iX challenge: Secure and Accessible EV Carports for Multi Storey Car Parks

The iX challenge competition, delivered by KTN, is supporting West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and The Greater South East Net Zero Hub to deliver a project to modify/adapt/transform multistorey car parks in Northamptonshire to be able to generate and distribute energy to electric vehicles while maintaining security and footprint.

Responses are invited from single companies or consortia able to provide an entire solution that will lead to a completely integrated system at the site. Entrants to this competition must be established businesses, startups, SMEs or individual entrepreneurs. The winning business(es) in this competition will be given the opportunity to deliver their solution as a partner project.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to present their ideas/solutions to the local authority and potentially work with the project partners to deliver a complete solution in one/both car parks.

This project will serve as a pilot for WNC and successful implementation will lead to replicating the solution in other car parks in Northamptonshire.

Scope

West Northamptonshire Council are expecting that the solution provider proposes solutions for energy generation, storage, export & EV charging in a secure way.

Energy generation: if a structure is going to be installed on the top deck e.g. solar canopies, this can lead to two challenges that the competitors should investigate and provide solutions for. First, these can create shading areas where crime can proliferate and second, they can reduce useable car parking space, therefore.

• The structure should include appropriate technology to prevent vandalism and other crime.
• The number of columns should be optimised to decrease the possibility of a car accidentally running into to them and to maximise car parking space.
• EV charging: depending on capacity and existing wiring. We would appreciate a solution that optimises the space needed for a charger.
• Solutions should also think about how to utilise fluxing demand profiles of EV charging and investigate how the energy flow can work into different sites. Using a private wire can be considered.
• Solutions should make sure that the chargers are accessible and inclusive for all users.

There are a number of documents which can be shared if requested that show the size of the car parks, the electricity demand, grid and other relevant information.