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The UK’s electricity networks are teaming up with major car manufacturers to prepare for the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
Car manufacturers Nissan, Ford, Jaguar, Land-Rover and Aston Martin have joined all six of the UK’s electricity distribution network operators (DNOs) and transmission system operator National Grid in backing a new Automotive-Utilities task force “in principle”.
Asset management company EA Technology, which is setting up the task force, said it is working with a partner to secure funding.
EA Technology said the task force met with a “great response” from both electricity network companies and car manufacturers when it was put forward as a legacy project at the presentation of the results of EV charging project My Electric Avenue (MEA) in December.
It said the taskforce is seen as an “an essential next step in ensuring that EVs and electricity networks work in harmony to facilitate expected uptake”.
EA Technology smart interventions director Dave Roberts said: “Critically, MEA has demonstrated that the automotive and utilities sectors need to work together.
“There is a crucial overlap between these two industries; the lack of capacity in some local electricity networks for EV charging needs to be addressed, and it is a cross-sector issue.
“Ultimately this initiative will work to ensure that the road ahead is a smooth one, for the future of the EV.”
EA Technology has been running trials of how human behaviour might affect EV charging patterns through the Low Carbon Network Fund MEA project alongside Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution since 2013.
EA Technology said the project has proven that clusters, or groups, of EVs on the same street that access the same electricity network, or low voltage feeder, will cause an issue for some of the UK’s local electricity networks.
It also revealed that EV control technology could save £2.2 billion in network reinforcement costs by 2050.
EV uptake is expected to continue apace this year as six new EV models join the 32 full or part EVs already available to buy in the UK in what could be called the ‘year of the EV‘. However this is not expected to significantly affect electricity demand for at least five years.
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