Smart metered on-street EV chargers could save customers £605.65 per year, according to the results of the Agile Streets trial.
Announcing the results, Zap-Map argued that this is figure would be equivalent to UK-wide collective savings of over £4.1 billion a year by 2030.
Smart metered charging is of particular interest given the impact of the energy crisis on EV charging costs. High wholesale gas prices have already increased the price EV drivers are expected to pay by 14% since June, Zap-Map said via its Price Index.
The findings revealed that, in September 2022, the average weighted price of charging at a slow or fast charger – typically found on-street or at a destination such as supermarkets or car parks – was 39p/kWh in the UK.
However, the positive findings of this trial – the first such of smart metered on-street EV chargers according to Zap-Map – which had been delivered by a number of companies including EV infrastructure firm Connected Kerb, showed that peak energy demand would be reduced by as much as 240MW providing flexibility services to the grid.
The Agile Streets project included the installation of 100 new on-street chargers in East Lothian, Glasgow, Hackney and Shropshire, in a bid to demonstrate the use of a smart metering system as a new business model and manage public EV charging, incentivising EV drivers to allow a flexible charging schedule.
Over the course of six months, 2,451 charging sessions took place, totalling 51,618kWh of energy with these charging sessions were completed by 368 trial participants.
Speaking to Current± in October 2021, Connected Kerb’s CEO Chris Pateman-Jones stated the aim of the project was to “provide the most affordable, accessible and reliable charging infrastructure for people who have to park on the street, essentially trying to provide a similar level of convenience and affordability as they might get when parking in driveways.”
The results of the trial show smart metering could help manage the demands of the rapid uptake of EVs across the UK, whilst maintaining affordable charging rates.
“The energy price crisis is a major challenge facing all industries. For the EV transition, we know that this will narrow the gap between the cost of refuelling a petrol or diesel vehicle, and the typically much lower cost of charging an EV,” said Pateman-Jones in response to the trial.
“That’s why now is the time to focus our attention on smart charging technologies that can allow those reliant on public charging infrastructure to benefit from cheaper prices when demand for electricity is at its lowest.
“The Agile Streets trial gives us the opportunity to ensure we get smart charging right, enabling us to take all of the learnings from the trial and get ready to roll out this revolutionary infrastructure.”