Public Funding for Indra Renewable Technologies Limited

Virtual bunkering enables aggregated electric boat batteries to provide additional value when not being used for propulsion. With the transition to electrically powered recreational and commercial craft, harbour and mariner charging infrastructure will be required. The provision of sufficient power at an affordable price to harbours and marinas represents one barrier to the widescale adoption of electric boats, the high upfront cost is another as well as potential battery degradation from infrequent use in leisure craft another. This project will help to resolve these barriers by enabling existing electric boats to support the charging infrastructure without the need for expensive grid upgrades by providing a virtual electricity bunker service, delivering managed battery conditioning support and enabling additional revenue generation for boat owners. This project brings together two leading UK businesses, electric boat charging operator, Aqua superPower and bi-directional charging manufacturer, Indra Renewable Technologies as well as research and technology experts Cenex and the University of Plymouth. The four partners will engage with electric boat builders, marina operators, the local and national grid as well as representatives of boat users to develop a detailed business case and plan for a world first demonstrator of Virtual Bunkering for Electric Vessels using bi-directional chargers.

Project Inflexion will establish how we can deliver value through V2X via innovative methods that have not been tested in the UK. We will also develop customer propositions which involve V2X products in such a way that makes it attractive and affordable for a broader segment of the population than just early adopters. We'll achieve this by deeply understanding the challenges that current and to be EV drivers face and then position V2X technology to address those barriers. Project Inflexion brings together a unique consortium of stakeholders across the entire V2X value chain, including Auto OEM, Hardware, software, energy supply and end consumer, with global exploitation potential. The partners will deliver innovation in the UK, establishing the UK ecosystem and secure a position of UK businesses as leaders in a global EV market.

Indra is the global leader in V2X technology, having designed and manufactured certified hardware and software solutions in the world's largest V2G trials and exported the technology across the globe, manufacturing more than 1,000 units to date. The existing power electronics stage in the Indra V2X charger was world-leading at its 2018 launch, using high efficiency and lightweight SiC and reducing overall V2X system weight to a wall-mountable 23.5kG. The hardware still leads the market four years later, but trials and commercial operations have identified new requirements in expected operation and behaviour, including an increase in battery size (and voltage) and higher consumption within homes. Energy market changes and complexity in the overall consumer proposition also moves business models towards V2H and V2B models. The fast evolution of the EV sector and energy markets fundamentally effects the market fit and leaves an open space for innovation. This project addresses these requirements to proof-of-concept level by developing a new power module. The project enhances the industry status quo in multiple innovative areas focused on efficiency, power level, integration with other devices, globalisation, onshoring of technology, upskilling the workforce, energy security, and total cost of system.

As demand for motorcycles and micromobility solutions is becoming internationally significant, "Project ZEN" will develop and demonstrate world-class, electric motorcycle performance and range, using UK designed and supplied components, including an CCS V2H charging system. The project is led by Norton Motorcycles, with partners Delta (Cosworth), Formaplex, Mavel/HiSPEED Ltd, M&I materials, Indra Renewable Technologies Ltd, and WMG at the University of Warwick. As well as developing world-class technology in this significant and growing market, the project aims to develop a UK supply chain for the components and systems required.

To meet the UK government's Road to Zero target and its commitment that all new cars sold from 2030 must be electric, we need to consider day-to-day charging for those without off-street parking. Charging an electric car at home is easy and convenient, but only for those with the space to do so. However, in dense urban populations, up to 60% of households do not have this facility. While public charging infrastructure goes some way to address the needs of this group, it is not enough on its own. Even if every lamppost, in every city, is converted to an electric charging point, it would not be enough to provide easy and reliable charging options for every household. We are proposing an innovative solution to provide a completely hands-off, autonomous service to customers that takes over all of their day-to-day charging needs. The service will connect to each customer's car, using APIs that are readily available, and monitor its location, state of charge and odometer. With this data, we will build predictive models to understand when each car will need charging. As required, and typically at night, one of our mobile charging vehicles will visit the vehicle and charge it in place. Each morning, our customers will wake up knowing that their car has enough charge for the day ahead.This project will demonstrate the feasibility of operating such a service in an urban environment; specifically Oxford.

EVs are critical aspect of meeting the UK's carbon budget and will become a highly influential component of the future energy system. National Grid predicts that there will be 11 million EVs in the UK by 2030 and 36 million by 2040, but if EVs are left unmanaged they will cause significant disruption to distribution networks, and inefficient use of green energy sources. Peak demand increases caused by EVs and system stability are also concerns at a national level, however National Grid has stipulated that through 'smart charging technologies, consumers charging at off-peak times and V2G technology, the increase in electricity peak demand could be as little as 8GW in 2040'. ev.energy is partnering with Indra Renewable Technologies to build upon its existing smart charging software platform and smart chargers, and test the feasibility of delivering advanced grid and billing services, and provide services back to energy utilities and system operators.

The "CCS V2x" project is led by experts in electric vehicle supply equipment ("EVSE") innovation, Indra Renewable Technologies ("Indra"). Indra are a high growth, Malvern based company operating across EV battery and powertrain and smart energy products. The Combined Charging System (CCS) has emerged as the dominant EV Charging standard within Europe. This project builds on existing technology developed under an innovate UK backed 300-400 unit V2G trial using the competing CHAdeMO standard where Indra has successfully designed and manufactured certified hardware and is already commercially exploiting the project. The project will further develop and prototype a variation of the existing hardware using the Combined Charging System ("CCS") standard extending V2G and V2H capabilities to vehicles equipped with CCS inlets. Indra aim to commercialise CCS-V2G within 6 months of project end (2021), Indra will target cumulative sales of ~20,000 units within 5 years (2026) - which will unlock ~£70 million worth of revenues across and contribute sizeable carbon savings.

