What is the project about?
We’re forecasting there will be more than 3.6m electric vehicles in our network areas by 2030, up from around 100,000 today. Every electric vehicle, whether it be a commercial truck, private car, or a public bus, will charge through our electricity network. As more and more companies switch from fossil fuels to EVs, we’re looking ahead to plan and propose smart solutions to facilitate Net Zero.
‘Timed connections’ allow large commercial fleets, which generally run on a predictable timetable, to charge flexibly when demand is low, allowing us to lower the cost of connection and make it easy for companies to make the switch.
Take, for example, electric postal vans. Staff begin and finish their rounds at the same time most mornings and evenings. Just after most people finish work, however, is a time when electricity demand is high, and all these vans plugging in at the same time could cause a significant strain on the network. To keep supplies secure, companies would need to pay for network upgrades before they could make the switch to EVs.
Time connections fix that problem. Through software, we can control the flow of electricity into plugged-in EVs, and instead charge them overnight, for example, when demand is lower. The software still makes sure companies have the charge they need to run their business, while lowering the cost of connection and helping us run the network more efficiently.