Icebreaker One is working in partnership with the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) to close the data gaps required to roll out thousands of more electric vehicle chargepoints across the UK.
To enable this, OZEV needs to understand the data requirements and current data challenges. These include data sharing between Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), local authorities and chargepoint operators.
Icebreaker One held a workshop on March 28th with stakeholders from OZEV, Department of Transport, chargepoint operators, distribution network operators and local authorities to discuss and collaboratively agree on a priority use case topic to understand the datasets, challenges, and barriers stakeholders face in sharing EV data.
The priority use case topic agreed following discussion and voting by workshop participants is:
Local authorities want to be able to better plan on-street charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints.
The options we considered
Prior to the meeting, the IB1 research team drafted a long-list of over 40 use cases through a literature review of existing reports and news relating to the EV infrastructure, and interviews with key stakeholders. Then, those use cases were narrowed down to 16, then to a top 4 use case shortlist through internal input and a vote by key representatives from OZEV. In the workshop, participants had a chance to read, understand and discuss the top 4 finalist use cases:
- Chargepoint operators want to identify the optimal locations for chargepoint installations
- Local authorities want to identify gaps in chargepoint infrastructure that is or will be served by commercial operators
- Chargepoint manufacturers want to better understand network flexibility requirements/need for demand management so they can build functionality into their products
- Local authorities want to be able to better plan on-street charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints
After discussing the use cases, participants had a chance to vote for the use case to take forward to better understand the datasets, challenges and barriers stakeholders face in sharing EV data.
About this use case
The use case that received the most votes was option 4, looking at how to use data to enable local authorities to better plan on-street EV charging for those with no access to at-home chargepoints.
This use case tackles the challenge of 30% households in the UK having no access to off-street parking. This use case could map the spatial distribution of these households and assess options for installation of on-street/alternative charging options (e.g. via lamp-posts, charging bollards etc, as well as destination charging, charging hubs, potentially workplace charging) and includes the distribution of private/shared infrastructure and smart charging options.
This use case supports findings from a recent CMA consultation which found EV drivers could save around £100 per year if they had access to on-street (preferably smart) charging instead of using rapid charging via public chargepoints. Furthermore, using slower and smart charging options increases battery life, reducing EV churn and battery waste. This may have additional secondary benefits by increasing the reliability and longevity of the second-hand EV market due to improved battery life and charge retention (particularly in the absence of national standards for car dealers to assess and publicise this during sales).
Getting involved
The next step in this project will be to further flesh out this use case and build a fuller understanding of the stakeholders, potential datasets, benefits of enabling the use case, barriers to implementation, and challenges of interoperability for the use case.
This will be done through further desk research and stakeholder interviews, if you think you may have information relating to this use case, please contact us at openenergy@icebreakerone.org.