Introduction: The wide scale roll-out of high powered EV charging infrastructure is seen as a key enabler for accelerating the electrification of the transportation sector as existing and future owners of EVs will have confidence that they will be able to gain access to high powered chargepoints ubiquitously in a similar manner to conventional vehicles having access to fuel stations.


Motorway Service Areas (MSAs) and service areas in major A-roads have been identified as a specific area in which the roll-out of high powered EV charging infrastructure will be required. Most of these sites are currently connected to the 11kV network and network reinforcements are likely required to increase capacity to supply additional power to the high powered charge points. The conventional solution to providing the increased capacity is typically high in cost, time consuming and requires a large footprint.

 
A standardised compact scalable supply solution that can be rapidly rolled out to MSA sites and service areas on major A-roads across GB will support the establishment of a nation-wide high powered charging network on the strategic road network ultimately accelerating the uptake of EVs.

Objectives: The key objectives of the project are as follows:

Design a solution which could be installed by any authorised party across any small/medium sized MSA or service area in major A-roads to provide 1.5 – 8 MVA of capacity.
Produce a standardised solution kit that can be rolled out rapidly
Reduce connection costs as the proposed solution is scalable and allows for additional units to be added when business case supports.
Build, install and operate the solution at a trial site
Demonstrate the successful operation of the solution in a live environment
Analyse results of the trials to extract key learnings and disseminate across the industry