EV Study venue, the OU Berrill Building (Image: T. Larkum)
In November I was invited to attend an Open University Electric Vehicle Research Study. I came across it online, plus friends who know I am an EV driver had also told me about it.
The study is being conducted by researchers from the Open University’s Ubiquitous Computing and Sustainability Lab, part of the OU’s Centre for Research in Computing. Their aim is to design interactive in-home technologies to help people better understand and manage energy issues of electric vehicles. In particular this study will investigate how an electric vehicle can fit among household energy practices and activities.
The first stage of this study is an interview, and I was happy to visit the OU campus at Walton Hall in Milton Keynes. There in the Berrill Building we talked about my experiences with an electric car, and having solar panels on my home, and my general energy usage/behaviour.
Nissan Leaf in one of the OU electric vehicle parking spaces (Image: T. Larkum)
While there I noticed that there were electric vehicle charge points in the car park outside, and one was occupied by a Nissan Leaf. However, they are part of an EV Membership Scheme and are not directly associated with this study.
I wish the Lab good luck with this project, and will report on its results when they are published.