The Modern Village and EV Charging

A modern village is one that has parking on the outskirts, so that you can drive to it, park on the perimeter, and walk in, to hike, run, cycle or other. It also includes affordable slow chargers where you can park for as long as it takes to charge to full.

Such a village is modern because it reduces the need for traffic to transit through it. If people can visit the village without driving in, then it becomes like Italian citadelles, but also like carcasonne, Yvoire and other villages and towns. Even Morges has this, to some degree.

A village that minimises the need to drive through it is pleasant. because it makes soft mobility more approachable, but it also reduces the need for every property to have its own EV charger.

Arnex-Sur-Nyon has public chargers, Céligny has public chargers. Nyon has public chargers. I don’t think that Trelex, Gingins, Eysins, Crans or other villages do, and that’s a shame. The reason for which that’s a shame is that the simpler it is to charge an electric vehicle, the more attractive it is to switch from old fashioned petrol.

At the moment charging a car can range from 38 centimes per kilowatt hour all the way up to 1.10CHF, and in some places you pay to charge the car, and to park the car. You’re paying twice for Balexert for example, when you charge the car, and pay for parking. Quite a few chargers are 81 centimes per kilowatt hour.

Some people might say “Just get a home charger, and it’ll be cheap, and convenient” and that’s true, if you’re not in a shared apartment. In a shared apartment it makes sense for everyone to get a home charger at the same time, to spread the cost, but also because it removes one of the barriers to switching to an EV. If you have a charger at home, then not having a charger is no longer an excuse.

Having said this, it’s a shame that Colovray doesn’t have any chargers, either at the swimming pool, or at the football stadium. These are prime locations for chargers. At a swimming pool, people are likely to spend two or more hours, and at a football stadium, or for training session the same is true. The Port De Crans would also be a convenient place for a charger. You can charge while you eat, sail, or paddle board.

Today I saw an article about growing queues at EV chargers as people head to or from their holidays, and a simple solution is to increase access to chargers in villages, towns and shopping centres but also with Park & Rail parkings. If you leave a car to charge over eight hours, rather than 20 minutes you lower pressure on the electricity, and you extend the lifespan of your batteries.

As I drive at the moment, and see that petrol is at 1.98 to 2 CHF per litre I am extraordinarily happy that I drive an EV rather than a petrol car. As long as the sun shines, dams get water, and wind blows my car can be powered at a relatively stable price.

Today I was cycling for an hour and a half around the Vallée de Joux, and if the charger had been 59 centimes to 38 centimes per kilowatt hour then I could have charged while I cycled. Since I can fit my bike in my EV, driving to a cycling destination is more environmentally friendly than with a petrol car, and more convenient than with the train. With the train it would take an hour and a half, and two changes. Nyon to Renens, Renens to Le Day and then to Le Brassus, if I remember correctly.

Taking the train is more expensive, and less versatile. More importantly, taking the train has become far less attractive since road works lasting two years diverted a main road through my village. Now my walks are toxic because of too many cars.

The road works that were meant to make my village more walkable, and more cycle friendly actually did the opposite because they increased car traffic, and the safest option is to take the car to somewhere where I am less exposed to car traffic.

It’s worth highlighting that for years I barely touched the car, for one year because someone else was using it, a second year because of a broken arm, for several years because of the pandemic that never ended, but also because I didn’t want to contribute to global warming by emitting carbon dioxide. I was deeply tempted to replace the petrol car with an e-bike, or even a gravel bike but that wasn’t possible, so I replaced the petrol car with an EV and my conscience is clearer.

When I drive I treat pedestrians and cyclists as I want to be treated in so far as possible. I might drive a car, but that doesn’t mean I need to stop showing humanity towards cyclists and pedestrians. Most people are kind and considerate, but today four cars were driven far too close, on quiet roads. It wouldn’t be excused on busy roads, but on quiet roads that’s awful behaviour, and it is contagious.

Ideally a modern village encourages walking, cycling, and running, and potentially charging an EV while being sporty. Céligny is such a village. Villages with affordable EV charging are a unique selling point at the moment. It means we don’t need to get a charger at home. We can simply top up when needed, and then move on.