Transport announcement - Joined-cities plan
10 September 2009
10th September 2009
Thousands of motorists could soon find electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles more accessible after the launch of a new plan designed to make it easier for drivers to charge plug-in vehicles in a number of major UK cities.
The Joined-Cities Plan announced today (9 September) by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) aims to help cities across the UK to deploy a cost effective and compatible network of recharging points.
The £11 million Plan has been created to help support the roll-out of a single national network that will ultimately enable plug-in vehicles to be easily used and recharged anywhere, including the home.
In developing the Plan, the ETI, whose aim is to accelerate the deployment of affordable and secure low carbon energy technologies, is initially working with Birmingham, Coventry, Glasgow, London, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford and Sunderland.
The Plan will result in a series of recommendations and help create an environment where motorists using plug-in vehicles can easily locate and use charging points from different providers across the UK.
To enable the Joined-Cities Plan, the ETI has formed an intelligent architecture advisory group. This brings together global system integrators and major vehicle recharging network providers. Currently, this group includes IBM, Siemens, Elektromotive, Coulomb Technologies and 365 Energy.
The members provide knowledge and ‘reach’ across the majority of the major global projects associated with plug-in vehicles, and will enable the group to take a world-leading role.
The Joined-Cities Plan and the intelligent architecture group are key features of the ETI’s Plug-in Vehicle Economics and Infrastructure project announced on 16th July 09. The project will include an extensive evaluation of consumers' attitudes towards plug-in vehicles and the supporting infrastructure, which will enable the ETI to determine cost effective infrastructure deployment and driver incentive strategies that will help to develop a self sustaining mass market.
Announcing the plans at the Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2009 (LCV 2009), held at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, ETI CEO David Clarke said: “The Energy Technologies Institute is supporting a UK collaboration to evaluate and accelerate the market for plug-in vehicles. Enabling plug-in vehicles to compete effectively in a market alongside petrol and diesel vehicles with their extensive infrastructure is a challenge. These plug-in vehicles are currently unknown to most consumers, who will want to know if they will be versatile, will they be affordable and will they be as easy to refuel/recharge.Through the Joined-Cities Plan we will help to enhance the versatility and ease of recharging. Other aspects of the ETI project will determine what it will take to reach a self sustaining mass market.”
Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson said: “Our aim is for the UK to be a world leader in ultra-low carbon vehicles which is why we welcome the ETI's pioneering plan to support and enhance the infrastructure and market growth of plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles."
London Mayor, Boris Johnson added: ‘Moving to using electric vehicles which emit zero pollution will have a major impact on cutting carbon emissions, improving air quality and reducing noise pollution. I want to make it much easier to go electric which is why in London we are planning to roll out 25,000 charging points. So I'm delighted that the capital is part of the joined cities network helping to speed up the electric revolution across the country.”
The Plan complements the Plugged In Places Infrastructure Framework, to be taken forward by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, and will build on the Technology Strategy Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator programme.
Further information
For further information please contact Richard Robinson on 01509 - 202026 / 07500 – 049626 / Darren Bindloss on 07500049625 / ETI Communications Department 01509 202084
Notes to Editors
For more details about LCV2009, please click to www.lcv2009.co.uk
About Test Bed UK: The ETI is working in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, the UK Government (via the newly formed Office for Low Emission Vehicles, OLEV), Cenex, local authorities and regional development agencies (RDAs) to form Test Bed UK, a collaborative environment that will make the UK a world leading destination to develop, demonstrate, manufacture and use ultra low carbon vehicles.
The Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator programme was announced by the Technology Strategy Board in June. It involves vehicle manufacturers and power companies in real-world prototype trials of 340 vehicles in regions around the UK.
Government has committed up to £30m seed funding under the Plugged in Places framework to help a number of lead cities or regions in the UK to establish themselves as front-runners in the trialling and adoption of electric vehicle re-charging infrastructure, as announced in July. Plugged in Places is expected be launched later this year. It is anticipated that around 3 – 6 cities and regions will receive funding initially, bringing together consortia of public authorities and companies to install publicly accessible charging points on streets, car parks and in commercial, retail and leisure facilities. The Plugged in Places framework will also offer a way of sharing information and lessons learned more widely across the UK. Government is seeking views on the proposed scheme by the end of September and further details can be found on the DfT website or at the following link: http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/163944/ulcc.pdf
About the ETI: The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is a UK based company formed from global industries and the UK Government. The ETI brings together projects and partnerships that create affordable, reliable, clean energy for heat, power and transport.
The ETI’s six private members are BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell. The UK Government has committed to match support for four further Members. The ETI’s public funds are received from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills through the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). These organisations, together with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Transport (DfT), are engaged directly in the ETI’s strategy and programme development.
The ETI will demonstrate technologies, develop knowledge, skills and supply-chains, inform the development of regulation, standards and policy, and so accelerate the deployment of affordable, secure low-carbon energy systems from 2020 to 2050. For more information on the ETI visit www.energytechnologies.co.uk
Thousands of motorists could soon find electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles more accessible after the launch of a new plan designed to make it easier for drivers to charge plug-in vehicles in a number of major UK cities.
