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NETWORK / 28 / JUNE 2018 S enior stakeholders from the energy and automotive sectors, together with their customers, came together to discuss the preparations needed for the mass take-up of electric vehicles at a symposium event last month. Held at the MINI Plant Oxford - Acceler - ate - featured four working parties who all participated in roundtable discussions to discuss the key challenges and opportuni- ties facing businesses in making the EV transition. Hosted by Network and its sister brands Utility Week and edie, the event also pro - vided participants with an opportunity to take their own electric vehicle test drive and tour of the plant. The day started with a keynote address from Jonathan Murray, policy and opera - tions director, Low Carbon Vehicle Partner- ship - before attendees heard from the event partners, namely: • Hannah Bishop, BMW i & iPerformance national corporate sales manager, BMW UK • Phil Hack, head of markets, UK Power Networks Services • Eric Brown, director of innovation, En- ergy Systems Catapult • Yunus Ozler, partner - energy, EY During the Energy Systems Catapult roundtable discussion, a number of topics were up for debate including: • How the electricity and automotive sec- tors should work together • What regulatory and technical barriers must be overcome to allow for the wide- spread adoption of EVs • The role of consumers • The infrastructure required for the mass take-up of EVs • Advancements in technology. The emergence of EVs A roundtable discussion hosted by Network, in conjunction with the Energy Systems Catapult, centred around why a whole systems perspective is required if stakeholders are to respond most effectively to the challenges and opportunities that arise in the take-up of electric vehicles. Alec Peachey reports. Participants agreed that there's lots of work to be done around including charging points in buildings, with one commenting: "I think there's still a lot more work to be done to look at the charge points that are going in buildings and making sure not just that the charge points are appropriate, but also that building regulations are. There's a lot of work to be done to make sure they are appropriately connected to the building and I think the variety and different styles of charge points creates a huge opportunity for us to be flexible." One attendee noted that building regula - tions and IET wiring regulations are already considering this sort of thing. "One of the interesting things I've heard recently is that the IET, who own the wiring regulations, are thinking that maybe there's an unexpected way to impact on this by em- bedding some of this thinking in the wiring regs and as you build buildings you make it mandatory that these things are part of how you wire things up," remarked one. Another said: "The 18th edition of wiring regs does actually include quite a lot of EV content. They've just been released for consultation. If that's backed up by some government legislation in terms of including EV infrastructure in buildings then that's probably what we need." Embedded EV infrastructure Another participant commented that he could see a future where all new homes are smart homes with embedded EV infrastruc- ture. They said: "California has just an- nounced that if a building can have a solar panel then it has to have one. Can you imagine a UK in 20, 30 or 40 years from now where smart technology has become so inexpensive and so available that every new home is a smart home and that there are minimum requirements for EV charge points in multi-dwelling units." ELECTRIC VEHICLES The Energy Systems Catapult roundtable discussion in full flow.