Smart EV charging system for high-utilisation commercial fleets

道路运输占英国温室气体排放量的21%（ONS，2019）。为了实现气候和清洁空气目标，需要迅速转向零排放车辆。目前的疫情凸显了采取紧急行动的必要性，研究表明，接触细颗粒物（PM2. 5）与COVID-19死亡风险增加有关。缺乏充电基础设施是阻碍电动汽车采用的关键问题。现在，汽车充电网络的发展势头强劲。然而，由于价格高、位置不合适、速度低以及无法保证可用性等因素，这些都不适用于大型商用车（如HGV和客车）。一些大型电动商用车的用户通过开发自己的车辆段基础设施来解决这个问题。这需要大量的前期投资，在COVID环境下，企业很难证明这是合理的。这从根本上说也是低效的，就像每个企业都在建造自己的加油站一样。最后，它不适用于运营高里程而不定期返回基地的车辆（以下简称“高里程车队”）的企业-例如长途HGV，城际巴士和旅游车。对于这个项目，我们正在开发一个充电站软件平台，该平台是围绕商业用户的需求而设计的。具体创新将包括：* 智能调度：一个软件平台，与超快速充电硬件集成，使运营商能够安排充电会话。这将通过Web界面或通过API完成。该API将支持智能用例，例如将充电器调度与卫星导航或驾驶员工时系统集成 * 动态电源管理：与充电站硬件的紧密集成将允许基于广泛的输入启动和停止电力输送。例如，如果用户在一段时间内不需要车辆，则充电可能会减慢。这将最大限度地减少电池退化并减少电网的压力（从而降低成本）* 可用性监控：充电器上的心跳检查将与摄像头馈送相结合，从而允许使用机器学习来检测阻塞的空间。这将确保状态信息的绝对可靠性，这对于围绕充电点可用性设计运营的商业用户至关重要我们将在项目结束时通过工作原型演示此解决方案。目前，任何市场都不存在类似的解决方案，该项目迈出了解决高里程车队的鸡和蛋问题的第一步，从而减少碳排放。我们将通过开发自己的商业充电站和将平台授权给其他供应商来商业化我们的解决方案。

Road transport accounts for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK (ONS, 2019). To meet climate and clean air targets, a rapid shift to zero-emission vehicles is required. The current pandemic has highlighted the need for urgent action, with studies suggesting that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 death.A lack of charging infrastructure is a key issue slowing adoption of electric vehicles. There is now significant momentum behind the development of car charging networks. However, none are suitable for large commercial vehicles such as HGVs and coaches due to a combination of high prices, unsuitable locations, low speeds and no guaranteed availability.Some users of large electric commercial vehicles have got around this by developing their own depot infrastructure. This requires significant upfront investment which is hard for businesses to justify in a COVID environment. It's also fundamentally inefficient, analogous to every business building their own petrol station. Finally, it's not suitable for businesses that are operating vehicles that do high mileages without regularly returning to base (hereafter referred to as "high-mileage fleets") -- e.g. long-distance HGVs, intercity buses and tour coaches.For this project, we are developing a charge station software platform designed around the needs of commercial users. Specific innovations will include:* Smart scheduling: A software platform that integrates with the ultra fast charging hardware and gives operators the ability to schedule charging sessions. This will be done via a web interface or through an API. The API will allow for smart use cases, for instance integrating charger scheduling with satellite navigation or drivers hours systems* Dynamic power management: Tight integration with charge station hardware will allow power delivery to be started and stopped based on a wide range of inputs. For instance, charging might be slowed down if the user does not require the vehicle for some time. This would minimise battery degradation and reduce strain on the grid (thereby reducing costs)* Availability monitoring: Heartbeat checks on the chargers will be combined with camera feeds allowing blocked spaces to be detected using machine learning. This will ensure absolute reliability of status information, critical for commercial users designing operations around charge point availabilityWe will demonstrate this solution with a working prototype at the end of the project.A similar solution does not currently exist in any market today and this project takes the first step to solving the chicken and egg problem for high-mileage fleets leading to real-world reductions in carbon emissions. We will commercialise our solution both by developing our own commercial charging stations and licencing the platform to other providers.