BMW is taking steps to work out how its electric vehicles could provide power back to the grid. The carmaker said it plans to start real world testing of i3 vehicles providing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services in 2021. BMW will act as the lead party in a consortium that includes transmission system operator TenneT, distribution network Read more…

Without adequate smart charging incentives and policy, electric vehicles will save substantially less CO2 because drivers will naturally charge during evening peaks, when demand – and carbon intensity – is highest, according to a new report. Meanwhile, if drivers all respond to the same price signals at the same time, a new ‘super peak’ could Read more…

A start-up that aims to make charging electric vehicles easier and cleaner has won EDF Energy’s Pulse Innovation challenge. Ev.energy provides solutions to energy companies and chargepoint operators as well as EV drivers. Its apps can control charging around cost and carbon and can integrate with on-site/on-home renewables. It also provides a white label solution Read more…

Brighton & Hove City Council will start installing around 200 lamppost electric vehicle chargers in January. Via Electric Blue, the council will earn 1p/kWh and charge users 28p/kWh. Its cut will rise to 4p/kWh, according to Air Quality News. Following Olev funding, the council will also install four rapid charging hubs for taxis and take Read more…

EDF has acquired Pivot Power, the UK start-up bidding to build a network of 50MW batteries to provide grid services and high speed electric vehicle charging. The firm announced plans to develop up to 2GW connected directly to the transmission system last year, which would require investment of up to £1.6bn. To date, Pivot has Read more…

Liberty Global plans to rollout 1,200 on-street electric vehicle chargepoints powered through its telecoms boxes. Subsidiary Virgin Media operates some 40,000 units across the UK and said it plans to build a “fully scalable” smart network using the connectivity they provide. The project, which has InnovateUK backing, brings together a consortium of partners, including: Vattenfall, Read more…

Lidl has outlined a major expansion of its EV charging infrastructure. Customers can no longer use its rapid chargers for free – but the discounter appears to have entered an EV charging price war with Tesco. Lidl says customers can still use 7kW chargers for free, but from this month must pay 23p/kWh to use Read more…

Western Power Distribution has launched a new, searchable map that enables anyone planning to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure to check whether capacity is available. Constraints on distribution networks are a key consideration for those installing EV chargepoints, particularly faster chargers. Firms have told The Energyst determining where infrastructure can be sited is often a Read more…

Mitie’s head of fleet and procurement outlines key challenges as the firm bids to decarbonise its fleet by 2030. Mitie this week rolled out its first electric vans and remains on track to switch 20 per cent of its cars and light commercial fleet to EVs by the end of 2020. But vehicle visibility and Read more…

London-based Gnewt Cargo is the latest firm to join the E-Flex vehicle-to-grid trial, which aims to demonstrate the case for balancing the grid using electric vehicles. The company, which uses 70 electric modified vans, will deploy bi-directional chargers at its East London depots to charge and discharge the vehicles to provide both commercial and power Read more…

Europe and the US can challenge Asia for dominance of the battery market, and therefore electric vehicles, according to Steven Chu, former US energy secretary. “The battery will be the central part of the car; if you have a better battery, you will have a better car,” Chu told the TBB conference in Paris. “The Read more…

Ofgem has published some guiding principles for businesses operating electric vehicle chargers and supplying consumers with power. It outlines the challenges in interpreting current energy supply regulations, and what these mean in an EV context. Currently, selling electricity amounts to the supply of electricity, which generally necessitates a supply licence, though there are some exemptions. Read more…

E.ON will switch its fleet to EVs by 2030. Its experience should drive smarter results for businesses, says Hannah Collishaw, director of E.ON Drive. Whether rolling out a handful of EVs or hundreds, the golden rule is to put yourself in the driving seat – quite literally, says Collishaw. “Our focus has been to follow Read more…

Renewable power firm Good Energy has launched a business-to-business electric vehicles charging division called One Point. Destination and workplace charging will become increasingly important as EV penetration increases. Good Energy, which earlier this year outlined plans to increase B2B market activity, said that presents an opportunity to businesses. The company aims to deliver end-to-end services Read more…

Steven Chu, the former United States Secretary of Energy, and co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics, believes lithium metal sulphur batteries will make electric vehicles as cheap as even “modest” combustion engine cars. Chu, now a professor at Stanford’s physics department, is part of a team working on lithium sulphur batteries. Chu thinks Read more…

Total’s James Turner says businesses that plan ahead for EV uptake will save cost and effort in the long run. When it comes to installing charging points, site capacity is king, says James Turner, head of propositions at Total Gas & Power. “There’s a lot of interest in rapid chargers, 50kW or even 100kW, but Read more…

The Energyst asked businesses what incentives or policies would help them switch to electric vehicles and install charging infrastructure. Here is a selection of their answers: “The government already subsidises the actual charging units. However the largest cost of installation will most likely be the upgrading of electrical infrastructure to provide an appropriate amount of Read more…

EVs are going to hit the UK in big numbers. The question is when and how should businesses prepare? National Grid has modelled up to 11 million EVs on UK roads in around ten years’ time.  In 20 years carmakers will not be allowed to sell petrol and diesel vehicles – possibly sooner. National and Read more…

Conor Maher-McWilliams, head of flexibility at Kaluza, believes domestic flexibility could be bigger than the business-to-business market, “based on the fact that we are using assets that have primary uses”. He also thinks electric vehicles could ultimately displace standalone battery storage. Kaluza is working alongside sister company Ovo and other suppliers to aggregate domestic heating Read more…

The consortium behind a large-scale vehicle-to-grid trial has urged more fleet operators to get involved. E-Flex aims to develop vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services using up to 100 vehicles. The InnovateUK-funded trial involves the GLA, TfL, Cisco, Cenex, Imperial College London, E-Car Club and Nuvve. Under the programme, operators in and around London receive free V2G charging Read more…