Multi-use car-charging units supported by Horizon 2020
An SME in the northeast of England has received funding from Horizon 2020 to advance its multi-electric vehicle charging station. The small business is thought to be the only beneficiary of the framework programme’s SME Instrument in the UK region.
The grant will support a feasibility study and the creation of a prototype for the multi-charger unit by Carroll & Meynell Transformers, based in Stockton-On-Tees near Middlesbrough. The station will be able to support the simultaneous charging of multiple vehicles manufactured by different car companies with various charging requirements.
Currently, electric car-charging units can only charge one vehicle at a time. Whilst some car manufacturers offer multi-vehicle charging points, “all models investigated were found to be cosmetic combinations of plural charging points”, according to Carroll & Meynell Transformers.
The firm’s commercial manager, Peter McGurr, said that manufacturers of electric cars are not currently collaborating, and therefore new technology to support multi-electric car-charging could have wide-ranging benefits to green vehicle owners. Carroll & Meynell Transformers won the funding under Phase 1 of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument.