The Joined-Cities Plan announced today (9 September) by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) aims to help cities across the UK to deploy a cost effective and compatible network of recharging points.
The £11 million Plan has been created to help support the roll-out of a single national network that will ultimately enable plug-in vehicles to be easily used and recharged anywhere, including the home.
In developing the Plan, the ETI, whose aim is to accelerate the deployment of affordable and secure low carbon energy technologies, is initially working with Birmingham, Coventry, Glasgow, London, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford and Sunderland.
The Plan will result in a series of recommendations and help create an environment where motorists using plug-in vehicles can easily locate and use charging points from different providers across the UK.
To enable the Joined-Cities Plan, the ETI has formed an intelligent architecture advisory group. This brings together global system integrators and major vehicle recharging network providers. Currently, this group includes IBM, Siemens, Elektromotive, Coulomb Technologies and 365 Energy.
The members provide knowledge and ‘reach’ across the majority of the major global projects associated with plug-in vehicles, and will enable the group to take a world-leading role.
The Joined-Cities Plan and the intelligent architecture group are key features of the ETI’s Plug-in Vehicle Economics and Infrastructure project announced on 16th July 09. The project will include an extensive evaluation of consumers' attitudes towards plug-in vehicles and the supporting infrastructure, which will enable the ETI to determine cost effective infrastructure deployment and driver incentive strategies that will help to develop a self sustaining mass market.
Announcing the plans at the Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2009 (LCV 2009), held at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, ETI CEO David Clarke said: “The Energy Technologies Institute is supporting a UK collaboration to evaluate and accelerate the market for plug-in vehicles. Enabling plug-in vehicles to compete effectively in a market alongside petrol and diesel vehicles with their extensive infrastructure is a challenge. These plug-in vehicles are currently unknown to most consumers, who will want to know if they will be versatile, will they be affordable and will they be as easy to refuel/recharge.Through the Joined-Cities Plan we will help to enhance the versatility and ease of recharging. Other aspects of the ETI project will determine what it will take to reach a self sustaining mass market.”
Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson said: “Our aim is for the UK to be a world leader in ultra-low carbon vehicles which is why we welcome the ETI's pioneering plan to support and enhance the infrastructure and market growth of plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles."
London Mayor, Boris Johnson added: ‘Moving to using electric vehicles which emit zero pollution will have a major impact on cutting carbon emissions, improving air quality and reducing noise pollution. I want to make it much easier to go electric which is why in London we are planning to roll out 25,000 charging points. So I'm delighted that the capital is part of the joined cities network helping to speed up the electric revolution across the country.”
The Plan complements the Plugged In Places Infrastructure Framework, to be taken forward by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, and will build on the Technology Strategy Board’s Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator programme.
Further information
For further information please contact Richard Robinson on 01509 - 202026 / 07500 – 049626 / Darren Bindloss on 07500049625 / ETI Communications Department 01509 202084
Notes to Editors
For more details about LCV2009, please click to www.lcv2009.co.uk
About Test Bed UK: The ETI is working in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, the UK Government (via the newly formed Office for Low Emission Vehicles, OLEV), Cenex, local authorities and regional development agencies (RDAs) to form Test Bed UK, a collaborative environment that will make the UK a world leading destination to develop, demonstrate, manufacture and use ultra low carbon vehicles.
The Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator programme was announced by the Technology Strategy Board in June. It involves vehicle manufacturers and power companies in real-world prototype trials of 340 vehicles in regions around the UK.
Government has committed up to £30m seed funding under the Plugged in Places framework to help a number of lead cities or regions in the UK to establish themselves as front-runners in the trialling and adoption of electric vehicle re-charging infrastructure, as announced in July. Plugged in Places is expected be launched later this year. It is anticipated that around 3 – 6 cities and regions will receive funding initially, bringing together consortia of public authorities and companies to install publicly accessible charging points on streets, car parks and in commercial, retail and leisure facilities. The Plugged in Places framework will also offer a way of sharing information and lessons learned more widely across the UK. Government is seeking views on the proposed scheme by the end of September and further details can be found on the DfT website or at the following link: http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/163944/ulcc.pdf
About the ETI: The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is a UK based company formed from global industries and the UK Government. The ETI brings together projects and partnerships that create affordable, reliable, clean energy for heat, power and transport.
The ETI’s six private members are BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell. The UK Government has committed to match support for four further Members. The ETI’s public funds are received from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills through the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). These organisations, together with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Transport (DfT), are engaged directly in the ETI’s strategy and programme development.
The ETI will demonstrate technologies, develop knowledge, skills and supply-chains, inform the development of regulation, standards and policy, and so accelerate the deployment of affordable, secure low-carbon energy systems from 2020 to 2050. For more information on the ETI visit www.energytechnologies.co.uk