Solution Build Report - Lessons Learned : Optimise Prime publishes second deliverable

The Optimise Prime project has today released deliverable D2 - Solutions Build Report - Lessons Learned.

This report, the second of seven that will be published throughout the project, provides a comprehensive overview of of the solution build work carried out to date, and highlights a number of lessons that may be of use to organisations involved in the electrification of commercial fleets. Key learning points are highlighted throughout.

The document also revisits the methodology of Optimise Prime’s three trials, home, depot and mixed, detailing the activities that will take place as part of the project’s experiments and gives an update on trial preparations.

The next Optimise Prime deliverable, due to be released in mid-2021 will provide further learnings from the installation and testing phase of the project.

Part-funded by Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition, Optimise Prime is an industry-led electric vehicle innovation and demonstration project that brings together partners from leading technology, energy, transport and financing organisations, including Hitachi Vantara, UK Power Networks, Centrica, Royal Mail, Uber, Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks, Hitachi Europe and Hitachi Capital.

Deliverable D2

Deliverable D2

Changing Lanes Webinar

On 23 April 2025 UK Power Networks hosted the Changing Lanes Webinar on future of commercial and domestic electric vehicles, bringing together Optimise Prime with SP Energy Networks’ project Charge. The webinar shared industry-leading technical insights from these flagship EV trials taking place across the UK.

If you missed the webinar you can replay the session below. The webinar features:
- UK Power Networks' Innovation lead Dr Sung Pil Oe,
- UK Power Networks' Innovation Engineer Florentine Roy,
- Hugo Seymour, Senior Manager at Hitachi Europe
Introducing Optimise Prime, the world's largest commercial electric vehicle trial delivered in conjunction with household names Hitachi, British Gas, Royal Mail and Uber. They detail progress made in designing ‘profiled connections’ to optimise use of the power network allowing more depots to transition to electric.

You'll also hear from Geoff Murphy, Lead Engineer at SP Energy Networks on Charge, an £8.5m project to accelerate the connection of EV Charging Infrastructure through developing new transport planning, connection and charging solutions.

Download the presentation here.

Optimise Prime publishes first project deliverable

The Optimise Prime project has today released deliverable D1 - High Level Design and Specification of the Three Trials.

This report, the first of seven that will be published throughout the project, provides a comprehensive overview of the trials methodology and the design of the three project trials - Home, Depot and Mixed Charging. The deliverable also gives a high-level technical specification of the solutions that will be implemented to support the trials and reports on the progress the Optimise Prime team has made in preparing for trial execution.

The document should prove valuable to any distribution network operator considering how to plan for the future growth of commercial electric vehicles as well as to vehicle fleets planning a transition to ultra-low carbon vehicles.

The next Optimise Prime deliverable will provide an insight into the learnings from the project’s infrastructure and technology build.

Part-funded by Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition, Optimise Prime is an industry-led electric vehicle innovation and demonstration project that brings together partners from leading technology, energy, transport and financing organisations, including Hitachi Vantara, UK Power Networks, Centrica, Royal Mail, Uber, Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks, Hitachi Europe and Hitachi Capital.