"WMG (University of Warwick) are collaborating with battery management experts Intercal (UK) Ltd and EV integrators Indra Renewable Technologies Ltd in the third phase of evaluation and development of a novel battery management system (the ""i-BMS""). This patented technology has been developed through proof of concept and initial field trials with the aid of two previous Innovate grants. The technology signals a radical departure from prior art by eliminating the need for routine balancing of the cells. This important feature offers scope for a greatly simplified battery pack design and thereby opens up opportunities for cost savings, greatly improved pack maintainability and end-of-life re-use. A major potential benefit identified in completed trials is the potential for very early fault detection, which has major safety and reliability benefits. Tests have shown that, by eliminating all cell balancing currents, the i-BMS can be configured to provide sensitive detection of the first signs of anomalous behaviour by any cell in the pack, thereby allowing timely intervention before any risk of failure or fire develops. The current study will combine advanced modelling and simulations by WMG to evaluate the i-BMS performance, coupled with a supplementary programme of laboratory tests and field trials led by Intercal and Indra respectively. Taken together, these will, if successful, validate the functionality of the i-BMS, including comparison of the pack's usable energy capacity, degradation rate and diagnostic capability alongside conventional BMS solutions. The project will also explore the opportunities provided by the elimination of complex cell balancing circuits, to simplify modular assembly, maintenance and end-of-life repurposing of battery packs. The partners' objective is to develop the technology to a state where it will be available for licensing to third parties for application in automotive, grid storage, aviation and marine battery applications, a growing global market currently in excess of $1Bn annually."

The **Sciurus** project will develop and deploy a large number of V2G chargers units with participants who own/lease a Nissan Leaf EV. It will also include the development of a grid balancing platform to provide electrical support to grid operators during peak energy demand times. Furthermore, it will explore and test commercial propositions to identify a viable long-term business model. Finally, consumer behaviour and receptiveness will be measured to provide insights into EV owners' attitudes and their response to V2G products and services. The project seeks to: demonstrate that V2G technology works at a residential level; prove the business case of residential customers participating and benefiting from V2G service provision; and demonstrate the value of V2G to vehicle manufacturers. This project brings together a unique consortium, highly skilled in their respective sectors, to deliver a first-of-a-kind large-scale demo of a truly innovative V2G proposition, with national and global exploitation potential. The partners will develop and build technologies in the UK, establish a UK supply chain and secure the position of the UK in this rapidly growing market. The market for aggregated V2G chargers providing flexibility services is currently immature, but evolution is rapid and demand is strong, a highly competitive market is expected to develop.

"This project is to develop highly disruptive innovative technology in the management of lithium ion batteries in power applications, with potentially global economic impact. The work follows on from completion of a proof-of-concept completed by the applicants in July 2017 (Innovate UK Reference 132250). Lithium ion batteries provide by far the most effective rechargeable energy supply for power applications, providing very good energy storage and output from a given size and weight of battery. Properly managed, they remain usable for long periods and large numbers of charging cycles. The challenge for battery and electric vehicle designers is that lithium ion cells are generally prone to fire hazard (""thermal runaway"") and are also very intolerant of overcharging and over-discharging. Thermal runaway events are associated both with overcharging and with undetected cell deterioration, notably internal short-circuits, which can develop and propagate critically in a very short time. Prior art in power lithium battery management systems (""BMS"") requires complex circuitry and controls for automatically balancing cells during the charge cycle. This aims to maintain battery capacity while preventing damage from over-charging or over-discharging individual cells. Predictive diagnostic capability, however, is generally poor, as demonstrated in the notorious Boeing ""Dreamliner"" battery fires in 2013/14\. A wholly new BMS design was developed by Intercal (UK) Ltd in laboratory trials commencing in 2012 and completed with the aid of an EU research grant. Patent protection has been sought in the USA, China and Europe. The key design innovation is the elimination of automated cell balancing and with it the associated complex wiring looms. This greatly simplifies high voltage battery pack design, assembly and maintenance, and reduces potential failure points. However the key proven benefit is that the absence of cell balancing currents allows for game-changing new capabilities in predictive fault diagnosis. Operationally, the Intercal BMS has successfully completed multiple laboratory trials including a full-scale simulation of a civil airliner's auxiliary power system as part of Innovate project 132250\. This included successful early detection of simulated faults (and one genuine fault) all in line with earlier laboratory experience. The applicants are commencing automotive field trials in September 2017 using a road-going electric quadbike, in a project funded by the Niche Vehicle Network. The current project is to further develop the hardware and software and carry out multiple vehicle trials. If the successful, potential markets globally include all transportation modes and static grid storage."

Indra has extensive knowledge and experience of converting traditionally fueled vehicles to 100% electric drive. Indra have worked with a variety of customers with different and challenging needs such as enthusiasts who want to give a classic with a modern drivetrain without affecting the appearance of the vehicle as well as working for larger carmakers on modern concepts and prototypes. Indra not only make the vehicle drive on electricity, but also integrate with the vehicle to get things working. For example, we have successfully integrated guages, driver controls, power steering and air conditioning to modern vehicles. Indra has worked with cars, bikes, scooters, golf carts and mobility scooters and will happily consider work on anything weird or wonderful! If you or your company is interested in Indra's services then please contact us using the details on the contact page.