Creating virtual driveways

If electric vehicles (EVs) are to dominate the UK’s highways and byways then it is essential the charging infrastructure is accessible to all.

That means finding a solution for the estimated eight million drivers in the UK who do not have access to off-street parking.

Figures show that in London 60 per cent of the population do not have a driveway or garage, yet according to UK Power Networks (UKPN), which distributes power around the capital, 80 per cent of EV charging activity currently happens at home.

Dr Giulia Privitera, low carbon technologies delivery manager at UKPN (who recently moved to a new role as social sustainability strategy and programme manager), sees this as one of the key issues to tackle if the DNO is to fulfil its mission of being an “enabler of EV charging”.

UKPN currently services almost a third of the EVs registered across the country – some 100,000 across London, east and south east England. However, it expects this to grow to 3.6 million by the turn of the next decade. This rate of growth will only be possible if the charging infrastructure is in place for everyone – and quickly.

But, she stresses that this cannot be a case of the energy system imposing its preferred methods on the public and that the views of non-drivers must be given equal prominence to motorists.

She tells Utility Week: “We know from talking to councils and vulnerable customers that there are real concerns about excessive street furniture. We have to find solutions that are not intrusive.”

One of the potential solutions being trialled by a large consortium, with UKPN as a partner, is a technology that is slotted into the pavement with no permanent footprint or street clutter as the hardware is only visible when a vehicle is charging.

The technology has been developed by Trojan Energy and will be trialled across two London boroughs – Brent and Camden – as part of the Subsurface Technology for Electric Pathways (STEP) project.

The company aims to install 200 connectors across the two boroughs over the next few months. EV owners will then be invited to trial the service and provided their own portable lance which is plugged into a flush socket inserted into the ground. Each grid connection will be able to serve up to 18 connectors.

UKPN is one of several partners on the project, alongside Octopus Energy, which will be recruiting some of its customers for the trial. Octopus customers taking part will be able to link energy consumption from the chargepoint to their home energy bill. Triallists who are not with Octopus will pay Trojan directly for the energy they use. The electricity will be offered at fixed rates, with two tiers of pricing – for a fast 22kW charge or a lower 7kW level.

STEP has so far raised more than £1 million in private funding which unlocked £3 million from Innovate UK. It was also successful in securing £850,000 from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s EV charging competition in August, for a follow-on project – SmartSTEP, where 100 charge points will be upgraded to a smart system.

Element Energy, a strategic energy consultancy specialising in the analysis of low-carbon energy, is leading the STEP and SmartSTEP projects.

Sarah Clements, senior consultant at Element Energy, who manages the project, tells Utility Week that the trial is expected to go live in March next year, although Covid has already delayed the project once, and that she hopes for at least 60 participants.

She stresses that the project will be evaluating the public reaction as much as the performance of the technology.

“We want to know what EV drivers, prospective EV drivers and even those who currently have no interest in being an EV driver think of it.”

She explains that there will be a before and after survey for the first group, led by the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, assessing whether participants’ charging habits change over the trial. At the end, there will also be polls for those considering a low-carbon vehicle and gauging whether the trial has made them more likely to ditch the diesel and for observers on whether the project was disruptive.

Clements says that the flexibility offered by the STEP solution to charge in multiple parking spaces could resolve tensions between EV drivers and other residents.

“It’s been quite controversial having dedicated bays and it’s also frustrating for drivers if they can’t access that bay. One of the things we really want to understand from the trial is how people park. Do they move around or do they try to park in the same place every time?”

She adds: “We know there’s a demand there. There is one borough in Camden where there have been 100 requests for chargepoints in a single street.”

While this project will only take place in the capital, Clements stresses that it is not “London-centric” and could conceivably work in any built-up area. Privitera agrees that there appear to be no barriers to rolling this out across UK Power Networks’ areas.

EV charging on-street is already possible in some areas through lamppost connections, while other trials are underway.

Privitera says: “I would expect a mix of different solutions. We want to work with local authorities to decide what is the best approach for them and work from there.”