Centrica and U.K. Volkswagen dealer group Citygate have agreed to an Electric Vehicle technology partnership under which Centrica will install EV chargers at 10 Citygate dealerships across London and the south-east.

In addition, Centrica will help fulfil aftersales support on EV accessories and charging products, including home charging installations.

Citygate and Centrica will also collaborate on the development of an EV Centre of Excellence as part of the agreement. Centrica will install an on-site virtual power plant (VPP) by linking EV chargers and other large energy-consuming assets into a cloud platform, so they can be turned down or turned off when demand for electricity is particularly high. The impact of these measures will be visible to Citygate customers and staff through educational showroom displays.

Customer information will be available on topics such as charging, energy tariffs, and air quality, which will form part of the Centre. Centrica will also develop training programmes for Citygate staff and educational materials for customers to provide knowledge and insight into the decarbonisation of transport and the home.

Separately, Centrica announced with car park operator NCP a pilot "public charge park" aimed at serving commercial fleets and taxis in public spaces.

The first pilot ‘charge park’ is expected in the new year, with the two companies promising to examine how to combine leisure services and technology to make charging less onerous.

NCP manages over 500 sites and has over 150,000 parking spaces.

"One of the big barriers we need to overcome in terms of adoption is how professional drivers can make time in their day to charge. While there has been a great deal of research in to how to make charging faster, little has been done to enhance convenience, so that charging can fit comfortably in to our busy lives," said Andreas Atkins, Head of Electric Vehicle Strategy, Centrica Innovations

Tags:
Centrica   EVs   Innovation   VPPs   Electric Vehicles  

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