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‘Major re-think’ needed on EV infrastructure

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Social divides in communities could be deepened with millions of people set to miss out on the environmental and financial benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), a new report concludes.

The Localis report – ‘Smart Cities: Fair investment for sustainable growth’ – argues that outdated energy and infrastructure policies must urgently be modernised, and local network operators freed up to invest ahead of demand, if the government is to meet its ambitious targets for ensuring all new cars sold are zero-emission by 2040.

The report calls on government to devolve certain Ofgem powers to city regions and strategic authorities, allowing them to develop their own ‘smart city’ plans and energy policies built upon their own expertise and understanding of place.

Local authorities should be able to form their own consortiums using existing knowledge of their local areas, and also be empowered to work with private energy network providers to deliver the infrastructure they need for the future, the report recommended.

The report emphasised that families across the UK are at risk of sharing the cost for necessary new energy infrastructure, but not being able to access for themselves the benefits of EVs and other ‘smart’ technologies – driving further inequality between richer and poorer parts of the country.

Jonathan Werran, chief executive at Localis, said: “Without a change in regulation, behaviour and a wholesale transfer of powers for local energy policies, we risk a tale of two cities in our major urban centres – deepening levels of inequality between the prosperous and more deprived parts of town.

“A ‘devolution revolution’ in locally-regulated energy markets has the potential to accelerate the nation’s switch to clean growth, turn UK cities into powerhouses for sustainable and inclusive prosperity and improve livelihoods in towns and cities across the UK.”

Furthermore – while private energy network providers have invested heavily in building infrastructure that is fit for purpose today – the report claims their inability to invest further unless there is proven need for it presents a major barrier to readying cities for smart technologies.

This restriction should be lifted if the UK’s energy network is to be fit for meeting future demand for smart technologies such as EVs – which will require a six-fold increase in the number of charging points by 2020 (Emu Analytics, May 2018).

The report authors also recommend that government should produce a standardised framework for how EV charging infrastructure is built and upgraded.

Localis head of data research, Joe Fyans, said: “The advancement of smart technology into households has huge potential for increasing the quality and efficiency of local public policy, but we have to make sure we have the nuts and bolts infrastructure in place to facilitate this change by securing the appropriate investment, and in a timely fashion.”

The report and its recommendations were informed by a series of roundtable events with local authorities, councillors and business groups.

George Lowder, chief executive, Transport for Edinburgh, said: “We’ll be taking note of the findings of this report here in Edinburgh, which is particularly timely as we consider city centre transformation, Low Emission Zones, future mobility and city development in 2019.

“A cleaner, smarter, Edinburgh is one that we are all striving for – including the increased use of EVs across our public transport fleets and an extended EV charging network for the city. The recommendations in the report today can help us to deliver this in a way that works for everyone.’’

Cllr Anna Richardson’s, city convener for sustainability and carbon reduction, Glasgow City Council, said: “Today’s report sets out many of the challenges and opportunities for Glasgow as we continue on our transition to a ‘smart city’.

“New technologies like EVs can play a part in decarbonising our transport system and improving our air quality – but they need to be rolled out fairly across the city, so everyone can benefit, and not exacerbate existing inequalities.

“The recommendations today can help ensure that government, and local authorities up and down the country, are able to oversee a successful shift to smarter technologies in a way that is fair, affordable and equitable.”

More companies looking to offer employees vehicle benefits

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Research has revealed higher levels of interest from different businesses looking to provide vehicle solutions to their employee base.

“Many businesses are looking for ways to improve their benefits offering to employees but at zero or little cost,” said Richard Cox, Fleet Consultant at Arval. “Extending vehicle provision is an excellent solution to this need, especially as a wider range of product offerings are becoming available right across the market. It is now possible to provide a car solution for just about any corporate setting.”

Cox added that offering modern vehicles also created benefits, such as improved environmental performance and reduction in the managerial difficulties surrounding grey fleet usage.

