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Is this the future to support long-distance travel in electric cars? Highway services will get 40ft SHIPPING CONTAINERS filled with giant battery packs for faster charging
- National Highways has invested a whopping £8 million in the ‘temporary’ measure
- Containers contain enough batteries to drive 2 million kilometers per year electrically
- Discover which seven highway services will receive the containers in 2023
Electric car drivers will get a big boost at busy motorway service stations with seven locations receiving huge shipping containers of batteries to reduce charging times on longer journeys.
National Highways has confirmed it has committed £8 million to upgrade a selection of key motorway service areas in England where the electricity grid is not sufficient to support high-performance charging devices.
Services benefiting from the investment include: Beaconsfield on the M4; Corley on the M6 northbound; Clacket Lane on the M25 both eastbound and westbound; Maidstone on the M20; Taunton on the M5 northbound; and Tebay on the M6 northbound.
The news of these new installations comes just two months after electric vehicle owners faced a Christmas nightmare, with Tesla owners taking to social media to share their stories of waiting in line for three hours at highway gas stations, including drivers at Tebay.
Is this the solution for long-distance travel in electric cars? The 40ft containers will be used to store energy during quiet periods to allow for powerful charging at busy times, says National Highways
All seven filling stations were found to currently lack adequate infrastructure to provide ultra-fast charging devices, offering charging speeds of 150kW and above.
These devices can charge an electric car battery from about 20 percent to 80 percent in just 20 minutes and are seen as the future of providing hassle-free charging for people on longer journeys in non-combustion vehicles.
The huge shipping containers will be installed on site at the seven gas stations along the highway by the end of September, National Highways said.
They are described by the government agency as a solution to “temporarily bridge the gap” when the grid is upgraded in those areas.
The 40-foot containers will be used to “store energy during quiet periods for high-power charging at busy times, until those highway service areas can get more power directly from the grid for fast charging and the rollout of additional charging points.” ‘ said a statement.
The energy storage containers are full of large-scale batteries with a walkway in between for maintenance.
Inside there is heating and air conditioning to ensure that the temperature can be regulated so that the batteries work optimally at all times.
The containers have enough batteries to store 2 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy – enough power to drive more than 3 million kilometers of electric driving each year
Each container has a typical storage capacity of 2 megawatt hours (MWh), which officials say is enough power to supply more than two million miles of electric cars each year.
“Just one charge from the grid would enable an energy storage system to power an average home for eight months,” claims National Highways.
Commenting on the £8 million investment, Transport Minister Jesse Norman said: ‘Motorists today are never more than 25 miles from a fast-charging point on England’s motorways and main roads.
“But this news marks another innovative step to ensure fast charging is accessible and reliable for drivers.”
Malcolm Wilkinson, National Highways head of energy, added: “We are working differently and innovating to support the move to zero-emission driving.
While we have limited control over the number of petrol and diesel cars on the network, by supporting the expansion of the network of high-performance charging points, we hope to increase EV driver confidence for all types of journeys, both long and short.
“These new energy storage systems and the powerful chargers they provide will help ensure that motorists are unlikely to be caught without charging somewhere, which is a fantastic step for drivers and the environment, accelerating the speed at which we move to new electric vehicles. accelerated. .’