We believe, however, that the responsibility lies not only with government and the public sector, but also with technology companies, the energy industry, academics, scientists and consumers to collectively make the shifts necessary to move us to a cleaner, greener and more energy efficient future. Moreover, we think tackling issues such as climate change with innovative solutions can benefit everyone; our customers, our business and the wider environment.
An integral part of efforts to reduce air pollution in our city will be the reduction in the number of petrol and diesel cars on our streets. Public transport has been tackling this for years, but many people still drive cars, which is why we must increase the number of hybrids, and better yet, electric vehicles operating in London. Previously, behavioural nudges with T charges and C charges have been an important driver of change. However, until we address the city’s infrastructure – and its ability to accommodate the million electric vehicles we expect on our UK roads by 2022 – this progress can only go so far.
Barriers to entry
At Ovo we’ve recognised urban charging as a key issue that we want to help solve. Electric vehicles are not only a key part of the solution to solving air quality and pollution issues, but they can also play a vital part in the future energy system, providing new ways to store energy, transforming the way energy distribution works, and accelerating us towards a zero-carbon future.
If you build it, they will come……..and charge
Our hypothesis is simple – if we establish adequate urban electric vehicle charging infrastructure, then we can expect to see higher levels of electric vehicle adoption. And what better way to do that than to use the existing electric street infrastructure, such as lamp posts? They are readily available in urban areas, far less expensive to upgrade than installing new charge points, easy for councils to approve as there’s no need to designate car parking spaces; and they can provide affordable electricity by facilitating overnight charging when energy prices are lowest. The really exciting thing is that the technology is already here.
Through a partnership with Berlin-based technology start-up Ubitricity, OVO began powering the conversion of 50 lamp posts in pay and display parking spaces to function as 5.5kW electric vehicle charge points in Kensington and Chelsea. The charging points are installed first by switching out the traditional and inefficient halogen light bulb for an LED light. Then the surplus power which would previously have powered the lamp is directed to the car battery with 100 per cent certified renewable energy.
It costs as much as £8,000 to install a new charge point in London. At less than £1,000 per charging point, lamp post conversion is not only cheaper, but also more practical and attractive as it retrofits the existing street ‘furniture’. In addition, because the lampposts are located by pay and display parking spaces, using them eliminates the need for fast charging by offering customers the opportunity to leave their cars charging overnight, the major advantage of private chargers. This is important because charging overnight will put less strain on the grid and let consumers use energy when it is cheaper, getting more kWhs for their money.
Our pilot with ubitricity and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a great example of what I mentioned earlier: consumers, government and industry coming together to implement affordable, yet effective means of achieving real environmental improvements.
Charging ahead
What we’re doing in Kensington and Chelsea is just the beginning. With public attention turned for the first time to truly substantial investments in electric vehicle ownership in the UK, there’s an incredible opportunity to develop creative approaches to air quality and encourage people to choose electric over petrol, but the infrastructure must be in place to help them make the switch.
We call on cities across the UK to seize the moment, listen to customer demand for electric vehicle charging facilities and follow the example being set by forward-thinking councils in London to make it easier than ever for people to adopt electric vehicles, cleaning up our cities for generations to come.
A representative from Ovo Energy will be speaking at Utility Week and Network’s Future Networks Conference in Birmingham in April.