Etienne Mingot: “data helps to optimize the efficiency of electric cars”

The electric car market is booming. The last Global EV Outlook of the International Agency forenergy (IEA) confirms this. Worldwide, sales of electric cars doubled in 2021. They reached a record level of 6.6 million. Or about 10% of all cars sold in the world. What gate to some 16.5 million the number of electric cars on the roads of the planet. This is three times more than in 2018.

According to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the AIE, “few areas of the new global energy economy are as dynamic as electric vehicles”. Thanks to falling prices. In China, the median price of an electric car is now only 10% higher than that of a thermal car. Although it should be noted that elsewhere, it is still about 50% higher. And that already, the price of lithiuma key constituent of the batteries of our electric cars, has increased sevenfold between the beginning of 2021 and May 2022. This raises fears of stagnation or even a decline in the market in the months to come.

The market is also driven by the electrification plans for their fleets implemented by manufacturers. At the end of 2021, motorists had the choice between no less than 450 different models. Five times more than in 2015. Another lever is public spending on subsidies and incentives. They doubled in 2021. To reach nearly 30 billion dollars. “This is what has driven the PHEV market in France in particular. An extremely favorable tax policy »emphasizes Etienne Mingot, specialist in issues related to new forms of mobility at Targa Telematicsa company that offers smart solutions for connected vehicles.

Tips for optimizing the use of your electric car

And at a time when, perhaps more than ever, everything is good for increasing efficiency, the data collection, processing and analysis solutions offered by the company based in Italy seem to want to become essential. Solutions from telematics which help experts formulate advice for responsible and economical use of your car. “Big data, machine learning,artificial intelligencethese are all pillars on which we rely to improve the driver experience”, confirms Etienne Mingot. By allowing the electric car to communicate more and more with its environment, connected solutions of course also contribute to optimizing vehicle performance. Those of its battery, in particular.

This remains the sensitive point of the massive deployment of electric cars. However, “the problem of the network of charging stations is not as critical as one might think”. The most recent figures show that infrastructure is developing in harmony with sales. “And it is important to note that charging at outdoor terminals does not represent more than 30% of usage. The rest is done at motorists’ homes or at their place of work. »

the “blocking” would therefore be a little more psychological. “Today, when a motorist has 30% in his gas tank, nobody panics. But as soon as the battery reaches 70% charge, electric car drivers start looking for a charging point. Still, there’s nothing to worry about at this point. Our data show that the window optimum load is between 20 and 80%. With the habit and the multiplication of the terminals, this fear of the “dry breakdown” should diminish »analyzes for us Etienne Mingot.

Especially since in the near future, a whole series of intelligent solutions should be able to be implemented. To send notifications to the motorist when the car battery is loaded. Or to provide him with driving and charging advice according to his autonomy actual calculated from a route entered in its GPS. “Electric cars are like thermal cars. The weight is logically the first enemy of the energy sobrietybut beyond that, it is important to adopt a flexible driving style to consume less »points out the specialist in Targa Telematics.

A car to integrate into its environment

Beyond that, experts call for more integration of electric cars into their environment. “The electric car is not a car reserved for the city. There are more and more charging stations on the outskirts. In supermarket car parks or even in villages. And it is infinitely simpler to install a charging solution in a house even though many turnkey solutions exist for condominium residents”explains Etienne Mingot in the introduction to this theme. “The real subject is interoperability. Ensure that the vast majority of charging stations on the network, national at least, are accessible with a single card and that we can know the availability of these in real time. »

” Tomorrow “promises us the Targa Telematics specialist, “everything will be connected and the vehicle will be a real waiter hosting a large amount of data. Our electric cars will thus be able to communicate more with the connected habitat and, for example, be a source of energy with V2G – understand the Vehicle to Grid. » Because after all, our electric cars will hide so many batteries that can also be used as storage solutions when said cars are at work. garage. “A little patience then, history is on the move. Let’s just give time to all the players in this ecosystem to work on the interconnection of the different solutions at our disposal. »