Centrica has signed a three-year framework with Alfen to supply electric vehicle (EV) chargers to British Gas engineers and Centrica sites.
Alfen’s smart chargers will initially be rolled out at the homes of British Gas engineers before then being installed at their premises and those of Centrica, which will also offer Alfen’s chargers to its commercial customers planning to electrify their fleets.
Alfen’s Smart Charging Network and Active Load Balancing solutions can optimise the local grid capacity, it explained, allowing Centrica and its customers to connect up to 100 chargepoints in a single installation and balance the available power across all vehicles charging. Charging speeds are then maximised within the power constraints, avoiding overloading the local electricity supply and grid upgrade costs.
In July, British Gas put in the largest ever commercial order for battery electric vehicles in the UK, ordering 1,000 all-electric Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall in support of Centrica’s push to electrify its 12,000 strong fleet of vehicles by 2030. Alfen is providing the AC charging equipment for this.
Centrica has also been developing a new EV ownership model with Lotus that will integrate connected vehicles, homes and customers in a bid to “redefine the customer relationship with cars”.
Americo Lenza, portfolio director of British Gas Services & Solutions, said the company chose Alfen due to their “high-quality chargepoints with smart functionalities”, as well as how easily they can be integrated with Centrica’s smart systems.
“Centrica is dedicated to making the lives of its millions of customers smarter, cleaner and more convenient and Alfen is a key partner in making that possible.”
