ELEMENT Energy, a low carbon energy consultancy, is leading a project to deliver new on-street electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The chargers will be enabled by smart meters integrated within the existing electricity network and will enable low grid load charging overnight.
Crucially, the Trojan chargepoints supplied by one of the consortium partners in the project, will be located close to residential households. The chargers will have dedicated parking spaces.
Chargepoints will be slotted into the pavement to provide access to charging for those that do not have driveways or garages.
While the project is in its first stage of testing, if it proves successful it will be rolled out for real life testing in the London boroughs of Brent and Camden in spring 2021.
The project is part of SmartSTEP, a Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy funded project called Smart Subsurface Technology for Electric Pathways (SmartSTEP).
Sarah Clements, Project Manager at Element Energy, commented:
Smart charging is a vital enabler of the EV transition, allowing the fine balancing of both customer needs and electricity network constraints. Whilst already available for drivers who charge at home, smart charging has never been tested in an on-street context before. This is essential for ensuring low cost charging is available to all, and we are proud to be managing this industry first project that will help deliver Great Britain’s interconnected electricity and transport system.
The project consortium includes charge point start-up Trojan Energy; renewable electricity provider Octopus Energy; and Landis+Gyr, a leading global provider of integrated energy management solutions.
Read More About The On-Street Charging Project
There is further information about SmartSTEP at Element Energy’s website: SmartSTEP project brings smart EV charging to residential urban streets in industry first