Oxford City Council has a zero-emission zone planned for 2020 which will be the first zero emission city in the world. It is clear that electrical vehicles will be a significant part of the future passenger vehicle travel with many predictions suggesting it will become the dominant market share within the 2020’s.
The Park and Charge pilot builds on an initial feasibility study, looking to deliver a large scale demonstration project providing an EV charging and EV sharing service for Oxfordshire’s communities who do not have access to home charging.
Stage 1: Project
The initial feasibility study recognises the challenge that providing on-street EV Charging & Parking (EVCP) represents, taking a holistic view of addressing it via intelligent integrated solutions and a hypothesis that demand for EVCP could be potentially met by 3 solutions:
- Intelligent on-street parking/ charging capacity
- Multi use of adjacent parking/ charging capacity (private/public/commercial)
- The use of shared EVs
This will focus on establishing a sustainable business model for electric vehicle charging, parking and sharing pilot in Oxfordshire. The system will provide a solution that directly aids transition to EVs and model transport shift in one of the country’s most challenging transport related regions.
Stage 2: The Pilot
Stage 2 will be used as an inital pilot to validate the potential EV charging/sharing hubs and the business models that will ensure success.
The 300 Smart Chargers to be used, will offer the latest connectivity which allows users to view availability and pre-book chargers. The billing rates can be dynamic and are based on demand on the electricity grid. The chargers will communicate with users, operators and maintenance teams to ensure up-time availability and optimum use. It is possible to icentivise EV users to attract them to key parking areas by offering low cost charging.
