Finance and grants

Electric Nation smart charging project: V2G looking for beta testers

The numbers of electric vehicles are set to increase. Charging these rising numbers of EVs will have an impact on local electricity networks. Smart charging, as trialled by the original Electric Nation project, will help to move demand away from peak times. However vehicle to grid charging offers a lot more than just smart charging: it offers the ability for potentially millions of EVs to smart charge using renewable energy and act as battery storage facilities, and then put energy back into the grid if needed. This means that rather than EVs being seen as a problem in relation to grid capacity, they can be an important solution to help balance the grid.

If EV owners have solar panels at home then their cars could be charged from the sun, and spare renewable energy could be put back into the grid at peak times, which would mean that the grid uses less fossil fuel generation.

For these reasons, V2G is a great concept, but it hasn’t yet been trialled sufficiently on Britain’s electricity networks to enable it to be rolled out on a country-wide basis – hence the need for this trial.

The Electric Nation Smart Charging project v the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project

The original Electric Nation smart charging project was scoped in 2015/16. Since then the number of plug-in vehicles on UK roads has increased nearly five-fold and will shortly pass 250,000 – and this is at a time when we are also about to see a significant rise in a wide range of low carbon technologies deployed, as the UK moves towards Net Zero.

The aims of the project

1. To explore and report on the impact of V2G charging on the low voltage (LV) electricity network, utilising end-user trial charging data and analysis.
2. To demonstrate, via modelling, to what extent V2G can assist with management of LV network demand.
3. To examine how sophisticated dynamic bi-directional energy services based on vehicle battery storage, from a variety of energy suppliers, may impact the LV infrastructure.
4. Provide recommendations of policy and commercial frameworks on V2G services.

Why the project is innovative

This project will study the real-world effects of V2G charging and look to provide a smart solution to provide management. V2G is due to become a common feature on many more vehicles with the announcement that CCS charging protocol is aiming to offer this in 2025 (CHAdeMO charging protocol does this now) along with the UK’s leading work in this field accelerating the business case for many energy suppliers.

A considerable amount of research is being carried out in the area of V2G, however this is generally supplier or charger company-led and does not focus on the likely real-world situation for a DNO should many EV users utilise this technology. In contrast, the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project includes multiple trading stack providers to reflect that when V2G is ‘business as usual’, multiple energy supply strategies will be in play in any given part of the LV network.

The project will operate up to five different energy supplier strategies simultaneously using V2G to imitate a future world in which many streets have a number of EVs charging in this way, operated by different energy suppliers. CrowdCharge would also look to add in smart charging data to the modelling to explore the effect of a mix of V1G and V2G. Further demand management will be trialled across the whole system to explore how much intervention is required to keep within the limitations of the low voltage network.

Scale of the project

The project will engage and recruit between 90-110 participants to install V2G charging and control equipment in domestic properties across WPD’s four licence areas. The chargers will be split into various groups of similar size and assigned to the project’s energy suppliers (up to five). Each supplier will then use their group of chargers to test their various energy services utilising CrowdCharge’s demand management charger platform which provides optimised charging sessions. The effect of these services on the LV network will be modelled and reported on, including using this real-world V2G data in a network assessment tool.

The scale size of 90-110 chargers is large enough to provide a real-world data set of the effect on the LV network and subsequently a more holistic view of the impact of V2G on the LV network in varying locations across WPD’s licence areas. A smaller sample size is unlikely to include a sufficient range of charging/driving habits of the public, thus decreasing the learning potential. As V2G is only suitable for 2-3 vehicle models, the sample size can be smaller than the Electric Nation smart charging trial from a technical standpoint.

Geographical area

The project will take place across the whole of WPD’s four licence areas (West Midlands, East Midlands, South West and South Wales).

