The first electric vehicle research facility of its kind in the southern hemisphere will be established at RMIT University in Melbourne’s CBD.
Northern Metropolitan Region MP Sheena Watt and RMIT vice-chancellor and president professor Alec Cameron at the launch of the new research facility.
Supporting the Electrification of Victoria’s Future Fleet is a major project bringing government, university and industry partners together around the expertise and infrastructure needed to support widespread adoption of EVs in Victoria.
The $5.2 million funding has been announced by Western Victoria Labor MP Gayle Tierney under the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF).
It marks an important step towards the state’s net zero targets, while boosting skills and employment for Melbourne’s pandemic recovery, RMIT says.
With transport responsible for about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria, Tierney says electrification of transport is critical for tackling climate change, as well as creating new jobs in low-carbon industries.
“This is an important project for the future of clean, green transport in Victoria but also for our plan to meet net zero emissions by 2050 through innovative research and the development of new technology.”
RMIT deputy vice-chancellor research and innovation and vice-president professor Calum Drummond says activity will focus around a new Electric Vehicle Living Lab with EV charging stations, regenerative grid and battery simulators and more.
It will build on RMIT’s existing microgrid and renewable generation facilities.
“We’ll be developing cutting-edge battery technology and simulating the impacts of wide-scale electric vehicle adoption on electricity grid loading, prices and the broader system,” Drummond says.
“As well as applied technology development, a full-scale applied research project will inform policy towards Victoria’s net zero emission targets in the transport sector, proactively addressing both likely and unforeseen challenges as electric vehicles are adopted at accelerated rates.”
Research lead, RMIT’s associate professor Mahdi Jalili says as well as studying EVs’ impact on the grid, opportunities for EVs to support the grid will also be investigated, thus improving the security, reliability and affordability of electricity supply.
The RMIT-led consortium includes Monash and La Trobe universities and industry partners Siemens, City of Melbourne, Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4NET) and CitiPower/Powercor.
Their joint projects will all focus on ensuring a smooth transition to sustainable transport in Victoria and supporting the state’s targets, including development of a zero-emission public bus fleet by 2025 and having half of all new car sales zero emission by 2030.
The lab will also act as an analysis platform to support critical Victorian Government initiatives and trials. This includes an upcoming study by RMIT and industry partners into the cost, benefits and impact of zero emission buses on the electricity grid, based on the government’s three-year electric bus trial.
C4NET chief executive James Seymour says in addition to its support of EV research, the development of a consolidated EV data repository would be another major outcome.
This will include real-world data on travel patterns, user behaviour, customer responses to tariff signals and details on the performance of various battery technologies.
“This publicly available dataset will support electric vehicle research in Victoria, nationally and internationally, filling a critical gap in capability and complements C4NET’s broader data access service from Victoria’s 2.7 million smart meters.”
The Electric Vehicle Living Lab at RMIT will also provide hands-on learning for students.
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