UK Power Networks Services is partnering with UPS, High Speed 1 and WMG to assess the feasibility of using wireless charging to support the use of EVs in commercial fleets on London’s roads.

Funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles in partnership with Innovate UK, the project will investigate the feasibility of deploying wireless charging technology in three live locations across London and Tamworth.

UK Power Networks Services’ director, Ian Smyth, is excited by what the study could mean for the growth of electric vehicles. He said: “Wireless charging has the potential to deliver lower cost electric vehicle fleets, safer unobtrusive infrastructure and provides an important solution where constraints on physical space mean wired charging is not practical. We believe that the lack of wireless charging projects in the UK is primarily the result of many users considering this technology immature or lacking a strong business case.”

The assessment will include the wireless charging of UPS delivery vans at their Tamworth depot as parcels are loaded, of electric taxis while waiting for passengers in the taxi rank outside St Pancras International railway station and of UK Power Networks’ electric vans.

The Wireless Electric Fleets project is part of the Wireless electric vehicle charging for commercial users: feasibility studies competition, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) in partnership with Innovate UK. As the first phase of an innovation funding programme worth £40m, 27 feasibility studies will analyse the application and impact of innovative technologies for EV charging.

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