UPS integrates AI software at Camden depot to optimise clean EV charging

Logistics delivery giant UPS will spearhead a new project exploring how Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems can optimise how businesses charge electric vehicle (EV) fleets and integrate onsite renewables to reduce emissions and energy costs.


UPS integrates AI software at Camden depot to optimise clean EV charging

The platform will enable EVs to charge when costs are at their lowest and manage renewable assets cost effectively 

The EV Fleet-Centred Local Energy Systems (EFLES) project will start in May at UPS’s Camden depot. UK Power Networks Services will oversee the project, with Moixa providing its innovative GridShare AI platform to manage solar, storage and charging assets. The London Cross River Partnership and Innovate UK will also observe the project to see how it can help businesses reduce fleet emissions and improve air quality in urban areas.

UPS’s sustainable development coordinator Claire Thompson-Sage said: “As leading experts in transport logistics, UPS champions alternative energy use. We have the global expertise, smart-charging infrastructure and resources to host this first-of-a-kind testbed at our Camden facility.

“This project will build on our EV infrastructure technology to help develop a holistic local energy system. We are proud to spearhead such an exciting smart-grid project and look forward to taking it to the next level by making it even smarter.”

Moixa’s GridShare software can manage onsite renewable and storage assets, including second-life batteries from retires EVs. For this project, GridShare will analyse data sources for energy prices, power demand, weather conditions and more at the depot to create optimised charging times.

The platform will enable EVs to charge when costs are at their lowest, when more green energy is on the grid and can signal when to use the onsite renewable assets at the most cost-effective times.

Moixa’s chief executive Simon Daniel said: “Our ever-growing online shopping rates mean we’re delivering more things than ever before – everything from food shopping to medical supplies – and that’s having a big impact on carbon emissions and air pollution in our cities.

“Mitigating these impacts is a massive challenge but this project shows how with the help of the AI-powered technology, like GridShare, the world’s biggest fleet operators can go electric and achieve their environmental ambitions.”

Businesses are set to increase spending on EVs by 50% over the next two years, according to Centrica Business Solutions. By 2040, 87% of the five million vans trucks and buses on UK roads are expected to be electric.

As such, the Cross River Partnership will assess how the technology solutions can deliver London’s aims to improve air quality, unlock job opportunities and deliver energy, while also saving on energy costs for businesses. The Partnership has a long-standing history with UPS, working with them and UK Power Networks on the Smart Electric Urban Logistics trial from 2017-19. You can hear more about that trial in this edie webinar.

Earlier in the year, UPS announced an investment into Arrival, which will see the delivery firm purchase 10,000 EVs to be built for UPS globally. UPS will collaborate with Arrival on new EV systems designed to increase safety and explore automated driving. UPS will begin testing new systems later this year.

UPS has launched a five-year partnership with the University of Dublin’s Trinity College Dublin to integrate a sustainable last-mile delivery service on campus.

The hubs allow UPS to make up to 720 delivery stops a day through more sustainable measures in Dublin and have eliminated the use of five diesel delivery vehicles in the city centre, easing congestion and reducing CO2 emissions by up to 45%.

Matt Mace

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