Governments are encouraging the adoption of electric cars, and people are gradually starting to adopt them. With fossil fuels behind us, curiosity arises about how much electricity Europe will need to keep so many electric cars on the road.
Transformation is happening in the transportation sector as we witness the development and improvement of technologies that would ideally work to move us away from fossil fuels.
Transitioning from a system almost 100% dependent on fossil fuels to one increasingly dependent on electricity carries some safeguards. Namely, understanding its readiness and, as many are asking, including in the comments section, knowing how much electricity we will need to power the electric cars we will inevitably see on the roads.
How much electricity would Europe need with so many trams on the road?
In order to estimate how much energy we will need by 2040, the Fraunhofer Research Institute and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a study Stady In detail, analyze the current and future development of energy demand in the transportation sector.
Sales of cars and light commercial vehicles, weighing less than 3.5 tonnes, are estimated to be 100% electric by 2040. This is in anticipation of targets to end sales of new combustion engine vehicles, including hybrids, by 2035. Meet.
The study estimates that with this level of implementation, cumulative savings of more than €330 billion per year could be achieved by 2030 and €590 billion per year by 2040.
In fact, the European Union estimates that switching to a more efficient system such as electricity will allow the average household to reduce energy costs by 30% by 2040. This means lower energy bills by €3,000 per year to €2,100 per year.
Currently, electric cars in the European Union consume about 16 TWh of electricity per year. By 2040, this value will rise to 355 terawatt-hours.
This means, taking into account consumption values for Europe in 2022, 2,809 TWh, that a fleet composed of 30% electric cars would mean, according to the study, an increase in production of 13%.
It's worth noting that although 100% of sales will be electric cars by 2040, these models won't be the only ones on the roads. The study estimates that at that time, 70% of cars and 65% of trucks will still have an internal combustion engine.
Emily Brontë is a journalist and feature writer specialising in culture, entertainment, literature, and current affairs. She is dedicated to producing clear, accurate reporting that helps readers stay informed about developments in the UK and around the world.
