Engineering news
The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has appointed TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, to lead its Consumers, Vehicles and Energy Integration (CVEI) project.
The project is receiving up to £5 million in investment from the ETI, and aims to examine how the UK energy system needs to adapt in order to accommodate and encourage greater adoption of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. The project will also analyse the technical implications of any changes and how people might respond to them
The project will analyse the required changes to existing infrastructure, as well as consumer response to a wider introduction of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in the UK.
The project will be led by independent transport specialists, TRL, supported by Element Energy, Baringa Partners and Cenex. Other team members include EDF Energy, Route Monkey, EV Connectand the University of Aberdeen.
At CENEX LCV 2015, Denis Naberezhnykh, head of ultra low emission vehicles at TRL, told PE: “We’re already starting to see a sizeable shift in acceptance of electric vehicles in the UK. However, as more vehicles become electrified, we need to understand the pressure this extra demand will put on our energy networks, as well as the potential opportunities it will bring.
"A lot of research we have done with consumers to look at their purchase decisions of EVs has found that they do like them and value them but the choice is limited, the price is a big factor and there is the range anxiety or what I call insecurity of the interaction between the vehicle and chafing infrastructure.
"People aren't used to having this transition. it requires them to actually plan when they are going to charge and how much time will they need. For any user that is plunging in head first, these are genuine questions and a steep learning curve."
The two-year project will be carried out in two stages. The first stage will focus on detailed analysis and design of market, policy and regulatory frameworks, business models and customer offerings, electricity and liquid fuel infrastructure and technologies throughout the energy system, as well as at charging and refueling points and on-vehicle. This will be supported by insights from consumers and fleets into use of plug-in vehicles.
The second stage will deliver a trial involving more than 300 mass market users to validate the impact of solutions identified in stage one and understand consumer and fleet responses to the vehicles and to managed charging schemes.
The project collaboration adds to a number of research projects recently carried out by TRL in future transport areas such as low carbon and automated vehicles, such as the GATEway project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment), one of three UK projects to test ‘driverless’ vehicles in UK urban locations, and the recent completion of a feasibility study for Highways England into dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT).
Naberezhnykh explained that the way to overcome the issue is to ensure the country has the right type of charging infrastructure in the right place. He said: "There will be certain user groups for whom EVs are appropriate in the short term. We have to support them and make sure they have a good experience, then convey their positive experience more widely.
"From a vehicle perspective, there's only so much we can do in terms of vehicle batteries. Bigger batteries means more charging time allocated. More appropriate infrastructure in the right place which is able to deliver a higher rate of charge is probably where the solution is going to go."
Nick Eraut, ETI project manager, added: “This unique, strategic project will help us to understand the optimum future systems which will maximise the benefits of integrating low carbon vehicles into the UK’s energy system.
“As well as looking at the system and market structure changes, we also want to know how people would respond to a greater adoption of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles and also engagement with demand management schemes that would see them move from a niche choice of vehicle to the mainstream.”
Outputs from the project will be made publicly available throughout the project.