The monenergie.be site, an energy price comparator on the Belgian market, has just relayed a study by Re.alto, a start-up launched by the energy carrier Elia. This start-up, whose mission is the exchange of energy data, benefits from the collaboration of many car manufacturers and fleet managers. It was their observation of the gap between estimated consumption and actual consumption of electric vehicles that prompted Re.alto to investigate further. It turns out that this difference is largely explained by the fuel consumption of the vehicle when it is stationary.
It turns out that the periods of inactivity of an electric car (more clearly, when it sleeps in a parking space) still represent a consumption of up to 1,000 kWh/year. At the current average price of electricity in Belgium, this represents an annual cost of 500 euros, compared to 200 euros in France where electricity is much cheaper.
Like a TV left on standby
And what explains this consumption? It’s the same principle, for example, as a television left on standby. A car is never completely “off”, because it must continue to transmit data, both to the manufacturer (for updates for example), and to the user’s smartphone application (charge level, reading mileage, air conditioning pre-programming, etc.).
It would be technically possible to really put the car in “off” mode, but the network reconnection then takes several minutes each time it is started. In short, the startup suggests that manufacturers find a less energy-intensive data transmission system.