Nottingham and Connected Energy have launched a large-scale vehicle-to-grid (V2G) demonstrator project. Installation of solar panels, battery storage and 40 bi-directional EV chargers complete the CleanMobilEnergy pilot at Nottingham City Council’s Eastcroft Depot.
The government of the UK is launching a new funding programme to strengthen the supply of critical materials on the isles. In order to help facilitate the high need for rare earth elements, a £15 million recycling research programme is to be launched.
Innovate UK has granted funding to the software provider ev.energy to scale their first Virtual Power Plant (VPP) using only electric vehicles. The funding comes after the startup successfully demonstrated the concept by working with the British utility UK Power Networks.
Croydon, London’s southernmost borough, plans to install 60 new electric vehicle charging points before the end of the year, with 20 more expected before February 2022. Many of which are already available, the charge points will appear at 32 different sites across the district.
Renault is putting two new projects for the second-life use of batteries from electric vehicles in the spotlight. Both ‘Advanced Battery Storage’ in France and ‘SmartHubs’ in the UK are aimed at helping to balance power grids as the share of renewable energy increases.
Nissan and E.On have installed and successfully deployed 20 Vehicle-to-Grid chargers at Nissan’s European Technical Center in Cranfield, England. Now the two partners are looking for other companies that want to use V2G chargers.
The British research project RaRE has set itself the goal of setting up a continuous supply chain to integrate recycled rare earth magnets into electric vehicles. Bentley is one of the companies involved in the project, which is led by HyProMag, a spin-off from the University of Birmingham.
Gridserve has today announced that the first of a nationwide network of over 100 Electric Forecourts is now under construction and will open this summer. UK firm’s first solar-powered site in Essex will house 24 rapid chargers, a supermarket and an EV education centre.
Liberty Global revealed details of its plan to utilise the street cabinets of its UK subsidiary, Virgin Media, to supply electric car charging stations. In cooperation with Innovate UK, a consortium is expected to install 1,200 chargers nationwide within the next 18 months.
Can gamification help the smart grid wonder Britain’s Ecotricity and partners, who started to investigate whether games, raffles and bitcoins can encourage EV drivers to engage with V2G technologies. The £400,000 project is funded through Innovate UK.
Car free riverbank: The right bank of the river Seine in Paris will be free of cars, the mayor Anne Hidalgo decided in what she called a “reconquest” of the French river. Instead of rows of traffic, Parisians and visitors will be free to roam and breathe deeply from Tuileries to Bastille over a stretch of 3.3 km. The plan only needs the final approval of the police. theguardian.com
Electric CVs to go public: Swiss utility CKW says it operated Switzerland’s biggest EV fleet to date. 50 Renault Zoe and Kangoo ZE serve already. Four of those will be made available to the public on weekends via the car sharing platform Sharoo and can be charged with renewables. moneycab.com, cleantech.ch
Is smart charging feasible asks the ITSES project. Funded by Innovate UK, the possibility of setting up V2G charging stops at the Park Royal underground station as well as at the planned Old Oak Common station in London is being explored over the course of one year. costain.com, cenex.co.uk
Charging Canada: More than 200 electric vehicle charging stations may spring up in Edmonton, capital of Alberta province, by 2018. The government is waiting to receive federal funding over 1.2m for their plan. A binding decision will be made this October. metronews.ca, edmontonjournal.com
Rapide update: The all-electric Aston Martin is becoming more concrete. It could be launched in two to three years and will be powered by a four-wheel drive, possibly delivering more than 700 kW. According to CEO Andy Palmer, a range of well over 200 miles could be expected. autoexpress.co.uk
EV development aid: The Chinese government has taken steps to invest 4.2 billion yuan (681m dollars) in the development of the “new energy vehicle” industry in the country. Funds will begin being collected from 25 different enterprises starting this May. autonews.gasgoo.com
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Electric racer: This is the fourth time Mugen will supply an electric motorbike for the TT Zero race. The new superbike is called “Shinden Yon” and is more powerful but also heavier than its predecessor. A 110-kW motor is said to push the 250 kilo bike across the finish line. autoblog.com
Tender: Innovate UK and the Office for low emission Vehicles (OleV) want to invest up to 10 million pounds (15m dollars) in a consortium that will set up a pilot production of high-voltage batteries for electric vehicles. Companies can still apply to become part of the consortium until the 27th of May. electricvehiclesresearch.com
Inductive charging in China: The Chinese Telekom ZTE wants to invest 3.5 billion yuan (568m dollars) to further expand the use of the technology. Until June, the company wants to add ten electric bus routes and work with car manufacturers to make EVs compatible with inductive charging technologies. electriccarsreport.com