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Leasing an EV or PHEV? Then Electric Nation needs you!

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Author: | Updated: 14 Sep 2016 12:59

Whether it’s for their fuel-saving ability, or the fact some can outrun a Ferrari, electric vehicles are ever-more present on the UK’s roads. So, if you’re leasing an electric vehicle, then a new group dubbed ‘The Electric Nation’ is looking for your help!

Anyone with an EV or PHEV has been invited to take part in the upcoming trials.

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It doesn’t matter if the car is purely electric or a plug-in hybrid, Electric Nation is looking for 500 – 700 people to take part in a trial that will test the recharging abilities of local electricity infrastructure. The scheme has been set up to uncover potential problems as EV usership grows.

Future-proofing EV usership

With less than 2% of vehicles currently electric, supply hasn’t really been a consideration before. However, the amount of extra power that will be needed if people take up EVs en masse (something that could happen as early as 2027), could pose big problems for the existing network.

For example, a prior project named Electric Avenue showed that  32% of underground cabling would require intervention if half of all households had EVs. Digging up roads and replacing cables manually could take up to 2050.

<<enter caption here>> on July 21, 2015 in London, England.

2016 has seen the biggest uptake in EVs to date

The aim of Electric Nation is to trial a new smart-charging system from domestic charge points using the local authority network. The findings will help electricity network operators manage the effect of the additional load caused by charging EVs on the local electricity network. This will allow electric vehicle numbers to carry on increasing without problems.

Minimising costs

If it’s a success, it could negate the need of upgrading local electricity infrastructure. It’s been calculated the new smart-charge system could save up to £2.2 billion.

Ben Godfrey, Innovation and Low Carbon Networks Engineer and Electric Nation partner said: “The Electric Nation project will provide the data, and the real-life experience, to enable us to introduce smart charging to manage potential capacity issues due to clusters of EVs charging at peak times.”

roadworks

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Government targets forecasts that the vast majority of vehicles on the road by 2050 will be electrically propelled so, if electric power is going to become more popular than petrol and diesel, it’s vital the infrastructure is in place for reliable recharging.

How to take part

If you’re interested in taking part in the trials, it’ll initially take place in the South West, South Wales and the Midlands. Mike Potter, MD of DriveElectric, commented: “Motorists who are in the process of buying or leasing a plug-in vehicle are encouraged to visit the Electric Nation website.

“They will get a free smart charger, but most importantly, they will be helping to future-proof Britain’s electricity networks to facilitate the continued uptake of EVs.”

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