MORE and more people are switching to electric vehicles, with 35 million predicted to be on UK roads by 2050, according to the National Grid’s latest Future Energy Scenarios. There are multiple reasons for their popularity – they’re good for the environment, reduce air pollution and can save you money in the long term.
And if you are a car owner, you might find yourself behind the wheel of an EV much sooner than you think. With concern rising over the health impact of air pollution from transport – the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions – the Scottish Government has a bold ambition to phase out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans in just 12 years’ time.
Whether you’re buying an EV for money saving reasons or out of concern for the environment, or both, one crucial piece of tech you’ll need to go alongside it is a smart meter.
Fitted by your energy supplier at no extra cost, they are the next generation of energy meters, but they are also so much more than that.
Those buying an electric vehicle might assume that their carbon footprint has been dramatically reduced by their new purchase. It’s certainly an excellent start, but the electricity still has to come from somewhere, and the charging choices that consumers make will affect the environmental impact of their vehicles. This is where smart meters and smart chargers come in.
Combined with a smart meter, a smart charger will be able to use electricity when it’s cheapest and best for the energy grid and could allow customers to be rewarded for off-peak usage. Essentially, cars can be plugged in, and will then be automatically charged at the most cost-efficient and grid-efficient times.
Smart meters can also unlock smart time-of-use tariffs that reward EV owners who use energy at off-peak times.
Unlike standard electricity tariffs, where the same rate is paid at all times, a smart tariff works in conjunction with a smart meter to supply electricity at different prices, depending upon the time of day. This could mean that people could take advantage of cheaper electricity overnight, when demand is low, which is very beneficial for electric car drivers.
Smart meters are a vital investment in the energy infrastructure of Scotland, England and Wales, delivering benefits beyond personal energy savings.
And with over 13 million already installed across Great Britain, many consumers are already playing their part in helping to create a more sustainable energy system for the future.
This article was paid for by Smart Energy GB. Smart Energy GB is a government-backed organisation tasked with informing Great Britain about the benefits of the smart meter rollout.
The Herald’s Climate for Change initiative supports efforts being made by the Scottish Government with key organisations and campaign partners. Throughout the year we will provide a forum in The Herald newspaper, online at herald.scotland.com and in Business HQmagazine, covering news and significant developments in this increasingly crucial area.
If you are interested in contributing editorially or interested in becoming a Climate for Change partner, please contact Stephen McTaggart on 0141 302 6137 or email stephen.mctaggart@heraldandtimes.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article