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

  • St. Andrews gets £12m to develop EV battery
    September 10, 2019
    The UK’s University of St. Andrews has received £12 million to lead a project on the development of a sodium ion battery for electric vehicles (EV). The four-year Nexgenna project is seeking to commercialise a safe sodium ion battery which offers low cost and long cycle life. The university says the solution could enable EVs to travel further and allow electric trains to run on non-electrified lines, making rural routes in the Scottish Highlands commercially viable. The funding body announced the inve
  • DfT consults on future of Highways Agency
    October 30, 2013
    Prior to turning the UK Highways Agency into a government-owned company, the Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a consultation asking for the public’s views on the proposed structure and accountability of the new company, along with input on how the new watchdog, and a separate new organisation that will monitor the performance of the agency, should be run. Turning the Highways Agency into a government-owned company will improve efficiency and reduce running costs, with taxpayers expected to ben
  • Here and CDOT to partner on US RoadX connected vehicle project
    January 12, 2016
    The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and mapping and location technology specialist Here are to partner in the first cellular network-based connected vehicle alert system in North America.
  • New large-scale initiative towards Europe smart cities
    December 18, 2012
    The Smart Cities Stakeholder Platform, part of the Smart Cities and Community Partnership, which was launched by the European Commission in early 2012, works as an advisory body for the EU’s leading research initiative on the future of cities. Members include technology producers, energy providers and urban visionaries. The open-invitation group is already 1,000 members strong, and is currently building a database of high-tech solutions to help build the smart cities of tomorrow. The ideas, coming from the