Skip to main content

Consultation to examine how UK electricity network can prepare for increase in EVs

The UK’s Smart EV project is launching its Consultation on Managed EV Charging at the Low Carbon Networks Innovation Conference in Manchester. The Consultation invites stakeholder views to ultimately secure a standardised industry-wide agreement for the connection, charging and control of electric vehicles. The project’s ultimate aim is to achieve agreement across a number of industries on the best way to help facilitate the roll out of controlled EV charging. In doing so, it will enable significantly
October 13, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s Smart EV project is launching its Consultation on Managed EV Charging at the Low Carbon Networks Innovation Conference in Manchester. The Consultation invites stakeholder views to ultimately secure a standardised industry-wide agreement for the connection, charging and control of electric vehicles.  

The project’s ultimate aim is to achieve agreement across a number of industries on the best way to help facilitate the roll out of controlled EV charging.  In doing so, it will enable significantly larger numbers of EVs to charge on today’s local electricity distribution networks, with sizeable reduction in investment costs, customer bills and disruption.  

The project is being run by electricity network distribution operator Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and power engineering company EA Technology, with funding through Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance.

Based on the current and forecast rate of EV adoption, sections of the electricity network will need upgrading to match the future demand of electric vehicle ownership. To help offset the need to spend billions in reinforcing the network, the Smart EV project is aiming to find a cross-industry technical solution to ensure the current electricity infrastructure can cope with the increase in electric vehicle charging on the network, particularly at peak times.

Stewart Reid, head of Asset Management & Innovation at SSEN, says, “The Smart EV project will help provide a safe and secure electricity network that can support the wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles, while reducing investment costs, customer bills and disruptions. Our research predicts that using smart technology, rather than digging up the roads to install new cables, will result in an economic saving of around £2.2 billion (US$2.7 billion) by 2050.”

Dave A. Roberts, director - Smart Interventions at EA Technology, said: “We need to find a standardised method to control the charging of EVs. The Smart EV project will seek to provide a national engineering recommendation, or equivalent, for the connection, charging and control of electric vehicles.

“We need the input of as many relevant stakeholders as possible – if you are a charging point manufacturer, installer, EV manufacturer, policymaker or anyone involved in the associated supply chain, please take part in the consultation.”

Related Content

  • Detection analysis technology successfully predicts traffic flows
    February 3, 2012
    David Crawford investigates new detection analysis technology from IBM. Locations on both the East and West Coasts of the US are scheduled for early deployments of IBM's new Traffic Prediction Tool (TPT) statistical analysis model for the fine-time resolution and near-term prediction of road flow conditions. Developed by IBM's Watson Research Laboratories, TPT is designed to analyse data from the the key detection indicators - average vehicle volumes and speeds passing a location in a given time interval -
  • Siemens to equip StreetScooter EV with innovative electronics and software
    July 30, 2014
    Siemens' central research department and electric vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter are to equip an electric car with an innovative electronic and software architecture as part of the Robust and Reliant Automotive Computing Environment for Future eCars (RACE) project. For the first time ever, the architecture will make it possible to retrofit functions such as electrical brakes and systems such as lane-keeping assistants using a plug-and-play process like on home PCs. The two companies plan to incorpora
  • A fresh approach to electronic fee collection
    July 16, 2012
    The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is pioneering fresh approaches to Electronic Fee Collection (EFC) deployment in the US. Its new system, operational since January 2009 on all buses and commuter trains, is the country's first full-network rollout of transit e-ticketing technology built on an open-payment network, according to the organisation's Technology Programme Development Manager Craig Roberts.
  • Making connections without compromising security
    November 10, 2017
    We listen in as global experts discuss connected vehicles and cybersecurity. By 2019 there will be almost 44 million connected cars globally and by 2022 that figure will be nearer 70 million; some 40% will be electric powered, according to market analyst Frost & Sullivan. But its report said the issue of end-to-end security for the new technology is still under debate, as vehicle OEMs engage with vendors to test specific security application areas for both over-the-air and vehicle-to-exterior services.