About V2G

V2G is fundamentally different in nature to smart charging because energy can be cycled, whereas smart charging is limited to the amount of energy consumed by the EV, i.e. around 7-10KWh for a typical 28 mile a day vehicle. A vehicle charged with V2G could cycle up to 84KWh of energy in and out of the vehicle in more complex patterns trying to react to signals from the market actors. The strategies for using these services could vary significantly but also coincide, leading to unexpected peaks that could be more difficult to forecast. With the export feature this could lead to high voltage events should a national call for more energy coincide with low local load.

Electric Nation has shown that time of use tariffs may shift the evening peak and create a new peak later in the evening, leading to a need for management. Also, this would make it difficult to separate the shift in demand due to tariff or the call for Distribution Systems Operator (DSO) service – the Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project will test a more integrated approach.

Also, when looking at the proposed services these are fairly simplistic, and they mirror how National Grid calls for flexibility – at the ends of the network with low diversity this approach is not likely to provide a complete solution. The Electric Nation Vehicle to Grid project will look to test alternative approaches with the DSO taking control only when energy supplier trading encroaches safe limits for the network.

The business case for the project

As electric vehicle numbers increase (by 2030 it is estimated that around 25% of households will have a plug-in vehicle) it is anticipated that around 5,601 substations will be running at between 100-110% capacity by 2030 at a potential reinforcement cost of around £84 million.

To maintain safe network limits, it is expected that 20% of the EV chargers would be contracted by the DSO to provide V2G balancing. This would cost £3.8 million per year, instead of an £84 million one-off reinforcement investment.

Forecasting precise impacts presents a challenge with so many changing parameters (e.g. varying uptake of EVs, domestic batteries, heat pumps, solar PV). The CrowdCharge smart service has many potential advantages:

• It offers huge flexibility. Compared to traditional reinforcement, it can be activated at shorter notice – and can be targeted very precisely. The number of chargers under control can be increased (or reduced) depending on how demand patterns evolve for each part of the network
• It will help to defer (or in some cases avoid entirely) significant amounts of reinforcement
• The solution can respond to new technology, for example can equally be applied via the same platform to utilise static domestic batteries, should they offer equivalent capacity by 2030
• The platform data will provide a broader insight to network activity, informing other network activities (for example it may support voltage monitoring)
• The £84 million estimate for traditional reinforcement assumes a planned replacement, however due to the highly distributed and unpredictable nature of EV growth (alongside equally unpredictable LCT uptake) it may require a significant percentage of emergency reinforcement as limits are breached earlier than forecasted, and therefore costs could rise significantly. In addition, emergency repairs cause greater customer impacts.

Learn more abour V2G project

What is the duration of the project?

The project started in January 2020 and will conclude in July 2022, with a one year customer trial period starting in March 2021 until March 2022.

Recruitment starts June 2020, and charger installations will start from Autumn 2020.

Who is this aimed at?

Simple if you…

• Drive a Nissan EV with a battery capacity of 30kWh or more
• Live in the Midlands, South West or South Wales

then you could be eligible to trial a domestic Vehicle to Grid (V2G) smart EV charger worth £5,500.

By plugging in at specified times and putting energy back into the grid you could be rewarded, and the charger can be kept at the end of the trial for just £250.

Lear more or enrol at Electric Nation V2G site:

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National Grid – EV myth busters

If Boris has his way petrol and diesel cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2035, so before long, far more of us are going to be behind the wheel of electric vehicles. Graeme Cooper, National Grid’s Project Director – Electric Vehicles, addresses five myths about them.

Capacity

There are two aspects to whether we have the capacity to manage lots of EVs being plugged in at once – whether we have enough energy and then whether we have sufficient capacity on the wires that carry that energy to where it’s needed.   

With the first of these, the energy element, the most demand for electricity we’ve had in recent years in the UK was for 62GW in 2002. Since then, due to improved energy efficiency such as the installation of solar panels, the nation’s peak demand has fallen by roughly 16 per cent. Even if the impossible happened and we all switched to EVs overnight, we think demand would only increase by around 10 per cent. So we’d still be using less power as a nation than we did in 2002 and this is well within the range of manageable load fluctuation. 

More complicated though is the issue of when that power demand actually happens – is it all at once or spread through the day and week? 

