Written by Nigel Dawbarn, Sales & Marketing Manager- Industry Management

The sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars tipped over the two-million-vehicle mark for the first time in 2019. During 2020, and within Europe, the effects of Covid have not slowed the sales of BEVs and PHEVs drastically.

With more new cars being added to the manufacturers’ lists of options the future looks exciting. But it’s not just the main car manufacturers investing in this development, we are seeing commercial vehicles being launched from busses and vans to boats and motocycles!

Phoenix Contact is preparing for this and we have starting building a new production facility, we are also adding new products to support the market. From a UK perspective, we are now able to offer Vehicle Inlets to the CCS standard- which is exciting as the UK has been the development hotbed within automotive.

The Universal Inlet Gen 4 offers the following

• AC charging: mode 2 and mode 3 according to IEC 61851-1
• DC Charging: mode 4 according to IEC 61851-1, SAE J1772

This addition to the product range for the UK enables us to support all areas of EV Charging. I am very aware of comments that more infrastructure is required to give the confidence to the general public in the ability to charge when they need to.

There are many projects going ahead installing both AC and faster DC charging points. The first development, by Gridserve, is in the final stages of construction. The Electric Forecourt® near Braintree, Essex, can charge 24 electric vehicles at once with superchargers that can deliver up to 350kW of charging power, enabling people to charge vehicles within 20-30 minutes initially, and much faster in the future as battery technologies mature.

We also see many offers of both AC and DC charge points from established suppliers from the UK and new innovative design ideas being developed to offer the ability to charge your vehicle as and when you need.

So to summarise, the future is looking good for you to convert from your existing fossil fuel vehicle to the new generation of electric car, van or truck!

For further information on the full range from Phoenix Contact from vehicle inlets to cables to controllers please get in touch, we will be more than happy to help you.

Contact Nigel on 07584 514958 or email ndawbarn@phoenixcontact.com