“In offering new, or nearly new, vehicles alongside maintenance and insurance packages, employers can mitigate some of the duty of care issues that are inherent in grey fleet,” added Cox.

“Of course, putting employees into newer cars will almost always also create environmental benefits, with lower polluting cars and potentially wider adoption of hybrids and EVs. This is a definite win from a CSR point of view.”

Cox continued: “Certainly, we are seeing much higher levels of interest from many different kinds of businesses and it could well develop into a key fleet trend in 2019.”

Ford using ‘big data’ in London to predict traffic incidents

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Ford claims it has come up with a means by which so-called ‘big data’ could potentially help cities identify locations most likely to be the scene of future traffic incidents.

Its Smart Mobility division has spent the last year recording 1 million kilometres of vehicle and driver behaviour in and around London.

The company tracked vehicle journeys in the city and logged detailed driving data from driving events such as braking, the severity of that braking, and where hazard warning lights were applied.

This helped Ford to identify what it calls “near-misses”, which were then cross-referenced against existing accident reports, using an algorithm to determine the likelihood of where future incidents might occur.

“We believe our insights have the potential to benefit millions of people. Even very small changes could make a big difference – maybe cutting back a tree that has obscured a road sign – whether in terms of traffic flow, road safety or efficiency,” said Jon Scott, Project Lead at City Data Solutions, Ford Smart Mobility.

This concept was identified in the Ford City Data Report, which took its findings from more than 15,000 days of vehicle use, from 160 connected vans in the city.

Ford’s fleet of vans covered more than 1 million kilometres, the equivalent of 20 times around the earth, and delivered 500 million data points – each vehicle in the study was equipped with a simple plug-in device that recorded the journey data and then sent it to the cloud for analysis.

Data scientists from Ford’s Global Data Insight and Analytics team were then able to analyse the information through an interactive dashboard. Ford says the technology could be applied in any road environment, not just in cities.

The report also investigated other opportunities, such as how scheduling delivery van journeys for earlier in the day, before peak times, could benefit all road users, and how using journey data could help to identify the best locations for electric vehicle charging points.

“The Ford City Data Report is a showcase of what we at Ford can do with connected vehicle data, smart infrastructure, and our analytical capabilities. We are calling on cities to work with us to collectively solve problems that they can become even better places to live and work in,” said Sarah-Jayne Williams, director, Ford Smart Mobility, Ford of Europe.

For the full report, visit citydatareport.fordmedia.eu.

Our friends electric: 89% of UK fleets to change to electric before 2030

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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89% of UK-based fleet managers expect electric vehicles (EVs) to play a major role in their businesses fleet by 2030.

The research, published by Geotab, also revealed that almost half of the 250 fleets surveyed in the UK do not currently have any EVs.

48% of those polled said Government initiatives were a leading motivator for the change to electric, while 48% said improvements to charging EVs, along with 32% who said improved selection of models also contributed to the growth of EV fleets.

Anticipation of the Government bringing in regulations regarding the implementation of EV fleets, similar to the ‘Road To Nowhere’ initiative, was commonplace, with 88% of fleet managers saying it was likely to happen.

Benefits to an electric fleet included 59% who agreed it was better for the environment, 46% who anticipated more efficient energy costs due to rising petrol and diesel prices and improved maintenance and  upkeep costs (42%).

“These survey results help to demonstrate that the government’s call for an EV future is not something businesses are taking lightly,” said Edward Kulperger, VP Europe at Geotab. “With most fleet leaders looking to have a fully EV-dependent fleet over the next few years, it’s no longer a question of if, but rather how soon a complete overhaul can take place.

“Based upon the outcome of this survey, it’s clear that businesses and fleets feel they now need additional government initiatives and smart updates to critical infrastructure across the UK.

“If this can be made a priority, as a nation, Geotab is confident that the UK can take a spot as one of the most innovative global leaders trying to help push the widespread adoption of green transportation in the coming years.”

Less than 2% of those polled for the survey claimed that there are no benefits to an EV fleet.