Powercast launched to all ev.energy users in the UK Power Networks region, covering London, the South East and East of England, in November 20231. The service relays real-time signals from the UK Power Networks power cut API to drivers through push notifications in the ev.energy app, telling them when a planned or unplanned outage affects their household1.
The launch followed a trial that ran from March to May 2023 with 500 ev.energy users1. Four notification types were sent by email and push notification: new incident, update to planned start time, update to estimated restoration, and confirmed restoration1. In a post-trial survey of 54 drivers, 94 per cent wanted to continue receiving notifications beyond the trial and 92 per cent said the notifications were very clear and easy to understand1.
The trial design drew on an earlier survey of 100 drivers1. Of those surveyed, over a third owned only an electric vehicle, with no internal combustion engine vehicle as backup, and of the 64 who had both, 81 per cent predominantly drove the EV1. Some 65 per cent said their EV was very or extremely important for driving to work, attending medical appointments and caregiving; 95 per cent did most of their charging at home, citing cost and convenience, while 87 per cent knew where their closest public charge point was1. Three quarters, 75 per cent, said they were not concerned about being unable to charge because of a power cut1.
Asked how they would respond, 88 per cent said they would find power cut notifications from ev.energy useful, 79 per cent said they would charge ahead of time at home given advance warning of a planned power cut, and 49 per cent said they would use a public charge point if notified of an unplanned cut affecting them at that moment1.
"Real-time signals received via the UK Power Networks power cut API were relayed to drivers via push notifications from the ev.energy mobile app."
UK Power Networks serves over 200,000 drivers who depend on it to charge for daily commutes, and projections cited by ev.energy indicate this will rise to 4.5 million customers by 20301.
Why it matters for households
For a home that runs a car on electricity, a power cut is not only a lighting problem. The survey evidence in the case study points to a group of drivers with no petrol or diesel fallback, for whom the car is the means of getting to work, appointments and care responsibilities1. Most charging happens at home, so an outage removes the cheapest and most convenient option first1.
Advance notice changes what a household can do with the energy it already has. Most drivers said they would charge ahead of time at home if warned of a planned cut, and about half said they would drive to a public charge point during an unplanned one1. That is the practical link between network information and a home's energy independence: the notification does not add supply, it moves a charging decision earlier or elsewhere.
The service also depends on the home's own connections. ev.energy identified SMS as a second channel because Wi-Fi may be unavailable during an outage, and 71 per cent of users expressed interest in it1. Location accuracy is to be improved by using full postcodes to determine which users an outage affects1.
What happens next
ev.energy states it will continue to gather feedback and optimise the service with UK Power Networks, and that the two improvements identified for the full launch are enhanced location accuracy through full postcodes and the introduction of SMS notifications1. No dates for either change are given in the case study1.