Smart thinking

UK government and Ofgem launch Electric Vehicle Smart Vehicle Plan

The Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Action Plan published by the UK government and Ofgem sets out steps being taken to maximise the potential of smart charging and make it the preferred method of long duration charging by 2025.

Smart charging harnesses the potential of energy use data and the latest energy innovations to deliver significant benefits for consumers, including allowing motorists to charge electric vehicles when electricity is cheaper or cleaner, allowing consumers to power their home using electricity stored in their electric vehicle, or even sell it back to the grid for profit.

The action plan highlights actions in three key areas to:

• make smart charging the affordable, convenient choice for consumers: increasing consumer confidence in smart charging and providing appropriate protections for a positive experience

• provide the right business landscape for electric vehicle smart charging products: regulations, standards and innovation for safe goods and services that give consumers choice, and work for the charging market and energy flexibility

• create an energy system ready for electric vehicle smart charging: accessible tariffs and flexibility services that incentivise smart charging, plus energy system data and tools/measures in place to plan, incentivise and manage risks arising from EV flexibility, in the context of wider energy retail, network and market changes.

Electric vehicle consumers are set to benefit from lower energy bills and cheaper motoring thanks to a landmark plan to unlock the potential of smart electric vehicle charging. It is expected high mileage motorists could save up to £1,000 a year through smarter charging.

The government has also announced £16m funding from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) for technologies that harness the potential of smart charging, including a smart street lamppost which will enable motorists to access smart charging on the move, and projects that will enable domestic appliances, from heat pumps to electric vehicle chargepoints and batteries, to integrate into a smarter energy system.

The government states that delivering the action plan will help make smart charging the norm at home and work by 2025. It is the ambition that in the late 2020s smart charging will also become more commonplace at long-duration public charging, such as on-street or at transport hubs.

Depending on tariff, mileage, and charging patterns, smarter charging could save an average driver up to £200 a year, and a high mileage driver up to £1,000, by delaying the power demand from electric vehicles at peak periods, such as 4pm to 9pm on winter evenings. By helping to efficiently balance when energy is generated and used on the electricity grid, the technology could contribute to reducing electricity prices for consumers across the network.

New arrangements made by Ofgem to deliver the Market-Wide Half Hourly

Settlement (MHHS) Programme is designed to facilitate the uptake of smart charging through market incentives, in addition to removing barriers for V2X (vehicle to everything) energy exchanges.

Energy and climate minister Graham Stuart said: “We want to make smart charging an easier choice for drivers of electric vehicles, whether that is charging on the driveway, at the workplace, or parked on the street. To do that we need to build new network infrastructure at pace, using the latest available technologies. This plan sets out how we will work with Ofgem and industry to kickstart the market for smart charging, which we are backing up with £16m in innovation funding. This will let people take control of their energy usage, in the most convenient and low-cost way.”

Ofgem director for strategy and decarbonisation Neil Kenward said: “As energy regulator, we’re helping create the infrastructure to deliver Britain’s net zero future at the lowest cost to customers. This innovative plan will help to maximise the benefits of smart charging, offer vital savings to consumers and reduce the overall cost of energy by seizing the opportunities to use batteries to both power homes and fuel the wider grid.”

The announcements build on the steps taken by the government to enable smart and flexible electric vehicle charging. As of July 2022, all new chargepoints sold for private use now must have smart functionality and the UK is consulting on a new policy and technical framework to unlock the benefits of domestic smart, flexible energy, and enhance its cybersecurity.

Through the plan, the government will improve publicly available information and evidence on smart charging, support the implementation of robust consumer service standards and ensure private chargepoints are secure and compatible with the latest energy innovations.

The government hopes the roll out of intelligent and automated smart charging will deliver a win-win situation for all consumers. It is suggested reduced electricity system costs will lower prices for everyone, motorists will pay less for charging their electric vehicle, and the electricity powering electric vehicles will be cleaner and greener.

The government and Ofgem say they will seek to remove the barriers that currently prevent the full development of a diverse and competitive smart charging market, while making sure the energy system is ready to respond to the upturn in energy demand that electric vehicles will bring. The government has also announced it is looking at how to make data from all public chargepoints openly available so that consumers can easily find chargepoints suitable for their needs.

The smart money is on...

Funding for Vehicle to Everything and interoperable management solutions

Delivering the steps set out in the action plan will help make smart charging the norm at home and work by 2025. It is the ambition that in the late 2020s smart charging will also become more commonplace at long-duration public charging, such as on-street or at transport hubs.

The V2X Innovation Programme and IDSR Programme are part of the overarching Flexibility Innovation Programme, which seeks to enable large-scale electricity system flexibility through smart, flexible, secure, and accessible technologies and markets through funding of up to £65m. The programme sits within the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).

Over £3.2m will be provided to projects through Phase 1 of the £12.6m V2X Innovation Programme to develop prototype hardware, software and business models that harness smart charging technology.

Over £12.8m will be provided to projects to develop and test smart energy solutions that can deliver demand side response (DSR) for consumers, decreasing or increasing energy consumption depending on price, availability or emissions. By giving consumers greater control over their energy use, projects funded through the Interoperable Demand-Side Response (IDSR) Programme will allow them to change their consumption patterns.

The IDSR programme consists of three streams of work, to support the innovation, design, and demonstration of interoperable demand side response systems. Smart meters, technologies, tariffs and services will enable consumers to change their consumption patterns to match times of cheap and abundant low carbon electricity, giving them greater control over their energy use and saving them money by helping to balance the energy system.

V2X funding

Schemes receiving funding through the V2X Innovation Programme for prototype hardware, software and business models include:

• Otaski Energy Solutions (Gateshead, Tyne and Wear): £229,000 to a project led by to develop a smart street lamppost capable of charging electric vehicles and sharing power back to the grid

• V2X-Flex (Reigate, Surrey): £220,000 to a project led by EV Dot Energy to develop prototype software and a new business model which will reduce entry barriers for the domestic use of V2X bi-directional chargers to provide energy flexibility services

• BEVScanV2X (London): £165,000 to a project led by Agile Charging Ltd to develop technology that could overcome battery degradation by creating a cost-effective tool to monitor and advise best approaches to maximise battery life and financial returns from smart charging.

IDSR funding

The Interoperable Demand-Side Response (IDSR) Programme supports technologies that allow consumers to remotely increase or decrease their energy use to take advantage of when energy is cheaper or more renewables are on the grid. Schemes receiving funding include:

• Energy Smart Heat Pump (Chertsey, Surrey): £510,000 to a project by Samsung Electronics UK and their project partners Passiv UK to design and develop a technology solution that is able to provide demand side response (DSR) services via Samsung Heat Pumps, giving greater control of their usage on the basis of cost or carbon savings

• Smart-DSRFlex (Manchester): £1.2m to a project by Landis & Gyr UK to demonstrate how DSR technology can help to manage a renewablesbased electricity grid using the smart meter system

• Open DSR for All (Manchester): £29,000 to a project by Carbon Co-op to explore the benefits and technical barriers to an accessible approach to domestic DSR, potentially enabling more products being able to offer DSR in future. Depending on tariff, mileage, and charging patterns, smarter charging could save an average driver up to £200, and a high mileage driver up to £1000 a year by delaying the power demand from electric vehicles at peak periods, such as 4pm to 9pm on winter evenings. By helping to efficiently balance when energy is generated and used on the electricity grid, the technology could contribute to reducing electricity prices for consumers across the network.