We talk to Network magazine about the transnational potential of electric vehicles. Thanks to https://networks.online/ for their permission to reproduce.

1. NETWORK / 24/ OCTOBER 2017
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
A
self-confessed “petrolhead”,
the senior innovation lead in
energy systems at Innovate
UK, Mark Thompson, had
experience working for both
luxury carmaker Bentley and
the Energy Innovation Centre prior to taking
on his current role at the government body,
at which he has now developed – with a
number of other stakeholders – a vision for
electric vehicles for 2025.
With a background that encompasses
gas-guzzling luxury cars and energy innova-
tion and now EVs, Thompson is well-placed
to comment on the speed of the transi-
tion toward a future in which they play an
increasingly important role in transporta-
tion in the UK – and, perhaps, play a role in
balancing network and consumer demands.
Thompson says challenges for the
networks as there is a greater up-take of
EVs include identifying and dealing with
clusters of vehicles and understanding their
usage, including preferences for charging.
“We need to understand where the charging
points are and what the intended use of the
charging points is – even knowing there is
an intention to use the charging point will
in time become very useful when it comes
to managing networks.” Current visibility is
quite weak in terms of charging point infra-
structure data and its use – one of a number
Future vision for EVs
Network talks to
Innovate UK, which
is developing a
strategy for electric
vehicles that
consults with all
stakeholders

2. NETWORK / 25/ OCTOBER 2017
of challenges facing networks as they deal
with increasing use of EVs. Frequency,
timing and charging behaviour will be key
factors in an electric vehicle future in which
consumers and networks enjoy a mutually
beneficial relationship, through, for exam-
ple, vehicle-to-grid services.
“EVs are currently used by people who
try and take as much energy as they can
when they charge, rather than the energy
that they need,” explains Thompson.
“There is a tendency for people to take
all the energy they can get when they are
plugged in. The world we want to move
to is one in which range anxiety is greatly
reduced, and people only take what they
need because there are preferential rates for
doing so at certain times of day. That is a
win-win for consumer and DNO.” Opportu-
nities for consumers include the potential
to align demand with the time of day needs
that the different network operators have.
“In terms of providing energy back to the
grid, vehicle-to-grid is also an exciting
area.” Innovate UK has just run a £20m
funding competition to develop vehicle-to-
grid technologies. “This is an area in terms
of EVs that really captures people’s imagina-
tion,” Thompson says, “and an opportunity
for this whole domain to capture the imagi-
nation of not only vehicle users – but help
people understand the energy system. If
people receive a message that says, ‘because
of the way you’ve consented to give vehicle-
to-grid control, you have made money by
selling energy to your your DSO to help ease
network constraints’ – that would be great.”
In terms of consumer behaviour, there is
likely to be a spectrum of interest in selling
vehicle-to-grid and other services, Thomp-
son, who owns a Nissan Leaf himself,
acknowledges. “We will also need a diver-
sity of choice in terms of EVs and associated
services, that cater to different people and
different lifestyles. In terms of networks
there will be some people who just want to
plug in, and others who want to maximise
their gain in terms of selling energy.”
The EV readiness manager
Richard Hartshorn is EV readiness manager at Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks. He
says that EVs are going to have an “iPhone moment” very shortly, in which the market explodes
as never before, and in which there is a perfect combination of subsidies, incentives and
customer expectation – and these all marry together. That will lead to much higher levels of
uptake, he says.
“The challenge for us is visibility; all DNOs have been using a model in which there is
gradual change, and we can plan for that accordingly. As the EV markets start to change
rapidly, moving into the DSO world gives us the opportunity to be far more flexible; instead of
digging up a street and replacing a cable, or upgrading a transformer, we can do smarter stuff
such as demand-side management. We can make the most of what is already there, while still
giving customers the innovation and flexibility they are craving.
“There will be some areas where smart solutions won’t do the job – and we might have to
go back to traditional reinforcement.” But smart solutions are very exciting, Hartshorn says,
– vehicle-to-grid especially. “As someone who works in industry but is also a customer, the
potential is incredible. It would allow customers to access new markets. I think everyone in in-
dustry can see the benefits of this, whether that is suppliers, aggregators, National Grid – and
DSOs. It would allow us to balance supply and demand at a local level, which is where we see
the issues. There might be some local generation that only outputs at a certain level and the
network is at capacity, so we could procure a service via a third party and say, ‘we would like the
EVs in this area to absorb ‘X’ amount of energy’. That would keep the network within limits, and
EV users might benefit from cheaper charging.”
It is difficult to predict how quickly the EV landscape in the UK will evolve, says Hartshorn.
“We think there will be prime conditions in the early 2020s. All the manufacturers now are
making announcements about offering new models with hybrid or battery powertrains. Gov-
ernment subsidies and Low Emission Zones will have an impact. EVs will have increased range
and speed to charge.
“We can see all those factors coming together.”
The DSO
Ian Cameron, head of innovation at UK
Power Networks, says preparation to
facilitate the uptake of EVs is a core part of
the network’s strategy. “The work that UK
Power Networks is doing on EVs has been
recognised by Innovate UK as very progres-
sive.” This includes a strategy that covers a
number of areas: appropriate investment
in policies and standards; delivering a
good customer experience while expand-
ing choice and convenience in terms of EV
uptake; engaging and educating, as well
as learning; and smart trials. “We want
to make sure we are the network in the
background facilitating the uptake of EVs,”
Cameron says. “Our role is a facilitator, but
we need to share long-term and short-term
plans with the EV community.” In the future,
he says, EVs will become ‘mobile energy
resources’. “We are used to managing static
resources, where we can easily profile
the outputs. Movable energy resources
are dynamic, and active. Our network will
require automated and active network
management, right the way down to the
low voltage level, to deal with resources
that are on the move.” As part of the next
Network Innovation Competition, UK Power
Networks is developing an autonomous low
voltage and high voltage network, meshed
together using power electronics, that can
respond to different load or generation pro-
files, Cameron explains. “Part of our DSO
strategy is also to use customer flexibility as
an alternative to upgrades to the network,”
he adds. This may involve the use of vehicle-
to-grid as a key contributor to sustaining
the network. “It is about getting out into the
market, talking to the car manufacturers
and the fleet operators and energy suppliers
– we have a team dedicated to that. There
needs to be better collaboration between all
sectors and stakeholders.”

