Scottish Water has successfully completed trials of a portable battery-buffered fast charger that’s enabled EV charging at a remote site.

Developed by power solutions specialist Tual, the DC PowerUp Charger was trialled by Scottish Water for three months at the Moffat Water Works, which has very limited mains power supply.

PowerUp Chargers are designed for sites where grid constraints make installing conventional DC charge points a non-viable option. By storing mains power in its integral lithium-ion battery during periods of low demand, a PowerUp Charger can provide a high-power charging session when needed.

In the Scottish Water trials, it was used to deliver rapid charging sessions of up to 70kW, providing up to 200 miles of range in one hour.

Over the three-month trial, the chargers achieved 100% uptime. Installation was fast too: the unit at Moffat was commissioned and operational 34 minutes after delivery via a Hiab truck.

Scottish Water has now agreed to purchase several units, supporting its plans to switch to fully electric vehicles.

Paul Wilkinson, EV transition technical specialist at Scottish Water, said: “The field trial at the Moffat Waste Water Treatment Works was a great success. The quick installation time, fast charging capability and absolute reliability transformed the use of EVs at the site, and convinced us to place an order for PowerUp chargers that we’ll roll out across our other remote sites. We’re transitioning our whole fleet to zero-emissions vehicles as part of our strategy to achieve net zero by 2040, and Tual’s technology is helping us do that by overcoming limitations in the existing charging infrastructure.”

Phil Clarke, Tual founder and CEO, commented: “Grid constraints must not be allowed to stand in the way of fleet electrification. We’re proud to be playing our part in ensuring that any organisation that wants to make the switch can do so knowing that charging will not be an issue for them.”