While their guests are going fuzzy-headed back to the drudgery of work, music festival organizers all over the UK are in wash-up meetings for and preparing the next one. Could they attract more electric vehicle owners to their festival? How about an ultra-rapid, high-capacity renewable energy-powered mobile charging station as an incentive?
EVs have broken out of being a niche transport solution into the mainstream, with them now out selling new diesel cars every month.
Big numbers!
As of July 2022, 85,032 new battery electric vehicles were registered in the UK and more than half a million are on UK roads today. By 2025 there will be 6.2 million of them and by 2030, 17.8 million!
With business roaring for new EV cars, a new segment is just building up a head of steam - the light commercial vehicle camper van markets. Camper vans like the VW ID Buzz and the Ford eTransit are starting to hit UK roads in numbers. While the average hippy can’t afford a £50,000 ID Buzz, the used vehicle market is getting going as the EV revolution kicks up a gear.
Public charging
Many festivals are out in the sticks in places like Pilton in Somerset and Wareham
What does this mean for festivals? Many festivals are out in the sticks in places like Pilton in Somerset and Wareham and Tolpuddle in Dorset.
Generally miles from the nearest public charger, these cars and vans will need a top-up after three days when their owners would be ill-advised to go anywhere near the steering wheel!
Enter the ZPN Drop
Various festivals around the UK have experimented with EV charging at their sites. One or two have used diesel powered EV chargers that deliver a pitiful charging rate while pumping lots of carbon into the atmosphere.
Take it for granted, noself-respecting hippy will feel comfortable with that! But what happens if there’s a piece of kit out there that can store renewable energy and charge an EV at ultra-rapid speeds?
While diesel powered EV chargers can manage upto 7.5kW of power (enough to charge an EV battery in about eight hours), the ZPN Drop can offer up to 350kW, or enough to give a typical 60kWh battery a full charge in just half an hour!
3 megawatt-hours of energy
The ZPN Drop is a 40ft shipping container so can be carried on-site by a standard container lorry and dropped at the desired location. If it needs a recharge, it’s simply taken away and replaced. It stores 3 megawatt-hours of energy - enough for 50 full charges of premium-end EVs.
Being charged off-site the festival organizers can ensure that the energy going into it is pure renewable energy. That’s a bit better than a dirty, slow diesel generator too, isn’t it?!