Levistor has announced it will begin commercial trials of its energy storage technology to power electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints early next year, in partnership with National Highways.
Levistor will test its flywheel energy storage system (FESS) at National Highways’ test and development centre, located in Gloucestershire, to establish if it can provide high-powered EV charging along the UK’s motorway network, particularly in areas where current grid infrastructure is unable to support rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging. National Highways is investing in research and development (R&D) for other energy storage systems to be used for EV charging over the UK motorway network, including battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Levistor’s FESS technology works by storing energy from the grid during times of low demand on the network in a rotating shaft, which rotates faster as more energy is put into the system. When energy needs to be released, the motor is switched to become a generator powered by this rotating shaft, which converts the kinetic energy into electricity. The system was first developed at City, University of London, and Levistor claims that when connected to an EV charger, a driver can get as much as 100 miles of range with as little as a five-minute charge.
Matt Journee, chief executive of Levistor commented: “National Highways’ readiness to trial our commercial product is a strong endorsement of our R&D work to date and highlights the grid constraint challenges that need to be overcome if the EV roll-out in the UK is to be truly nationwide.”
Christopher Plumb, energy team leader at National Highways said: “We are proud to support Levistor’s trial of their innovative flywheel energy storage system at our development centre. This trial will help showcase the product’s ability to overcome grid constraints and enable super-fast EV charging. This kind of innovative solution offers great potential to help improve the EV charging network.”
EV charging gaps pose threat to EV revolution
With figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealing that demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) hit record levels in September, a strong EV charging network is increasingly vital to support the UK’s transport decarbonisation goals.
In response, several major firms are working to develop EV charging hubs on key stretches of the UK’s road network that are currently underserved by public EV charging networks. E.ON Drive, the EV infrastructure arm of energy major E.ON, recently opened its new Cross Hands EV Hub with ten ultra-fast 300kW charging bays, strategically located in a 20-mile gap in the local EV charging network between the Welsh towns of Carmarthen and Llanelli. Enviromena and InstaVolt have joined forces to develop a similar 44-bay hub in Winchester, set to be powered entirely by solar energy and featuring an onsite BESS.
The need for powerful EV charging along UK motorways is being driven in part by efforts to decarbonise the UK’s trucking fleet with the use of electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs). Data from the SMMT shows that registrations for zero emission trucks and buses are on the rise, with ZEV truck uptake growing by 30% in Q2 2024. However, the UK currently only has one dedicated eHGV charging station, on the M61 southbound between Manchester and Preston.
EV charger firm Paua is exploring whether shared EV charging depots for commercial fleets could be a solution to this problem. In August of this year, it launched a trial of this technology alongside local authorities and other organisations. Meanwhile, Milence also announced in August that it had begun construction of its first UK HGV charging hub, to be located on the east coast of England.
