to boost innovation and increase investment in EV charging infrastructure, to smooth the transition to electric vehicles.
The UK government announced in March that it would invest an additional £450 million to increase the number of public charging points. This is very welcome, but it is clear that the government needs to create an environment that encourages cross-sectoral cooperation, in order to drive the significant investment needed for this fundamental change. Bloomberg NEF has forecast that by 2040, a $590 billion investment in EV charging infrastructure will be needed to meet global emissions targets.
The private sector is also increasing its contribution. ABB customer Gridserve – that EV . supplies charging points on motorways, plus towns and cities – recently said it had tripled the number of charging sessions on the UK’s largest motorway charging network, the Gridserve Electric Highway, since June 2021.
Electrification of our roads is an important part of the future and achieving net-zero targets, and events such as the London E-Prix are helping to bring awareness and excitement to the industry.
But if action is not taken quickly to address and invest in charging infrastructure, Formula-E and racing car engine spinning could be as close as possible to large-scale electric transportation in the near future.
Frank Muehlon is CEO of ABB E-mobility.