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Domestic electric vehicle (EV) charging control technology could save £2.2 billion in network reinforcement costs by 2050, Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution’s Low Carbon Networks Fund project has revealed.
However project lead EA Technology said for this solution to work car manufacturers and the energy industry will need to work together more closely in the future.
The three-year My Electric Avenue project trialled Esprit, a technology that when fitted to a local electricity distribution grid can control the charging of domestic EVs if the demand reaches a certain level.
The first real-life trial of the technology demonstrated how controlling charging can prevent underground cables, overhead lines and substations being potentially overloaded and save billions in replacement costs.
The project, which also involved Northern Powergrid, trialled ten ‘avenues’ of groups of ten people or more. Each person drove an electric car for 18 months to discover the impact of charging clusters of EVs on local electricity networks at peak times.
The trail analysed various kinds of low voltage networks in the UK. Four types are expected to experience issues due to the uptake of EVs at differing penetration levels.
EA Technology said 32 per cent of local electricity networks, or 312,000 circuits, will require intervention when 40 to 70 per cent of customers have EVs.
EA Technology said historically there has not been much cross-sector communication between the automotive and energy industries.
EA Technology’s My Electric Avenue project director Dave Roberts said: “My Electric Avenue has brought these two sectors together and has started dialogue, and this needs to develop further as vehicle manufacturers announce plans for increasing numbers of higher performance plug-in vehicles.”
Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution’s head of asset management Stewart Reid said: “With new vehicles due to place even greater demands on our networks, we are conscious of the need for both ourselves and the automotive industry to share our learning, challenges and innovations with one another.
“We are excited at this prospect, which will allow the decarbonisation of our respective industries to continue at pace.”
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