The traditional evening peak of electricity demand is between 6 and 8pm, and this might well coincide with people returning from their commute and plugging in their cars. 

If we want to provide sufficient infrastructure and energy for EVs as cheaply as possible for consumers, we ideally don’t want to add to that evening peak and need to spread that demand better. 

With this in mind, recently the Government’s EV Energy Taskforce recommended that all future car chargers should be ‘smart by design’. This means that no matter what time you come home and plug your car in at, it will charge when you need it but will pause during that evening peak when energy is most expensive and demand on the grid is highest. 

When it comes to the capacity of the wires required to deliver that power to the nation’s EV charging points, National Grid’s transmission system is ever-evolving and suitably robust to cope with the forecast uptake in EVs. That said, some targeted investment is likely to be needed to ensure there are appropriate places where drivers can access sufficient high power charging away from home. This particularly needs to be on the motorway network to give confidence to those travelling longer distances, to ensure charging does not interrupt those journeys. Fortunately there is already a lot of electricity infrastructure right next to our motorways as power lines are often run beside them for practical reasons. 

The other point to bear in mind here is that the switch to EVs won’t happen over night and will occur gradually over the coming years.

From the start of the Industrial Revolution up until 2017, the ‘dirtiest’ thing we did as a country was make electricity. However the way we generate power has evolved and our energy system is getting greener all the time. Last year, 2019, was a record breaking year and more electricity was generated by clean sources than fossil fuels. With the growth in onshore and offshore wind farms and the closure of a number of coal plants, transport is in fact now the most polluting thing we do as a nation. 

Emissions

From the start of the Industrial Revolution up until 2017, the ‘dirtiest’ thing we did as a country was make electricity. However the way we generate power has evolved and our energy system is getting greener all the time. Last year, 2019, was a record breaking year and more electricity was generated by clean sources than fossil fuels. With the growth in onshore and offshore wind farms and the closure of a number of coal plants, transport is in fact now the most polluting thing we do as a nation. 

Cost

It’s true that products based on new technology do tend to be more expensive for early adopters but as they become more mainstream and volumes increase, prices typically come down. EV battery prices are already falling which helps with this. So we absolutely expect the upfront cost of new EVs to reduce over the next few years. 

For those looking to buy used rather than new, the current uptick of supply in new EVs will hit the second hand EVs market in three or so years’ time.  

It’s important to look not just at the initial outlay for your car but the ‘whole life cost’, which means considering how well it retains its value and its running costs. It seems that EVs are depreciating less than petrol and diesel cars, so you might well get more payback when the time comes for you to trade in or sell on.  

Even though EVs currently have higher purchase prices, they’re cheaper to run – costing much less than petrol or diesel, at as little as 2p per mile if you charge at the right time of day or night. EVs have fewer moving parts too, meaning they should also have lower servicing costs.

Batteries

The lithium ion technology in our mobile phones is not dissimilar to those in an EV but what is different is that these cars have effective power management systems that guard the long-term health of their batteries. Most manufacturers are offering battery warranties of seven or eight years, or around 100,000 miles but there’s a reasonable expectation that they will actually last longer than that and indeed outlive the car itself. 

Even if a battery became no longer fit for use in the car it won’t end up in that landfill site, as it can either be recycled, or given a second life as an energy storage unit for homes or businesses.

Range

Really simply the sweet-spot for the range of an EV is between 200 and 300 miles, this gives the optimal balance between cost and range. Most people don’t need a range of more than this – after the time it takes to drive this distance most of us need a pit stop anyway. 

Statistically the first car in a family does around 37 miles a day on average and any second car covers around 11 miles daily. Understandably people don’t however buy for their average journeys, they buy for the longest ones they do. In reality when we take longer trips, most of us already do stop for 15 to 20 minutes at a service station to grab a drink and perhaps head to the loo or fill up on petrol or diesel. That would be all the time it takes to power up your EV via the new range of ultra-rapid chargers that are already available. This is why National Grid has proposed the optimum locations for adequate grid capacity to enable others to provide ultra-fast chargers, ensuring that nobody on the strategic road network (motorways and principle dual carriageways) is further than 50 driven miles from ultra-rapid charging. This will give drivers consistency, continuity and therefore confidence that their first or only car can be electric. 