3. NETWORK / 26/ OCTOBER 2017
The current roll-out of charging infra-
structure needs to ramp-up although there
is a lack of data on how well demand for
charging is currently matched by supply.
“In the early days of charging there were
some stories in the media about charging
posts not being used for a year. I think that
is extremely unlikely now. Most public
chargers are well used. But as the vehicle
population grows, we need to match supply
with demand.”
Vehicle battery capacity is rising rapidly,
which will allay range anxiety on the part
of drivers in the long-term, Thompson says.
“I think range anxiety will be a thing of the
past in five years’ time.”
As in many areas, such as the energy
system, the pace of change in the auto-
motive industry seems to be increasing.
Manufacturers are completely replacing
models every five years. “The technology
that is going into cars has exploded in the
last five years,” Thompson says, “in terms of
sophistication and processing power. I think
the OEMs are doing well at keeping up. But
the interface between charging system and
vehicle will catalyse the sector too, and cre-
ate value for the end user.”
The networks are doing “some great stuff
already” in terms of preparing for this brave
new world of EVs, says Thompson. “The My
Electric Avenue Project was a great start.
They have been leading this whole domain
and doing a fantastic job.”
The next step is to gear in the broader
supply chain, including the parking sector,
the intelligent transport systems sector,
and local authorities, and gradually build
a much more collegiate, more mature set of
relationships between the network opera-
tors and other stakeholders, he says.
“We need a joined-up team, rather than
what we have at the moment, which is
network operators working alone. We need
a collegiate relationship between network
operators and OEMs.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The TSO
Thomas Maidonis is a storage and flexibility expert at National Grid. He says the company’s
overall objective is to balance the system in real time, making use of different resources to do
this at the lowest possible cost for the end user. EVs present a mixture of difficulties and op-
portunities to the grid, he says. “They are a great opportunity for us; a great resource in terms
of decentralised flexibility that can be used in order to help us balance the system. They have
the potential to have a huge impact. At the moment 105,000 EVs are on the streets but we will
see millions in the coming years. By 2025 and 2030 there will be a huge potential for flexibility
provision at a decentralised level.” Challenges will include making the best use of this new
resource. In an ideal world, the grid would avoid uncontrolled full charging at times of peak
demand. This would require new grid infrastructure that would be very costly, Maidonis says.
“This is not an optimum use of available resources.” There is a need for new infrastructure
and technology, not just by National Grid but by many different stakeholders as the majority
of vehicles will be connected directly to the distribution network. Some will also be connected
to facilities that are linked to the transmission system. “If the grid is to use EVs to provide
power at times of peak demand, we must make sure we call on their services correctly and
don’t create a negative impact on the DSOs where they are connected. Co-ordination between
transmission-level services and distribution-level services will be key,” Maidonis says.
The charging company
Natalia Silverstone, senior consultant at
Pod Point, a leading EV charging company,
has also been contributing to Innovate
UK’s vision for 2025 for EVs. “In terms of
the customer experience, one of the most
exciting things for many people is rapid
charging. For me, the most exciting thing
is on the intelligent, connected charging
side. What can a charger do? What kind
of data can it gather, and how can it help
other industries?” This might include how
the connected charger can link with energy
retailers and time-of-use tariffs, and how it
can help with managing loads on the grid at
the DNO/DSO, Silverstone explains.
“It is accepted that EVs are going to
affect the grid, and that smart or man-
aged charging is a necessity. It needs to
be managed in a clever way. We need to
manage the charge around the consumer.
There are many hours in the day to make
the charge. We need to figure out how to
manage it so the consumer is not affected.
As charge point operators, who get a lot of
data back from drivers, we see ourselves as
well-positioned to understand the driver.”
When energy aggregators get involved in the
EV market, companies such as Pod Point
will be well-placed to provide a response
service, Silverstone says. “As a charge point
operator, we see such innovation as part of
what is needed to be responsible, and make
this a sustainable industry,” she adds.