One of the main handicaps of the electric vehicle is the lack of charging points. The fear of users of running out of battery at the most inopportune moment and miles from the nearest charging point sows doubts about the new electric mobility that seems to have a hard time starting.
And, as the Valencian Electric Vehicle Association (AVVE) explains, "the expansion of electric mobility in Spain depends largely on a robust and accessible charging infrastructure." For this reason, this organization highlights that "the deployment of charging points is crucial to promote the adoption of electric vehicles and guarantee their long-term viability."
Along these lines, his prediction is that the Valencian Community "will continue to invest in the improvement and expansion of its charging infrastructure." The debate is evident, are cities in Valencia prepared for the hypothetical growth of the electric car in the coming years?
This year, the Valencia City Council has launched a plan to reach 119 charging points before the end of 2024. Municipal sources explain to La Vanguardia that in January, work began on installing 88 electric vehicle charging columns in the city (which would mean 176 new plugs).
This action, whose total budget amounts to 1,199,985 euros with an execution period of 6 months, will place 88 new chargers around the municipal markets and the main commercial areas of the city. With these facilities, plus the existing ones and another 20 that began to be installed at the end of last year, the city will have a total of 119 charging points in 2024, compared to the 11 left by the Compromís and PSPV government, they highlight from the consistory.
This project to increase charging points is developed within the framework of the European Green Capital that the city of Valencia will hold in 2024 and various council departments participate in it. The Central Technical Services Department is responsible for the installation and management of the new municipal charging points; that of Mobility, to find the location of the locations and reserve parking spaces for recharging; while Innovation must develop the computer application for charging management.
The installation of these new charging points, which have Next Generation financing, is expected to be completed next July and their entry into operation for the second half of this year. Each column, the City Council explains, has two plugs and will serve two parking spaces reserved for recharging.
The type of columns that will be installed are semi-fast charging with 2 three-phase outlets and Dynamic Power Control will be available, to optimize the electrical power supplied between the charging points that are active at all times, so that each vehicle charges the maximum possible power available at any given moment, depending on the cars that are connected at that moment.
Users will be able to recharge their vehicles through a municipal computer application with which they can access the location of the chargers to activate the one of their choice, recharge the vehicle and make payment, all from their mobile phone.
The management and maintenance of this platform, along with the incident response service 24 hours a day, every day of the year, will be contracted by the City Council led by María José Catalá while the new chargers are installed.
The progress towards electric vehicles is, in principle, good news, although some, such as environmentalist Andreu Escrivà -author of several books on climate change and sustainability- make some nuances: "The electric car is a brake on mobility, Well, if we drive an electric vehicle we think that we have already saved the planet, that the city is fantastic and we stop pedestrianizing, putting in bike lanes and investing in public transportation."
