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

  • July 23, 2012
    Wireless - the future of vehicle detection
    Peter Cattell of Clearview Traffic analyses different wireless communications methods and explains how these are changing the face of vehicle detection. With the continued expansion of traffic data collection solutions, providing a robust, reliable, scalable and secure method of collecting information becomes increasingly important. Over many years, various mobile wireless technologies have been utilised to make the remote collection of data a reality but recent developments are changing the way that this w
  • April 19, 2012
    PwC surveys EV market potential
    Collaboration between industry participants will be essential to bring alternative fuel applications to market, according to PwC's latest publication Charging Forward: Electric Vehicle Survey. While automakers continue to bring electric vehicles (EVs) to the marketplace, governments, local municipalities and utility companies are challenged with building the infrastructure required to support these vehicles long before mainstream consumption will take hold. PwC surveyed over 200 executives across multipl
  • November 15, 2018
    Greenlots and Volvo Trucks to install EV chargers in California
    Technology company Greenlots has partnered with Volvo Trucks to implement an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for fleets operating out of warehouses in southern California. The project is part of a public-private partnership, in which the California Air Resources Board (CARB) awarded $44.8 million to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The funded was used for Volvo’s Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) project. As part of LIGHTS, Greenlots will equip warehouses
  • April 12, 2017
    UK Government funding for driverless and low carbon projects
    The UK Government has awarded US$137 million (£109.7 million) of funding, alongside significant funding from industry, to help develop the next generation of driverless and low-carbon vehicles, as part of the Industrial Strategy and the government’s Plan for Britain. Seven innovative projects will share grants from the latest round of funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), the joint industry-government programme to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology. The projects,