SPOTLIGHT: The FEVER Project. Developing a grid independent, cost-effective, & socially acceptable, renewables powered EV charger

Published on 10 October 2024


Encouraging and supporting the transition to electric vehicles is not a straightforward one. Delays and disparities in the installation of a nationwide charging infrastructure, escalating demand for electricity from the National Grid and uncertainties surrounding cost and user experience of EVs all play into the challenges that this move faces.

About FEVER

Working towards meeting the UK government’s 2035 zero-emission pledge, and later 2050 climate goal, the FEVER project concentrates on the design, development, and demonstration of a 100% renewable-powered EV charging station, facilitated by an innovative off-vehicle energy store (OVES).

This will create a secure, year-round, and – crucially – grid-independent charging solution for EVs. Moving beyond the state-of-the-art technologies, a cost-effective and socially acceptable ‘hybrid’ OVES will be developed, that is suitable for both urban and rural deployment and use.

FEVER can be deployed in off-grid and grid-constrained areas, thereby bringing EV charging to communities that might otherwise not have this opportunity.

The project has now been running for just over two years and the FEVER technology is currently being developed for demonstration in different contexts across the UK. Sites under consideration include a hospital, a school, a zoo and a logistics company car-park.

This interdisciplinary project, a Programme Grant funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), unites a diverse team of academic scientists and engineers (mechanical, electronics and electrical, computer science) and social scientists (psychology, economics and management) across four research-led UK universities: Southampton, Sheffield, Surrey and Portsmouth.

Dr Chris Jones

Dr Chris Jones (University of Portsmouth), ACCESS Co-Investigator, is an applied social and environmental psychologist with expertise in understanding and assessing the public acceptance of technologies and public attitudes and responses to environmental change.

He leads the Technology Acceptance Research Group for Energy Technologies (TARG:ET) at the University of Portsmouth.

He is part of a diverse team of academic engineers, economists, computer scientists and social scientists from the Universities of Southampton, Sheffield, Surrey and Portsmouth working on FEVER.

He recently gave a presentation to the ACCESS Policy & Practice Working Group about the project. Part of the presentation included his work with Marwell Zoo looking at the public acceptability of electric vehicle charging using the FEVER technology concept.

Electric car charging

Credit Mike Bird/Pexels