Skip to main content

First eVolt charge point installed for Electric Nation

The first eVolt smart electric vehicle (EV) charge point has been installed at a residential property outside Nottingham for the Electric Nation trial, which is seeking to find a smart charging solution that will better manage local level power distribution at peak times. According to eVolt, the eMobility brand of the Swarco Group, research suggests that some of the UK’s local electricity networks will need intervention to enable motorists to charge EVs at home at peak times. It indicates that at least U
March 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The first eVolt smart electric vehicle (EV) charge point has been installed at a residential property outside Nottingham for the Electric Nation trial, which is seeking to find a smart charging solution that will better manage local level power distribution at peak times.

According to eVolt, the eMobility brand of the 129 Swarco Group, research suggests that some of the UK’s local electricity networks will need intervention to enable motorists to charge EVs at home at peak times. It indicates that at least US$2.7 billion (£2.2 billion) would be needed for local electricity infrastructure upgrades.

The Electric Nation project is funded by Western Power Distribution (WPD) and Network Innovation Allowance, providing new electric car owners with a free smart charger. In return, the project will have access to charging data to help electricity distribution companies better manage electric vehicle charging.

The trial is seeking 500 to 700 members of the public to install a smart charge point on an ongoing basis to accurately measure charging levels, and eVolt, which is the eMobility brand of the Swarco Group, is providing half of the trial’s chargers. All smart charging units are subsidised by OLEV eligible households are initially required to be within the bounds of WPD (South West, South Wales, and the Midlands.) OLEV grants are only available to people with an EV who have not previously received OLEV funding for a charge point for that vehicle.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Robin Chase interview: Heaven and hell
    June 13, 2018
    A shared vision - or even much of a conversation at all - about what a better mobility balance looks like has been lacking…until now. Andrew Stone speaks to Zipcar founder Robin Chase about fairness – and the importance of not demonising cars
  • South west’s first smart motorway opens
    January 15, 2014
    The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south west has been officially launched, covering seven miles of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5. It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and
  • Harmonisation of Europe's ITS deployment still unbalanced
    January 31, 2012
    Dean Herenda, Chairman of the EasyWay project, talks about the progress made and the progress still to be made in harmonising ITS deployment across the European Union. "The deployment and use of ITS in road transport across Europe was and still is unbalanced" Although Europe can be proud of being home to some of the world's most advanced ITS solutions, the relative disparities between Member States of the European Union (EU) in terms of the extent and technological sophistication of deployments actually sta
  • TRL develops eCall test proposals ahead of mandatory roll-out in 2018
    November 11, 2015
    TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, has developed proposals for technical requirements and test procedures for the European type-approval of eCall in-vehicle systems. The draft proposals, which were developed for the European Commission, provide recommendations on the safety requirements for eCall systems in preparation of the mandatory European roll-out in 2018. Following the publication of eCall Regulation (EU) 2015/758 in May 2015, TRL was commissioned by the European Commission to develop dr