Comprehensive daily vehicle monitoring with MOBILEvhm Visualizing the performance of your vehicles in real-time, accessing important performance data (operating hours, filling status and energy consumption, error codes and a lot more) and improving the vehicle performance by use of these data – you can do all that with MOBILEvhm (Vehicle Health Management). It allows full-scale day-to-day monitoring of your fleet when in operation.
With just one vehicle monitoring system you can keep track of your whole diesel or battery-driven fleet of buses and check their performance at all times, regardless of the vehicle manufacturer. In this demonstration, you will discover just how much MOBILEvhm can help improve the performance of your entire fleet.
Why electricity is simpler to use than hydrogen as propellant in cars To get a non-emission fueled car moving, you need energy. This energy we can harness from the sun or wind and store in batteries, which we then can use to propel our cars. There are many ways to do this, but why not choose the simpler way, with fewer steps from energy source to consumer?
In comparison: Electricity vs. Hydrogen as a renewable energy source for cars
From water it comes, to water it shall again become Using Hydrogen to fuel cars is clever. You can extract the Hydrogen form water, and there will only be water-emissions from the car. This is great and green. However, the procedure to procure the Hydrogen and make it fit for cars to drive on is somewhat elaborate.
You use the energy from the sun to make heat, which you will then use to split the Hydrogen from water. Then you need someplace big to store the Hydrogen until you can transport it by truck to the charging points, where it will have to be stored again. In the car, the Hydrogen will have to be stored yet again in the tanks and be used to generate electricity to propel the car. This process sums up to at least five steps from the energy source to the end consumer.
But why go through all these steps to make an electric car run, when you can use only two steps and get the same result?
From sun to power With an all-electric car, you just plug it in the charging stand, and the battery will be charged almost directly from the sun. By using electricity to power your car, you can benefit from the already present, and rapidly evolving, infrastructure of harnessing power from the sun and wind. These energy sources are never-ending and therefore sustainable. And what is more important, the energy that they procure does not have to be stored at length to be of use. It is transported directly into the exciting power grid, from where it is ready for the taking.
By omitting a lot of steps in the process of power to consumers, it will only become more affordable to drive on the wind – so to speak. Electricity is the way to go for cars and busses, however, airplanes, ships, and heavy-duty trucks among others are not yet suitable for batteries. For that kind of vehicle, Hydrogen might be the way forward if we are to make a greener and more sustainable future of transportation.
An exciting project could be implemented thanks to the support of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). System setup, charging process and getting the data is shown in the video.
By 2030, major countries like Germany and Great Britain will have set sales target for how many electric vehicles (EV) are sold and even limiting the number of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles sold. To reach these targets, governments are incentivizing the public to purchase electric cars by providing subsidies such as tax credits to consumers.
Charging an electric car at a charging station, with the use of OCPP
The major concern of drivers, who were surveyed about their concerns with EVs, is that there is a limited number of available public charging stations accessible on their route of travel. Nobody wants to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, leaving them with no other option than being towed away. The distance between EV charging stations are still far apart, and the average range of EVs are still less than that of ICE vehicles. Thus, the electrification of the roadway infrastructure affects the decision of choosing between an EV and ICE vehicle directly.
Overcoming this issue will be a matter of installing more EV charging stations. Governments are encouraging companies to install charging stations on site for their employees to charge their cars while at work. They subsidize the purchase so the cost is as low as possible for the new buyer of an electric car.
This potential increase in EV sales will motivate more charging station manufacturers to enter the market. So how do you keep your position in the market and how do you make sure that you’re not being overtaken by a newcomer?
Compliance is key When EV charging stations become more ubiquitous, the main challenge will be to avoid too many overlapping standards. Different types of charge management systems will limit the number of electric vehicles that can be served by each supplier. This will make the infrastructure even more complex as different types of charging points need to be setup.
If the charge management system are all run on OCPP-compliant software, Smart charging according to the ISO 15 118 standard standard will provide much more flexibility, thus different charging stations can be setup in different locations giving the driver a sense of security, since they will always be able to charge their vehicle.
Therefore, it’s important as a manufacturer to make sure that their charge management system as well as the charging points are OCPP compliant. That way we make smart charging accessible to everyone and we can help governments reach their targets even earlier than 2030.
80 electric buses will be charged in the future using 52 charging points in 4 depots with theMOBILEcharge charging management system fromCarMedialab. In addition to a customer-specific charging plan, MOBILEcharge supportsrnv in real-time monitoring of the entire charging infrastructure and maintains an overview of the charging processes and health status of the charging points at all times.
rnv electric buses will in future be charged using MOBILEcharge charging management system
Interoperability is also required in this project. Among other things, VDV 463 for a connection to the existing depot management system and VDV 261 for preconditioning are components of this installation.
We are pleased to be working with rnv on an innovative project.
First US company implements INIT’s electromobility solution Numerous orders from all over Europe, inquiries from across the world and now the first order from the US: The INIT Group’s electromobility solutions are in high demand. GoRaleigh, the public transport company in North Carolina’s capital Raleigh, is currently introducing the smart charge management system to efficiently and cost-effectively charge its recently launched electric bus fleet.
