REME (Rural Electric Mobility Enabler)

DG Cities is working on a wide range of electrification projects, bringing the team’s expertise to find creative, strategic solutions to support the shift to greener transport in a range of settings. One of these is the challenge of growing electric vehicle use in rural areas. REME is an Innovate UK-funded project that set out to explore rural electric vehicle charging in Devon, although the lessons from this will have applicability for rural areas across the UK. Our work aims to understand the specific barriers to the uptake of EVs in these areas and the seasonal fluctuations in demand. From this research, we are beginning to scope potential technology solutions.

Working with Field Dynamics, the project is creating a replicable mapping tool which can give an overview of a number of variables, including grid capacity, connectivity, and kerbside and off-road capacity for infrastructure. This is being used by project partners to help inform two other work packages: an off-grid PV/battery storage solution, which is being modelled for car parks, and a peer-to-peer software solution. This creates a smart, preference-based booking and recharging platform that can enable public access to privately-owned chargers.

DG Cities is leading on stakeholder engagement for REME. We are working with organisations including English Heritage, Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks and the National Trust, to better understand their route to net-zero – and the role of car-based visitors as part of this strategy. With project partner, EDF, the team conducted a survey of 1,000 targeted rural respondents. This understanding of people’s attitudes and barriers (actual and perceived) for those who do and don’t own electric vehicles is vital to informing the strategy for growth in electric vehicles across the country.