A project looking to improve the maintenance and repair of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure has now launched.
Following the successful award of a collaborative bid with research and testing facility PNDC and Connected Kerb, the Assure Charge project is to undertake industrial research and development over the next seven months of a service platform that provides a more effective and regulated way of performing maintenance and repair.
It is to leverage the large volumes of connected data available from EV charging infrastructure to operate and maintain it more reliably. This will be enabled by collaboration among existing and new market players, Connected Kerb said, with the project providing them with the information and tools required for the improvements.
Additionally, sensors will be added to physical charge points, allowing real live data to be gathered to back-end systems and predictive and preventative maintenance to be offered.
The Assure Charge project is being supported by the Innovate UK fund for Infrastructure Solutions for Zero Emissions Vehicles.
It is to start with industry engagement supported by EVA England and EVA Scotland which is to form a detailed picture of what outputs are needed regarding reliability, resiliency and infrastructure repair times.
Richard Turnbull, head of wireless and innovation projects at Connected Kerb, said the project will enable a faster transition to net zero through improved standards and confidence in network reliability.
“Through this project we plan to improve chargepoint analytics in real time to provide a solution that offers full transparency and creates predictive and preventative O&M solutions,” he added.
In May, Connected Kerb unveiled plans to install 40 EV chargers in partnership with Kent County Council, with the scheme designed to provide a blueprint for local authorities across the UK to deliver sustainable, affordable and accessible EV charging infrastructure to hard-to-reach UK communities.
This followed the company embarking on a rollout of wireless charging technology in 2020 in partnership with Munich-based partner Magment.
