Wincanton has completed a month-long trial of the TUAL PowerUp Charger, a rapidly deployable battery-buffered DC charger, at one of its e-fleet operating sites in West London.
The trial, delivered in partnership with TUAL, Connected Places Catapult, and the Department for Transport, showcased how battery-integrated charging can increase available on-site capacity by up to 250%.
Underpinning the duty cycles of 19 large- and medium-sized fully electric vans, the PowerUp Charger was fully deployed and operating within 15 minutes, significantly improving charging efficiency at a constrained-grid site. The solution enabled Wincanton to deliver an average of 4.9 high-power DC charges per day, compared to 1.2 low-power AC charges previously, using an 11kW connection. Over the course of the trial, it facilitated 3,138 clean-air miles and saved 1,560kg of CO2 emissions.
Philip Clarke, CEO and founder of TUAL, said: “Myself and the whole TUAL team are delighted to see Wincanton and their clients benefit from our battery-buffered DC PowerUp Charger technology – successfully delivering the dependable, cost-effective, and rapidly deployable fast charging that lies at the core of our mission.
“That undertaking is a critically important one in the shift to sustainable fleet operations; businesses across the UK needing to electrify are faced with sites that don’t have the grid capacity to make an efficient transition possible. We’re excited to continue our work in helping fleets to electrify faster, and would like to thank Wincanton for their commitment and passion for innovation in realising that mission.”
The PowerUp Charger is based on the same technology as TUAL’s vehicle powerbanks, designed to bridge gaps in grid supply and transform underutilised sites into viable high-power charging locations.
According to TUAL’s analysis, 50-80% of sites looking to electrify face constrained or absent grid connections, making grid upgrades prohibitively expensive and slow, taking 1 to 3 years and costing between £150,000 and £3 million. The PowerUp Charger stores grid energy when efficient, integrates renewable power sources, and provides high-power DC charging up to 120kW, significantly accelerating EV adoption for fleet operators and commercial landlords.
Claire Charlton, head of innovation at Wincanton, commented: “On behalf of the whole Wincanton team, I’d like to extend our thanks to TUAL for their cutting-edge technology and their professionalism throughout this pilot. Solutions such as TUAL’s are central to making our net-zero ambitions happen, and smart innovation is essential for helping businesses expedite the expansion of their fleet electrification, cost-effectively. I would also like to extend my thanks to DfT and Connected Places Catapult for delivering the hugely successful Freight Innovation Fund programme.”
The trial reinforces Wincanton’s commitment to achieving net-zero operations by 2040 while highlighting the potential of battery-buffered charging to overcome grid constraints and enable fleet electrification at scale.
