A new Ofgem-funded innovation project will assess how electric vehicle (EV) batteries could be used to keep essential medical equipment running during power cuts.
The project, which will be delivered in the North East will be delivered in partnership with the Centre for Energy Equality, Northern Powergrid, Energy Systems Catapult, and Energy Innovation Centre.
Called Power Wheels, it will explore how the batteries of EVs could help improve medical resilience during power outages. It will look at how EVs could temporarily act as a backup power source for a home during a power cut, keeping essential medical equipment running and providing reassurance during disruption.
The insights gained from the project will help inform wider solutions for households facing power cuts, supporting greater energy resilience across communities.
Motability Operations supports more than 12,500 EV disabled customers in the North East, many of whom rely on electricity for essential care, mobility and independence. For these households, a power cut can disrupt vital equipment and pose serious risks to health and safety, it said.
As part of the project’s first phase, Motability Operations and its partners worked with disabled customers on the Motability Scheme to explore the practical features that would make EV energy services safe and reliable in the home.
This included information-sharing about how the use of accessible two-way chargers return energy from EVs, and how they could charge medical equipment and mobility aids directly from an EV. The research also focussed on what would be needed to make this process as easy as possible.
Outcomes from the research included giving customers simple, accessible controls to safeguard battery charge, alongside clear information that would guide disabled drivers in understanding when their vehicle needs to be charged.
In the next phase, Motability Operations will work with 30 Scheme customers to further explore how the technology would work for people with varying disabilities and requirements. Considerations from these workshops will then be used to co-create solutions for future testing.
Andrew Miller, Chief Executive of Motability Operations, said:
“As the UK moves to electric vehicles, it’s vital that this transition supports disabled people’s freedom and independence, and that new technologies are designed around real lives and needs.
“Power Wheels gives us the opportunity to work closely with customers and partners to explore how EVs could offer more than mobility – but support their medical resilience, helping people feel safer and more confident when disruption happens.”
Image from Motability Operations
