Coventry project will look at barriers to home EV charging in city
Coventry University revealed it is part of a project selected as one of seven winners of the Transport Decarbonisation Demonstrator competition - bringing with it a share of £1.6 million in government grant funding.
Entitled 'Levelling Up Coventry’s EV Adoption Journey', the project will examine the barriers to electric vehicle (EV) home charging and assess the effectiveness of existing EV infrastructure in the Midlands city.
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It will specifically focus on residents who lack driveway access and face difficulties in home charging - a situation currently affecting almost half of Coventry households.
The work will be led by Doublemsc Solutions Limited and supported by Coventry University and Coventry City Council.
The university's Centre for Future Transport and Cities aims to develop a disruptive model to enhance the city's potential as a low-carbon EV haven.
Stewart Birrell, Professor of Human Factors for Future Transport at Coventry University’s National Transport Design Centre, said: "Here within the Research Centre for Future Transport Cities we are delighted to be working on this exciting project bringing flexible EV charging to the people of Coventry.
"Our research will bring our human centred design expertise to help design a usable and desirable mobile battery innovation -an EV charging solution named ENSTOREL, but also understand through modelling the existing charging network where gaps exist for changing needs in Coventry."
Mike Biddle, executive director Net Zero at Innovate UK, added: "By looking at decarbonisation through a place-based lens it is hoped that these projects will bring wider benefits above and beyond transport decarbonisation such as the improved health of residents through better access to active travel modes, a greater sense of community created by schemes or a decrease in congestion levels due to fewer private vehicles on the road.
"We’re looking forward to the project completion next year and seeing the impact."
The Transport Decarbonisation Demonstrator competition is funded by the Department for Transport and delivered by Innovate UK and aims to accelerate the UK's transition to a low-carbon future.
