National Highways is to test energy storage technology that will enable super-fast charging of electric vehicles by providing extra electricity when required to supplement the power coming from the national grid.
The trail with Levistor, the British company that is developing the high power energy storage technology, will be conducted alongside batteries and solar installations and start early next year (2025).
It will run alongside National Highways’ existing program of work to invest in energy storage systems that can support electric vehicle (EV) charging on the UK’s motorway network, in particular where the existing grid network infrastructure cannot support super-fast, high-powered EV charging.
The Levistor/National Highways trial is one response to the concerns about the EV charging network raised by leading motorway service station operators, like Moto Hospitality. They have called on the UK Government to declare all 2,300 miles of the UK’s motorway network a “national priority” to be given sufficient access to power from the grid.
Levistor’s flywheel energy storage system (FESS), or ‘kinetic battery’, provides a short-term power boost to power coming from the grid wherever extra energy is needed to charge an EV. Levistor’s technology enables an EV driver to get 100 miles of range with just a 5 minute charge, helping put an end to range anxiety.
The Levistor flywheel, originally developed at City, University of London, stores up energy from the grid during periods of low demand. This energy is then rapidly released through a standard EV charging point, allowing drivers to be on their way again quickly.
“National Highways’ readiness to trial our commercial product is a strong endorsement of our R&D work to date and highlights the grid-constraint challenges that need to be overcome if the EV roll-out in the UK is to be truly nationwide,” says Matt Journee, chief executive of Levistor. “Our system offers a solution to National Highways, the electricity network operators and charge point operators.
“We can deliver the power to fast chargers to meet the needs of EV drivers, especially those that are outside urban areas and those that regularly use the motorway network. Installing our systems across the country will give drivers much-needed confidence, especially long distance.”
Christopher Plumb, energy team leader at National Highways adds: “We are proud to support Levistor’s trial of their innovative flywheel energy storage system at our development centre. This trial will help showcase the product’s ability to overcome grid constraints and enable super-fast EV charging. This kind of innovative solution offers great potential to help improve the EV charging network and ultimately help accelerate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles supporting our journey to Net Zero Highways.”
The Levistor flywheel can be easily connected to the local grid and has been designed to be quickly deployed above or below ground singularly or in multiples. This makes them ideal for service stations, bus/rail termini, fleet depots and distribution centres (for example supermarket deliveries and general retail).
