FEVER to relieve EV charging demands on grid

The oncoming rise in EV usage has prompted FEVER, a project aimed at alleviating demands on the electricity grid with fully grid-independent, renewably powered charging hubs.

FEVER to relieve EV charging demands on grid | The Engineer The Engineer

FEVER (Future Electric Vehicle Energy Networks supporting Renewables) is a five year, EPSRC-funded project led by Andrew Cruden, a Professor of Energy Technology at Southampton University.

Ofgem estimates that electric cars and vans will need between 65-100TWh of electricity annually by 2050, an increase of 20-30 per cent compared to 2021.

Cruden explained that in a post-2030, ‘business-as-usual’ scenario it may be possible to get between 40-50 per cent EV penetration using, for example, supervisory control to alternate charging between EVs plugged-in simultaneously on the same street.

“After that you really do need to reinforce the network,” he said. “We’re looking at a scenario where all the EV charging energy would come from renewable sources.”

He added: “The existing renewable energy portfolio of developments is currently grid constrained, they’re not all proceeding because of the time and cost of connecting to the grid.

“What we are planning is a potential solution to decouple that, you would not be grid connected and therefore not constrained by the vagaries of the planning and the timing of getting a grid connection.”