Car manufacturers and the energy industry must work more closely together on solutions aimed at offsetting the impact of growing electric vehicle (EV) use on Britain’s local electricity networks.

 

This was one of the conclusions of the three year ‘My Electric Avenue’ research project, which closes this month.

 

The project – hosted by Scottish & Southern Energy Power Distribution and led by EA Technology – trialled the impact that charging ‘clusters’ of plug in vehicles might have on local electricity networks at peak times.

 

This involved recruiting groups of neighbours from around the country to drive Nissan LEAF electric cars for 18 months.

 

It was found that across Britain 32% of local electricity networks would need extra capacity when at least 40% of customers have EVs, based on 3.5kW charging.

 

As part of the project an innovative ‘demand response’ solution has been trialled which could help prevent underground cables, overhead lines and substations becoming overloaded.

 

Named ‘Esprit’, the technology is capable of controlling the charging of EVs if the local electricity grid reaches a certain level of demand. Forecasts suggest that Espirit could save around £2.2Bn of reinforcement costs up to 2050 by removing the need to upgrade underground electricity cables beneath the public highway.

 

But My Electric Avenue’s project team is urging car manufacturers and the energy industry will need to work together more closely if the solution is to be a success.

 

Project director Dave Roberts said: “The automotive sector has well established and effective communication channels to discuss industry issues. However, historically there has not been much cross-sector communication between the automotive and energy industries.

 

“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.”

 

(Photo: Stonehouse Photographic)