By utilising MOBILEcharge from INIT’s subsidiary CarMedialab, the public transport company will automate charging processes, efficiently manage power demands, align service schedules, and proactively maintain their new e-vehicles. The integration with GoRaleigh’s ITCS and planning systems will allow for real-time charging plan updates according to operational needs, ensuring vehicles are charged in an economical and efficient manner.
GoRaleigh’s electric buses will be cost-effectively charged and efficiently operated thanks to INIT’s charge management system.
Monitoring charging activities GoRaleigh will use the system to monitor and coordinate charging activities and ensure electricity limits are not exceeded. They will also be able to categorise the services a vehicle may need to perform (e.g., distinguishing between states of charge suitable for a full-day versus rush-hour assignment), so those plans can be easily implemented again in the future. Even more, GoRaleigh will benefit from reduced electricity costs and improved operational efficiency.
Getting the order from North Carolina means INIT can support yet another company in charge management and operations of an e-bus fleet. In recent times, transport providers in Leipzig (Germany), Bergen (Norway) or Deventer (the Netherlands) have relied on MOBILEcharge for effectively charging their electric vehicles.
Raleigh on their way to an emission-free fleet The comprehensive functionalities of the INIT solution align with the public transport company’s goal to transition 70% of its fleet to zero or near-zero emissions by 2023. Due to the system’s scalability, it will easily be possible to adapt it to operate a growing fleet of e-buses effectively.
To David Eatman, Assistant Director, City of Raleigh Department of Transportation, this is an important factor on their road to green mobility: “Our partnership with INIT will allow us to intelligently manage the charging process for our e-buses, and realise cost savings through efficient load management and prioritisation according to operational needs.”
Because it saves costs, is easier to manage and reduces risks. As an expert in vehicle data and charging technologies combined with our deep understanding of charging management, we are here to assist you handle and deploy your electric fleet.
Read more about our view on smart charging, preconditioning, standardization and how to scale your electric vehicle deployment here:
It has been inspiring days at EV Charging Infrastructure 2021 in Berlin, where leading automotive manufacturers met with developers, network operators and decision makers to explore the needs of a new generation of electric vehicles.
Of particular interest was the presentation by Marc Gebert, NXP Semiconductors. He vividly explained the challenges and smart digital solutions for the development of charging stations for electric vehicles. We are very proud that Marc Gebert reported on the productive cooperation with CarMedialab and are already looking forward to future projects.
Different types of chargers and systems When charging becomes more and more the norm, many different manufacturers will be offering their type of backend systems and their type of EV charging systems. This means that we will see a possible development of different types of chargers and systems. Eventually there will be a race of which types are the better.
OCPP in action
A similar type of discussion has been seen before when CDs and laserdiscs were introduced or if we go further back the VHS and the Betamax. Back then there was two different systems and only one of them could win. This time there’s a new compatibility-tool which makes it possible to manage more kinds of charging systems.
To manage these different systems OCPP is the key As it is an international open source standard with no license, there is no restrictions of use for anyone. Using the Open Charge Point Protocol to connect and exchange communication between the charger and the charging network offers a more flexible solution as it creates an interoperability for equipment from different manufacturers. Other features that the OCPP offers is to remotely manage the charges, fix the rates and generate reports at the charging facility. It can even detect which EV charging station is available or reserved, which are active and charging a vehicle and which are not working. Furthermore, the status of the charger as well as it’s firmware can be updated without even being on-site.
Exchange of data between car, charging station and energy supplier
How to decide wether Smart Charging is the new future of mobility Smart charging enables the ability to automatically adjust charging patterns, based on charging.
To be more precise, there are four main advantages by which the Open Charge Point Protocol improves Smart Charging drastically.
When using the EV charging station, the OCPP will control the supply to specific vehicles by putting limits on the maximum power that can be supplied by each charging gun.
The OCPP Smart Charging allows priority charging for selected vehicles over others.
Smart Charging helps regulate the total energy consumption and the associated cost by taking into account the factors such as load capacity, the current tariff for the electricity and the availability of renewable power.
On the supply side, OCPP compliance with other protocols allows for integration with the grid to support it during peak demand time.
All in all there is no need to make a new “Betamax discussion” as the OCPP has everything covered as long as the charging system is compliant with the OCPP.
Consequently, when manufactures plan on developing new charging points, the main aspect they need to be aware of is the compliance with OCPP. As a result a flexible optimization, operation and maintenance of the charging system is guaranteed.
Our expert Reg shares his thoughts on Smart Charging in this podcast. Enjoy listening!
Smart Charging is about intelligently organizing and optimizing the charging process for drivers, and between vehicles and the energy grid. It starts with easy access to the charging point and includes the payment procedure, the specification of when the charging process should be completed, protective charging of the battery, and the avoidance of overload situations in the power grid. Electric charging is actually more complicated than refueling. But for customers who really want to migrate to electric vehicles, it’s not just the much-cited range that’s important, but also a pleasant charging experience.
