With dwindling fossil fuel resources and the threat of global warming, there is a requirement to move transport away from oil-based fuels. Using electricity, or in the longer term hydrogen, as the power source, the carbon emissions are transferred from the tailpipe of the vehicle to the power stations. With today’s Grid mix, this can lead to CO2 savings of around 40%. As the Grid gets greener with renewable and nuclear energy coming on-stream, the savings get even better.
It is a primary aim of this project to show that ultra low carbon vehicles are now a practical alternative to conventional cars in the urban environment. To achieve this, a small network of charging points will be installed in areas of Birmingham and Coventry, together with charging points at selected users’ homes and workplaces.
With the average UK trip length less than 10 miles, the capability of current electric vehicles should be sufficient for most users’ daily journeys. But users’ actions need to be tested in a real world environment. Usage data will therefore be collected from the demonstrator vehicles. Time and place of charging data will be of great benefit to all cities in the UK to address issues like the required number and location of charge points.
This project will also develop the West Midlands and the UK as a leader in low carbon vehicle technology and its deployment. Much of the technology showcased by this project is engineered or manufactured in the UK, and could lead to significant future exports.
This project will support the product development activities of 6 vehicle manufacturers, the majority of them UK-based. It will showcase electric cars and their usage generally and afford an opportunity for locally based car companies to develop and deploy their offerings in a real world environment. Data from the trial will be used to help develop the next generation of low carbon vehicles.
The potential numbers of electric vehicles on UK roads is predicted to be between 1 and 5 million by 2020. A significant proportion of these vehicles could be provided from the West Midlands manufacturing base and its supply chain.
This project will give local authorities an opportunity to understand this transition and start to develop long term policy from hard data. These uptake figures suggest a considerable opportunity for the manufacturers, their supply chains and infrastructure providers, a good proportion of which could be in the UK. Developing the Midlands as a centre for low carbon vehicles will encourage inward investment from companies and countries with interest in the low carbon transport sector, and act as a showpiece of local capability.
Three collaborators are involved in both development and manufacture in the West Midlands area, these being Jaguar/LandRover, Tata and Microcab. A further three collaborators develop product in the West Midlands but currently manufacture elsewhere, these include smart. The supplier base for low carbon vehicles will be strengthened by this project, and it is hoped that other manufacturers and suppliers will be encouraged to invest in the region as a centre of excellence for low carbon vehicles.
It is an aim of this project to ensure that all users have access to charging both at home and that other charging points are available in the wider city environment. It is planned that these charging points are in place prior to the deployment of the electric cars and are situated at points where the users often stop for meaningful periods of time.
It is generally estimated that, in the long term, there will need to be one charging point for every five electric cars, in addition to the ability to charge at home and at work. This gives the requirement for up to 1,000,000 charging points UK wide by 2020!
This project will enable the district network operators, infrastructure planners and developers to be world competitive if not world leading in the application of low carbon transport infrastructures. Relevant aspects in this project include knowledge and experience on the planning and integration of EV infrastructures, smart metering, billing and settlement models all of which will be relevant and commercially exploitable in the near future as electric vehicles become more common both in the UK and across the world.
In addition to the electric charging points a new hydrogen refuelling station will be installed at Coventry University to enable the hydrogen vehicles to fuel both in Coventry and at the existing Birmingham University station.
The progress of the project and the benefits of low carbon vehicles will be made widely available through information papers, a dedicated website and regular meetings with users to discuss issues arising from low carbon vehicle usage.
This project will allow for the costs of mass uptake to be developed along with the attendant environmental and economic benefits. These will include the cities reducing their carbon footprints (Birmingham have a target of 60% reduction by 2026), improving their air quality readings and reducing traffic generated noise.
The successful deployment of electric cars through this project will act as a catalyst to develop the supply chain in the UK for electric car components. A considerable expertise already exists and is used in the demonstration vehicles. This project will raise the UK profile and encourage overseas companies to look to the UK for component supply and potentially vehicle build.
The project has been part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board with support from Advantage West Midlands.
