Sweden's EV boom under threat

Sweden’s plan to cut emissions from transport by increasing the number of electric vehicles (EVs) could be thwarted by a lack of power capacity for new charging stations in major cities.

According to Bloomberg, demand for electricity in Stockholm and other cities is outgrowing capacity in local grids, forcing charging networks to compete with other projects. 

Industry group Power Circle says the Nordic region’s biggest economy needs to add to about 2.5 million plug-in hybrids and EVs by the end of the next decade from around 70,000 today in order to reach the government of target of becoming carbon neutral by 2045. 

“To get people to take the plunge and want to buy an electric car they shouldn’t be forced to take long detours to find a charging station,” Tobias Henmark, head of the Swedish unit of Fortum Charge and Drive, which operates 740 fast chargers in the Nordic region, told Bloomberg.

“Right now there is a tendency to cover up the deficiency by increasing the cost of capacity, and that would make it impossible to build charging infrastructure.”

For the rise in EVs to be manageable, Power Circle suggests that owners should receive incentives not to charge and even send power back to the grid during morning and afternoon peak hours.

If enough cars in the future are connected and willing to share their batteries with the grid, more EVs would lessen the capacity problem instead of making it worse.

“Electric cars can make or break the grid,” Johanna Lakso, chief executive officer for the group, added. “When we are about to roll out the infrastructure why not be smart about it and use it to support the power networks?”