Archive / Sustainable transport

• How will an expanded EV fleet affect the electricity distribution network?

  11 March 2016

  My Electric Avenue was a ground-breaking project that set-out to evaluate the likely effect on local electricity distribution networks of a future in which a high proportion of drivers opt for plug-in vehicles. Anthony Smith reports.

  
  There can be little doubt that the market for electric vehicles is beginning to gain significant momentum: early adopters are turning into repeat customers, and the concept of relying upon personal transportation powered largely or entirely by electricity rather than gasoline or diesel is becoming increasingly mainstream.

  In the UK, for example, approximately 48,000 plug-in vehicles were registered in 2015 compared with just 3500 two years earlier. Plug-in vehicles currently represent 1.7 percent of ...

  
  

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• New project launched to cut site energy costs and carbon footprint through optimised energy storage

  09 March 2016

  • Project combines and optimises local energy storage, renewable microgeneration, and site energy usage - including electric vehicle (EV) fast charging
  • Scalable energy storage solution uses second life Renault EV batteries
  • Avoids distribution network upgrades required to meet growing demands such as EV fast charging
  • Enables site-based optimisation of energy usage and exploitation of off-peak energy tariffs

  
  A PROJECT to manage and optimise complex energy requirements for industrial and commercial sites is now underway.

  

  The Battery Optimisation and Storage System project (BOSS) creates additional on-site energy storage capacity with repurposed batteries from Renault electric vehicles ...

  
  

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• Connected Energy and Renault to collaborate on energy storage and EV charging technology

  04 February 2016

  • Renault will provide used EV batteries to Connected Energy Ltd for second-life application in its E-STOR product 
  • Renault is the electric vehicle market leader in Europe
  • E-STOR is a revolutionary energy storage system that can reduce costs and enable more flexible and efficient use of energy – including high capacity fast charging
  • E-STOR will be available in the UK from July 2016

  Renault and Connected Energy are partnering to develop sustainable and efficient ways of using electric vehicle batteries at the end of their useable in-vehicle life in order to supply innovative and more affordable vehicle charging solutions.
  At the end ...
  

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• Ricardo and Electricity North West work to unlock capacity from UK electricity networks

  27 January 2016

  Ricardo Energy & Environment is supporting Electricity North West to unlock additional capacity from the UK’s North West electricity network by enhancing the thermal efficiency of substation assets, maximizing the power potential of existing infrastructure.

  Over the next 30 years the introduction of low carbon incentives and technology – such as domestic heat policies, electric vehicles, ground source ...

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• Ricardo to help develop technology for ultra-low-emission natural gas heavy truck engines

  20 January 2016

  Ricardo will partner with Gas Technology Institute (GTI) on two major contracts to enable natural gas engines to provide a viable, fuel-efficient, and less polluting alternative to diesel power for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles on the highways of California.
  
  Despite California’s substantial progress in reducing emissions from heavy-duty trucks and other mobile sources, diesel trucks remain major contributors to statewide emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), greenhouse gases (GHG), and diesel particulate matter (PM). By 2031, the South Coast Basin will exceed mandatory air quality standards unless NOx emissions are reduced 90 percent compared with today.
  
  The Ricardo-GTI projects, co-funded ...
  
  
  
  

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