This week, Justin Rowlatt, the BBC’s Climate Editor, launched a new tv series looking at climate change and sustainability issues. The series, called What They Really Mean for You, looks at the kind of problems that the Think Hire team have been tackling first-hand for our customers for many years.

In the first episode, available now on iPlayer, Justin looks at electric vehicles, and assesses some of the many hurdles that stand in the way of the UK successfully transitioning to electric vehicles by 2030. In this article, we’ll show you how hiring solar powered generators and electric vehicle and plant charging points from Think Hire can help your company tackle some of these issues right now.

Lack of electric vehicle charging points

As we discussed in our blog last October, one of the primary problems with electric vehicles is the lack of charging infrastructure in the UK. What’s more, as electric vehicle sales increase, this issue is getting worse. While there were 16 vehicles for every charging station in 2020, there are now 32 vehicles – and that’s assuming that all of these charging points are working, which they often aren’t.

What’s more, the current charging grid is not evenly spaced, with a third of all public charging points located in London. For example, the programme points out that Westminster alone has more public charging points than Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle put together!

By hiring a solar powered generator, linked to portable electric vehicle and plant charging points, you can ensure that your whole team has access to dependable power supplies whenever and wherever they need them on site, without queuing for hours at a public charging point.

Lack of power grid infrastructure

It would seem that the obvious answer is to simply build more charging points, but unfortunately it’s not as easy as that. Not only are local planning regulations simply not designed for this kind of installation, but the National Grid itself needs significant upgrades to be able to cope with the new demands.

Think Hire’s Solartainer solar powered generators don’t need any complex infrastructure, and our portable electric vehicle chargers can be located almost anywhere without the need for extensive groundworks. The whole system is self-contained, needing no input from the grid and no planning permission from the local councils. This means you can get the EV charging capacity you need for your site straight away.

Sustainable energy production

When it comes to sustainability, one of the biggest issues with electric vehicles is just where that electricity comes from. After all, there’s no point in switching from fossil fuelled cars to electric, if that electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels in the first place. It doesn’t solve the emissions problem, it simply changes it from lots of smaller emissions to one great big one.

While the UK is driving forward with sustainable energy, we are a long way from giving up our reliance on fossil fuels. That means that electric vehicles may not be as green as we think they are.

With a solar powered generator from Think Hire, you can be sure that 100% of the energy you’re using to charge your electric vehicles and plant comes from a renewable and sustainable source. You don’t have to trust vague promises from so-called green energy suppliers, you can see your organisation’s environmental policies in action, live on site.

A closer look at renewable energy

Episode two of the new BBC programme lands on Tuesday 1st August. This will take a closer look at the UK’s renewable energy capacity and where this stands in terms of demand today and our goal of net zero by 2050.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to find out more about increasing your own renewable energy capacity, through solar powered generator hire from Think Hire, get in touch with us today by calling 0330 133 2222, or complete the contact form on our website.