With the
publication of The Road
to Zero, the Government
launched the Electric Vehicle
Energy Taskforce to explore this
challenge with stakeholders. It was
charged to bring forward proposals
to ensure that the GB electricity
system acts as an enabler of the EV
transition and that opportunities
to positively engage and deliver
bene ts to consumers can be
realised. The underlying goal is to
encourage the growth of EVs without
incurring unnecessary costs.
The Electric Vehicle Energy
Taskforce has, for the rst time,
brought together key stakeholders
from the automotive and energy
industries. It has consulted widely
in developing its proposals,
involving over 350 companies and
institutions. It has recognised that the
electri cation of road transport will
impact the whole electricity system,
including the devices in peoples’
homes. It has also recognised that
providing affordable, convenient
charging is a pre-condition for
the creation of a mass market for
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EVs. The work of the
Electric Vehicle Energy
Taskforce has focused
on two key challenges:
how can the impacts on
the electricity system
be managed ef ciently;
and how can consumers be
provided with a good EV
charging experience.
In January, the Taskforce
launched its report
‘Energising Our Electric
Vehicle Transition’, which
included 21 key proposals
for actions to be taken by
government and industry to enable
an effective and ef cient electric
mobility transition and claims to have
demonstrated that an effectively
managed integration of electric
vehicles with the energy system
can signi cantly improve electricity
network ef ciency, increase system
resilience and limit the requirement
to build costly new infrastructure to
meet growing electricity demand.
The infrastructure spending
required to prepare the UK electricity
networks for the electric vehicle
transition is likely to run to tens of
billions of pounds. However, the
Taskforce believes this cost can be
signi cantly reduced if the right
decisions are made and the transition
is effectively co-ordinated between
government and key energy,
infrastructure and transport industry
stakeholders. A prior study put this
gure at between £2.7bn and £6.5bn.
In its formal report to the
Government, the Taskforce sets
out a range of proposals to enable
the ef cient integration of electric
vehicles with the energy system
during the electri cation transition.
These include:
■ Ensuring that EV drivers,
electricity consumers and the
energy system bene t from the
integration of EVs and the energy
system;
■ Providing nancial incentives
to EV drivers to ensure that the
potential energy storage capacity
of millions of electric vehicles is
used to reduce peak demand;
■ Prioritising greater standardisation
across the charging network
to ensure it works resiliently,
ef ciently and securely with the
electricity system;
■ Establishing an independent body
to promote the bene ts of smart
charging through a major publicity
campaign to ensure EV drivers
are con dent and well informed;
■ Extending the principle of ‘open
data’ in the energy system to
include EV charge points and
EVs to allow more effective smart
charging of EVs;
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