Sustainability Salon: The issues with EVs - continued
The second Sustainability Salon on Electric Vehicles (EVs) on 29 October 2025 brought together senior researchers in engineering and electrochemistry – including a researcher involved in the TransiT project, which models the complete transport network in a digital twin – with delegates from CIRIA, the Scottish Association for Public Transport, and an independent battery and EV expert from Plug Life Consulting Ltd.
Electric cars
We discussed the challenges brought about by electric cars, especially their weight. Electric cars tend to be heavier, leading to higher particulate pollution from tyre wear. More widespread adoption will also mean that multistorey car parks need to be able to accommodate higher loads. However, part of the issue is the SUVfication of electric cars, and cars in general. It was suggested that regulators could address this by making road tax dependent on the size of the car instead of CO2 emissions. For the most common use case – shorter urban journeys – a lighter battery would be sufficient, and thus a lighter car.
We also discussed the batteries that power EVs, which may be getting a bad rep. However, a Tesla is 20 times less likely to catch fire than certain brands of diesel cars. Governments could step in to promote the acceptability of electric cars. For private companies, there is an opportunity for a project to improve the battery diagnostics in the second hand EV market to allay insecurity over battery performance. Meanwhile, manufacturers guard the chemical composition of EV batteries, particularly their electrodes, as company secrets.
We dove deeper into charging stations. In rural areas, it was suggested that farmers and landowners could own off-grid charging stations, to reduce range anxiety for longer trips. In urban areas, chargers can be shared and we see a shift to branded chargers run by third parties. On the scale of households and neighbourhoods, is there a way for the construction industry and academia to combine to pressure newbuilds to have cohesive, multi-part installations involving batteries, solar panels, grey water and heat, using a ‘dig one hole use for multiple purposes’ approach?
Public transport
Public transport is another domain for the application of batteries. An early example is a battery-powered train that ran from Aberdeen to Ballater, which started running in 1958 and ran successfully for years. A current example is a battery-powered train in West Ealing, London, which can run 200 miles. Participants also noted the performance of the battery-powered electric buses operated by Ember in Scotland. Battery health is holding up very well – after serving urban routes, the buses can still operate on rural routes of 250-300 miles without prematurely running out of charge.
We also considered the potential of hydrogen in public transport. There are restrictions in tunnels and underground stations when applied to trains. There are successful prototypes in Europe, but they are not permanent installations. From our chemist’s perspective, it may make more sense to use hydrogen to store power than to use it for mobility applications.
Possible projects
Several of the discussed topics would lend themselves well for future impact projects. If you would like to engage with EV-related impact projects, please get in touch with the host of our Sustainability Salons: IAA Knowledge Exchange Associate, David Hughes, via david.hughes.4@glasgow.ac.uk.
About the Sustainability Salons
The Sustainability Salons bring the practical knowledge of industry together with the technical and theoretical expertise of academics, to inspire potential projects to help solve sustainability issues. We have EPSRC IAA funding available to support these projects. If you would like to be invited to future salons, please contact David.
The Sustainability Salons are organised by David Hughes, IAA Knowledge Exchange Associate. Email David if you would like to get involved in future Sustainability Salons.