Smart on-street charging could save £4.1bn per year by 2030

Electric vehicle drivers charging their car twice a week using a smart on-street charger could save more than £600 per year when compared to a non-smart equivalent, according to a new government-sponsored trial.

The findings from the Agile Streets trial suggest the collective driver savings could reach as much as £4.1 billion per year by 2030 if smart on-street charging becomes widely adopted, with peak demand on the power grid being reduced by 240MW.

The project saw 100 Connected Kerb on-street smart chargers deployed at 17 sites across four local authorities – Shropshire, Hackney, Glasgow and East Lothian. The 368 drivers who took part in the six-month trial used 51,618KWh of electricity across 2,451 charging sessions.

Drivers could use the Agile Streets app to choose between an “Eco” smart charging mode costing 19p/kWh, which would schedule charging for the lowest-cost times of day, or a “Boost” mode costing 33p/KWh, which would immediately deliver power like a normal non-smart charger. On average, drivers used the Eco mode in 83.7% of charging sessions, achieving savings equivalent to £604.65 per year.

National Grid Electricity System Operator expects there to be 11 million on electric vehicles (EVs) on UK roads by 2030 and according to the government, 62% of households have no access to off-street parking on a dedicated parking with a domestic power supply. If each of these 6.82 million drivers saved as much as those participating in the trial, the total savings across the country would be more than £4.1 billion per year.

Connected Kerb noted that the cost of EV charging has increased significantly as a result of the current energy crisis. Before the October price cap hike, the company said EVs being charged at home were 9.2p per mile cheaper to run than a petrol equivalent, but the gap has now narrowed to 3.9p per mile. It said smart home charging can boost this saving to 13.5p per mile.

The company said smart charging can bring similar benefits to public charging, which is generally more expensive than home charging, partly due to the fact it is subject to a 20% VAT rate compared to just 5% on household electricity.

Chris Pateman-Jones, chief executive of Connected Kerb, said: “The energy price crisis is a major challenge facing all industries. For the EV transition, we know that this will narrow the gap between the cost of refuelling a petrol or diesel vehicle, and the typically much lower cost of charging an EV. That’s why now is the time to focus our attention on smart charging technologies that can allow those reliant on public charging infrastructure to benefit from cheaper prices when demand for electricity is at its lowest.

“The deployment of smart charging into public charging – to both reduce consumer costs and minimise the impact of charging on the grid – is ground-breaking. The Agile Streets trial gives us the opportunity to ensure we get smart charging right, enabling us to take all of the learnings from the trial and get ready to roll out this revolutionary infrastructure.”

The Agile Streets trial was undertaken by a consortium comprised of Connected Kerb, Samsung Research, Octopus Energy For Business, SMETS Design, Energy Saving Trust and the Power Networks Distribution Centre. It was supported by £1.5 million of funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Tim Anderson, group head of transport at Energy Saving Trust, said: “The provision of convenient and affordable EV charging infrastructure is essential to ensure that electric vehicles are accessible to everyone. This will support the switch low carbon transport, which in turn is a key part of the UK’s transition to net zero carbon.

“Energy Saving Trust is proud to be part of this world-first trial, using smart metering technology to enable drivers without the option of charging at home, to take advantage of off-peak tariffs to charge their cars. We look forward to seeing the trial rolled out further and the benefits that this will bring.”