This response is on behalf of the project team, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Programme Grant, grant reference EP/W005883/1. This project is focused on developing a solution to grid-independent, renewable energy-powered, EV charging stations, based around the utilisation of novel hybrid energy storage systems. FEVER unites a diverse team of academics, engineers, economists and social scientists from the Universities of ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ, Sheffield, Surrey and Portsmouth.
This response from the FEVER project team advocates for government support of grid-independent EV charging solutions to accelerate infrastructure rollout and address geographical and socio economic disparities in charging access. The team recommends that the government formally include off grid charging options in policy and funding. While welcoming the Department for Transport's recent £10 million innovation competition for off-grid ultra-rapid chargers on motorways, the authors recommend extending this approach to local settings such as car parks, where lower-power chargers (22kW or less) can serve vehicles with longer dwell times. Grid independent solutions offer key benefits: they bypass lengthy grid connection queues and costs, can be deployed more rapidly, support community energy schemes, and help address charging availability concerns that discourage EV adoption. The FEVER team calls for better integration between NESO's Connections Reform and EV charging infrastructure planning to ensure a balanced approach that includes both grid-connected and grid-independent charging solutions.
Professor Andrew Cruden, Principle Investigator of the FEVER programme grant and Associate Dean Infrastructure at the ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ
Professor Suleiman Sharkh, Professor of Electrical Machiens and DrivesÌý(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
Professor Sebastian Stein, Professor within the Agents, Interaction and Complexity research groupÌý(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
Professor Richard Wills,ÌýProfessor of Electrochemical Energy Storage and Head of Department for Mechanical EngineeringÌý(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
Dr Ewan Fraser, FEVER Senior Research FellowÌý(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
(¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
Dr Ezhilarasi Periyathambi, Research Fellow (¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
Dr Bruno Arcanjo, Research Fellow (¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
, Technical Lead of the Advanced Manufacturing Research CentreÌý(University of Sheffield)
, Research Associate (University of Sheffield)
, Research Associate (FEVER) (University of Sheffield)
, Research AssociateÌý(University of Sheffield)
(University of Sheffield)
(University of Surrey)
Fariba Dehghan (¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ)
, Senior Research AssociateÌý(University of Portsmouth)
, Professor in Electrical and Electronic EngineeringÌý(University of Sheffield)
, Professor of Electrical and Control Systems (University of Sheffield)
, Senior Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain ManagementÌý(University of Sheffield)
, Professor of Energy Storage & ConversionÌý(University of Sheffield)
, Professor of Environmental PsychologyÌý(University of Portsmouth)
, Associate Professor in Energy Economics (University of Surrey)
