Your Electric Vehicle – Your Smart Charge
Client: Western Power Distribution (WPD) in UK
Launched in 2016 in the UK, Electric Nation was the world largest home smart charging trial with 673 participants each owning a plug-in electric vehicle (EV). Between then and the end of the project in 2019, trial participants had provided over 2 million hours of car charging data from over 130,000 charging events, providing unrivalled insights into EV charging habits.
Participants also provided the Electric Nation project with invaluable information about their experiences both on smart charging and time of use tariffs as well as other aspects of EV ownership by completing regular customer research questionnaires.
EA Technology played a pivotal role in the successes of Electric Nation, managing the project and trials, including responsibility for:
- Trial design and management
- Testing of smart charging algorithms before they were released to participants
- Data analysis and interpretation
- Production of technical reports showing findings from the trial
- Managing communication and dissemination activities
EA Technology also created the Network Assessment Tool (NAT) which provides WPD with a software platform that will predict which parts of their network are likely to be affected by EV uptake. The tool identifies the level of penetration that could cause issues on the low voltage network and predicts when this may occur.
The development of the project deliverables is being informed by a large-scale trial involving EV drivers that will:
1. Expand understanding of the impact of charging at home with a diverse range of plug-in EVs – with charge rates up to 7kW+, and a range of battery sizes from 20kWh to 80kWh+.
2. Build a better understanding of how vehicle usage affects charging behaviour.
3. Evaluate the reliability and consumer acceptance towards electricity demand control – taking energy from vehicles and putting it back into the grid.
EA Technology has adopted a deployment strategy that puts customer experience at the heart of its approach:
- Customer guidance throughout the trial application process
- Test systems available at EA Technology’s headquarters at Capenhurst, to demonstrate and address issues faced by customers
- Pilot installations of smart chargers prior to installation in customers’ homes to fine tune the process and minimise disruption during actual installation
- Customer engagement surveys tested on ‘friendly’ participants ahead of rollout to ensure that all processes are optimised
- A smart charger installation workshop was delivered to disseminate learnings from the pilot installation and to clearly communicate the project requirements – Ensure customers have a clear idea of the installation process
The Trials
The trial was split into three different sub-trials to mimic different future scenarios. Before the start of the trials participants were allowed to ‘charge at will’
Trial 1
To simulate a future where EVs place a greater demand on local substations the trial organisers limited charging to vehicles when demand across a ‘virtual’ group of vehicles reached a pre-determined threshold. This trial was blind so participants were not aware if or when their charge would be limited.
Trial 2
This trial was similar to Trial 1 except participants were provided with phone apps to give them some control over whether their charge would be managed.
Trial 3
Mimicked a time-of-use tariff, participants could earn shopping vouchers in this incentivised trial if they charged outside peak hours. The functionality of the phone apps offered to participants was extended to support them in avoiding charging at peak times.
The Network Assessment Tool delivered by EA Technology under Electric Nation will enable all Distribution Network Operators to define the best economic solution to manage EV uptake on their electricity networks, with significant savings to customers anticipated.
The learnings from customer research elements of the project will support refinement of demand control solutions to benefit mass roll out of EVs and potentially government mandated smart or managed EV charging.
Results from the Electric Nation trial showed that:
- There is flexibility in charging – but without an incentive, the demand in the evening peak requires management
- Demand management is technically feasible and is acceptable to the majority of participants
- Time of Use incentives appear to be highly effective at moving demand away from the evening peak – particularly when supported by smart charging (with an app), which makes it simple for the user
- Smart charging can support the introduction and management of time of use based EV tariffs
- Smart charging provides a way to manage any negative consequences of mass uptake of time of use incentives
- Data from smart chargers provide a strong evidence base to help DNOs make efficient investments
Award:
- EA Technology is winner of the coveted Northern Automotive Alliance Marketing Award for the Electric Nation launch and associated marketing collateral, including website, which has resulted in exceptional project exposure and catalysed trial interest
The results of Electric Nation will be of interest and will be communicated to the energy/utility community, government, automotive and EV infrastructure industry and the general public.
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