See full article at National Grid.

0% APR Offer Making Used Smart Cars A Popular Consumer Choice

Everybody wants more for less. That is apparently why more and more value seeking consumers are turning to pre-owned smart cars. There are some good reasons that pre-owned smart cars are moving quickly from area car dealers. One of the biggest is that the innovative, distinctive looking vehicles are being embraced since an approved used smart can now be purchased at 0% APR from smart dealers. The 0% finance offer is for up to three full years. That’s an attractive offer for any vehicle, especially a used one. It makes a pre-owned smart particularly attractive.

The smart car was introduced in 1998, and for over 15 years it has been a trendy choice for those looking to make a statement about the environment. This is in great part due to its extremely economical use of petrol. Others have turned to a smart fortwo because it is perhaps the ultimate commuter vehicle that is exceptionally simple to park. It demure size also makes finding parking spaces a bit easier, particularly in large cities. Whilst you won’t find extravagance and exotic amenities in a smart fortwo, you will find an exceptionally affordable mode of transportation that many have found to be reliable and fun.

The 0% finance offer is bringing in a variety of buyers for the smart cars, but there are other reasons the pre-owned smart is getting so much attention recently. Buyers get complimentary 12 month roadside assistance, a year-long unlimited mileage warranty, and MOT test failure cover. These are proving to be popular perks, especially on a used vehicle. Smart dealers apparently are comfortable in providing these additional perks due to the rigorous multi-point inspection each vehicle undergoes prior to being offered for sale. In addition, each vehicle has its mileage and history verified. Smart dealers are even offering a 30 day, 500 mile exchange program for those who may discover another smart fortwo they like.

This 0% APR smart car on finance offer on approved used smart cars is certainly gaining attention from consumers. It appears to be another way in which the automaker is setting itself apart. It is also another way in which they are giving car buyers more for less.

We know that smart is providing their new and used car customers with value. What is next for the smart car? You can find out in this article from the Telegraph. It has details and photos of the new 2014 smart fourjoy concept car. The car made its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show and it gives some indications as to what smart enthusiasts can expect in the future.

UK DOT updates Plug-In Grant status

The UK Department of Transport has recently updated it list of EV that are eligible for grants. The grant covers 25% of the car with a £5,000 cap.

UK government extends electric van subsidy

The EV Van subsidy scheme, which was first announced last month, means buyers can get 20% off the cost price of a new vehicle, up to a maximum of £8,000. This scheme is actually an extension of the plug-in grant launched for ordinary domestic cars last year.

Under that scheme anyone buying from a list of eligible vehicles (they have to meet a list of criteria for safety, range and low emissions) can get up to £5,000 off the showroom price.

Yet despite the deal, take-up has been slow. Government figures show there were just 892 applications made for the plug-in grant in 2011, despite the fact that several big manufacturers launched new, electric models for the first time. The bulk of those applications also came in the first quarter of the year, with the figure tailing off to just 106 for the final three months.

The UK government is determined to fund electric motoring for at least another three years, as part of its plan to meet ambitious emissions targets.  “Our new grant demonstrates that you can be a motorist and still be pro-environment,” says Transport Secretary Justine Greening.

“The new plug-in grant also makes business sense as it’s been estimated that a small electric van will typically cost £100 less in fuel for every 1,000 miles driven compared to a diesel equivalent.”

It is not just the grant either. If you drive an electric vehicle you can benefit from zero-rate company car tax and you won’t pay the congestion charge in London.

There are plenty in the industry that believe electric motoring is currently more suited to business use than to domestic use. Think of all those white vans dashing around your town or city. They will cover no more than 100 miles in a day (that’s the rough range of an electric van), and the companies don’t use them at night, so it is easy to plug them in at the depot ready for the next day.