A National Highways-sponsored system for EV charging could be the 'greenest in the world' and deliver 30% to 40% savings on even the cheapest batteries available, all by using ex-service truck engines and gravel.
Start-up Cheesecake Energy Ltd (CEL) says its 'eTanker' battery system could speed up electric car charging while protecting the grid from overload.
Image from National Highways: The eTanker prototype system
The system uses ex-service Volvo truck engines and gravel resulting in much lower capital costs and minimal environmental footprint.
CEL explained that when air is compressed it heats up and this heat is stored in a tank containing 20 tonnes of gravel while the air is stored in pressure vessels.
When electricity is required, the compressed air and heat are used to turn the Volvo truck engines again which drives the electric motors in reverse to generate electricity.
This means there is no need for rare metals like cobalt that are used in lithium-ion batteries, which are very resource-intensive.
CEL said that the system could achieve costs that are 30% to 40% lower than the cheapest battery currently available.
The company was one of 13 successful entrants in an innovation competition run by National Highways and Innovate UK, which recently ended its development stage.
More than 200 applications were received from a diverse network of innovators, with just over a third from micro companies with less than 10 employees.
National Highways has run two multi-million-pound competitions, worth £20m. The funding came from two of the company’s designated funds – ring-fenced money set aside for innovation.
Annette Pass, head of innovation at National Highways, said: 'Cheesecake’s project is an excellent example of the changes that are being made to reduce carbon in the transport industry. It also plays a part in National Highway’s net zero carbon plan, which will see a rapid cut in carbon from?road construction, maintenance and operations, and supports the transition to zero emission vehicles.?
'Currently, 95% of the strategic road network is within 20 miles of a charge point, but they only cater for a small number of electric vehicles, and as those numbers increase it’s very important that we can cater for that, particularly on remote parts of our network. Innovations like this one will help us achieve that.'
CEL has already started on the next stage of the company’s development and is continuing work on its prototype system, which will soon be installed with a Nottingham-based depot to charge a fleet of electric vehicles.
CEL chief commercial and product officer, Mike Simpson, said: 'Participating in the innovation competition has been a tremendous experience for CEL. Being able to develop our prototype system in collaboration with National Highways has offered unique insights that will undoubtedly shape our product offering as we bring our energy storage systems to market, globally.
'We hope to continue working with Innovate UK and National Highways to help mitigate the effects of climate change by providing more sustainable solutions to decarbonise the transport sector.'
