The UK Government has published an Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Action Plan. The plan sets out steps being taken to seize on the significant potential of smart charging and make it the preferred method of long duration charging by 2025.

Smart charging harnesses the potential of energy use data and the latest energy innovations to deliver benefits for consumers, including allowing motorists to charge electric vehicles when electricity is cheaper or cleaner; allowing consumers to power their home using electricity stored in their electric vehicle; or to sell it back to the grid for profit.

To back this up further, the government also announced £16 million in funding from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) for technologies that harness the potential of smart charging, including a smart street lamppost which will enable motorists to access smart charging on the move, and projects that will enable domestic appliances, from heat pumps to electric vehicle charge points and batteries, to integrate into a smarter energy system.

We want to make smart charging an easier choice for drivers of electric vehicles, whether that is charging on the driveway, at the workplace, or parked on the street. To do that we need to build new network infrastructure at pace, using the latest available technologies.

Today’s plan sets out how we will work with Ofgem and industry to kickstart the market for smart charging, which we are backing up with £16 million in innovation funding. This will let people take control of their energy usage, in the most convenient and low-cost way.

—Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart

The new announcements build on steps already taken by the government to enable smart and flexible electric vehicle charging. As of July 2022, all new charge points sold for private must have smart functionality and the UK is consulting on a new policy and technical framework to unlock the benefits of domestic smart, flexible energy, and enhance its cybersecurity.

Through the plan, the government will improve publicly available information and evidence on smart charging, support the implementation of robust consumer service standards and ensure private charge points are secure and compatible with the latest energy innovations.

The V2X Innovation Program and IDSR Program are part of the overarching Flexibility Innovation Program, which seeks to enable large-scale electricity system flexibility through smart, flexible, secure, and accessible technologies and markets through funding of up to £65 million. The program sits within the £1-billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).

Among those receiving funding through the V2X (Vehicle to Everything) Innovation Program for prototype hardware, software and business models, are:

• £229,000 to a project led by Otaski Energy Solutions (Gateshead, Tyne and Wear) to develop a smart street lamppost capable of charging electric vehicles and sharing power back to the grid

• £220,000 to V2X-Flex (Reigate, Surrey), a project led by EV Dot Energy Ltd to develop prototype software and a new business model which will reduce entry barriers for the domestic use of V2X bi-directional chargers to provide energy flexibility services

• £165,000 to BEVScanV2X (London), a project led by Agile Charging Ltd to develop technology that could overcome battery degradation by creating a cost-effective tool to monitor and advise best approaches to maximise battery life and financial returns from smart charging

Among those receiving funding through the Interoperable Demand-Side Response (IDSR) Program, which supports technologies that allow consumers to increase or decrease their energy use remotely to take advantage of when energy is cheaper or more renewables are on the grid, are:

• £510,000 to Energy Smart Heat Pump (Chertsey, Surrey), a project by Samsung Electronics UK and their project partners Passiv UK to design and develop a technology solution that is able to provide demand side response (DSR) services via Samsung Heat Pumps, giving greater control of their usage on the basis of cost or carbon savings

• £1.2 million to Smart-DSRFlex (Manchester), a project by Landis & Gyr UK to demonstrate how DSR technology can help to manage a renewables-based electricity grid using the smart meter system

• £29,000 to Open DSR for All (Manchester), a project by Carbon Co-op to explore the benefits and technical barriers to an accessible approach to domestic DSR, potentially enabling more products being able to offer DSR in future

Depending on tariff, mileage, and charging patterns, smarter charging could save an average driver up to £200, and a high mileage driver up to £1000 a year by delaying the power demand from electric vehicles at peak periods, such as 4pm to 9pm on winter evenings. By helping to efficiently balance when energy is generated and used on the electricity grid, the technology could contribute to reducing electricity prices for consumers across the network.