The key to any change in transportation infrastructure is proper organization of participants, resources and personnel. London-based Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) received $18 million USD in grants from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills to accomplish this very goal. ETI’s primary goal is to speed up the implementation of a national infrastructure for electric and alternative fuel vehicles. The so-called Joined Cities Plan seeks to organize efforts from nine UK cities into a single infrastructure needed to ensure long-range EV travel.
The first step in ETI’s mission for a single transportation infrastructure is to gather the right sponsors through its advisory group. This group includes representatives from Elektromotive, Siemens, IBM and 365 Energy capable of advising on the fundamental aspects of smart infrastructure. The company has secured resources and advice from Rolls-Royce, Shell, Caterpillar and BP to ensure private industry input into this massive project. The British government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change along with the Department of Transport are helping ETI coordinate resources on behalf of the public sphere. The assets and reputations brought to ETI’s efforts through these partners lend legitimacy to its efforts.
The Joined Cities Plan involves exploration of charging stations, electrical lines and other equipment needed for EV infrastructure in London, Glasgow, Coventry and six other locations. This plan works in conjunction with ETI’s Plug-in Vehicle Economics and Infrastructure initiative, which was launched this past July. This initiative will explore the oft-cited challenges to EV infrastructure including consumer perspectives, vehicle availabiliy and the costs of technology to implement a nationwide charging system. These programs will only yield benefits if government agencies step up to the challenge of funding and maintaining this infrastructure.
The British government is focusing on the consumer end of a national EV infrastructure with its Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator program. ETI’s efforts organize the necessary players in creating an infrastructure though the question will be the origins of long-term funding. British voters are increasingly concerned about finances in one of the world’s hardest hit areas during the recent recession. The next step for ETI is to determine how it can overcome the perception that EV technology is prohibitively expensive. Once ETI figures out the best way to surmount this challenge, its public and private partners can proceed quickly with infrastructure development.
