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NETWORK / 24 / OCTOBER 2017 ELECTRIC VEHICLES A self-confessed "petrolhead", the senior innovation lead in energy systems at Innovate UK, Mark Thompson, had experience working for both luxury carmaker Bentley and the Energy Innovation Centre prior to taking on his current role at the government body, at which he has now developed – with a number of other stakeholders – a vision for electric vehicles for 2025. With a background that encompasses gas-guzzling luxury cars and energy innova- tion and now EVs, Thompson is well-placed to comment on the speed of the transi- tion toward a future in which they play an increasingly important role in transporta- tion in the UK – and, perhaps, play a role in balancing network and consumer demands. Thompson says challenges for the networks as there is a greater up-take of EVs include identifying and dealing with clusters of vehicles and understanding their usage, including preferences for charging. "We need to understand where the charging points are and what the intended use of the charging points is – even knowing there is an intention to use the charging point will in time become very useful when it comes to managing networks." Current visibility is quite weak in terms of charging point infra- structure data and its use – one of a number Future vision for EVs Network talks to Innovate UK, which is developing a strategy for electric vehicles that consults with all stakeholders