A project to improve the performance and reliability of Electric Vehicle (EV) charge points, the Assure Charge project, has launched following the successful award of a collaborative bid with EV charging experts Connected Kerb and research and testing facility PNDC.
The project aims to improve the EV user experience by improving infrastructure reliability for users and linking charge point maintenance requirements with a well-regulated and efficient platform of service providers.
Over the next seven months, the Assure Charge project will undertake industrial research and development of a service platform that provides a more effective and regulated way to perform maintenance and repair of EV charging infrastructure. It will leverage the large volumes of connected data available from EV charging infrastructure to operate and maintain this infrastructure more reliably and efficiently. It will do this by enabling collaboration among existing and new market players and providing them with the information and tools they require to achieve the levels of reliability required for widespread adoption of zero emission vehicles.
The project is being supported by OZEV via the Innovate UK fund for ‘Infrastructure Solutions for Zero Emission Vehicles’ and addresses a growing industry demand for greater than 99% reliability of EV charging infrastructure, recently highlighted as a priority by The EV Energy Taskforce and EVA England.
“Ensuring a reliable charging network is highlighted by the OZEV as one of four critical areas for mass-market EV roll-out. The PNDC team is excited to apply its experience in EV infrastructure and power networks to this challenge, and look forward to working in collaboration with Connected Kerb to improve the user experience for EV drivers across the UK.”
“As we near the 2030 Net Zero target and the number and utilisation of charging points increases, reliability will play a critical role in keeping motorists moving and ensuring a smooth transition to zero emission travel.
Through this project we plan to improve charge point analytics in real time to provide a solution that offers full transparency and creates predictive and preventative O&M solutions. Ultimately, this will improve standards and confidence in network reliability, enabling a quicker transition to zero emission travel. We are looking forward to progressing this project and are really proud to be involved.”
Assure Charge will begin with significant industry engagement supported by EVA England and EVA Scotland. This will form a detailed picture of exactly what outputs are needed regarding reliability, resiliency and infrastructure repair times.