Electric vehicle charging development in 2024

The automotive industry continues to actively develop! In particular, this applies to electric cars. For the year, about 14 million were sold in the world and the figure continues to grow. In some European countries, sales growth has not stopped for more than a year.

This is mainly due to the success of electric car sales, in particular thanks to Tesla and its Model 3. And we can expect significant growth in the last three months before the new criteria for the environmental bonus come into force.

Daniela Simoes, co-founder and CEO of miio and its dedicated electric vehicle charging app, outlines 4 key trends that will drive the sector in 2024.

1. The growing share of connected cars and artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has already proven its effectiveness in many fields including healthcare, education, and entertainment. The automotive industry is also one sector in which artificial intelligence has already proven itself, most notably in electric vehicles. It will be a critical lever for optimizing charging and fleet management, improving road safety and enabling personalized and efficient driving.

Artificial intelligence will play an important role in optimizing the energy efficiency of electric vehicles by analyzing and processing large amounts of data. This will improve battery performance, optimize energy consumption and manage recharging infrastructure more efficiently.

2. Accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources

The growing integration of renewable energy sources, combined with energy storage methods independent of the traditional power grid, promises to deliver greater resilience. It is to this end that smart electric vehicle models (vehicle-to-grid or V2G) are planned to be developed. They are capable of transferring electricity back to the grid and vice versa, which, in addition to being economical, makes it possible to regulate supply and demand. Their capacity also allows the use of renewable energy sources such as solar or wind. However, such a model is costly and still in the early stages of development. As a result, although promising, this technology is unlikely to become widespread until it is cost-effective and mature.

3. Evolution of batteries and related technologies

Progress towards more efficient solid-state batteries means that the range of electric vehicles will increase significantly and recharging times will be significantly reduced. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the production of such batteries is in parallel amortized through existing recycling methods, which themselves need to be improved. Rapid advances in ultra-fast charging will also be an area to keep an eye on.

Improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries is one of the main challenges facing artificial intelligence in the clean car sector. It is not uncommon for some automakers to use techniques to anticipate battery degradation and optimize battery performance.

4. Development of public and private recharging infrastructures

2024 is a year of anticipation. As the number of rechargeable vehicles grows, managing the potential strain on the public grid will become a major challenge.

According to some experts, as early as 2025, several hundred thousand more recharging stations will be needed on the road to serve new electric vehicles and light plug-in hybrids. To reach these staggering numbers, we need to take a serious look at new technologies like wireless charging. Connecting the public network on a country-specific or even European scale with a roaming system that connects all electric vehicle operators will also make the entire ecosystem more agile.