Old truck engines and gravel could be the future of motoring.

It’s a new type of energy storage system than can power an electric vehicle (EV) charger.

Developed by Cheesecake Energy, the e-Tanker won funding from National Highways too.

Firing up sustainability

It works by storing energy in the form of heat and compressed air. When the charger is needed, it uses the compressed air and heat is used to drive the truck engines and power a generator.

Explainer Video from Cheesecake Energy Ltd on Vimeo.

Positive credentials

Cheesecake Energy says its battery system has the potential to be the greenest in the world. They believe it will be able to speed up electric car charging while also protecting the grid from overload. Costs are expected to be 30% to 40% lower than the cheapest battery options available.

According to Annette Pass, head of innovation at National Highways, this is an “an excellent example of the changes that are being made to reduce carbon in the transport industry”.

“Currently, 95% of the strategic road network is within 20 miles of a charge point, but they only cater for a small number of electric vehicles,” continues Pass. “As those numbers increase, it’s very important that we can cater for that, particularly on remote parts of our network. Innovations like this one will help us achieve that.”

Winning evolution

Cheesecake is the winner of an innovation competition being run by National Highways and Innovate UK.

The project is a work in progress. The next stage of development will see work continuing on the  prototype and installed and trialled with a Nottingham-based depot. Here it will be charging up a fleet of electric vehicles.