A world first: smart charging electric cars
Eneco eMobililty and its partners GreenFlux and Royal HaskoningDHV are taking part in a world first in the field of charging electric cars. Royal HaskoningDHV’s office is the first location in the world to offer smart charging for cars through machine learning. The charging stations are operated by Eneco eMobility using smart charging technology by GreenFlux.
The growing number of electric cars means that more charging stations are needed at office buildings. That means investing heavily in electrical installations because electric cars need a lot of power. Smart charging technology can keep these investments within reason by ensuring that not all electric cars are charged simultaneously. And it is all down to this innovation, developed by GreenFlux and first used by Eneco eMobility for Royal HaskoningDHV’s head office in Amersfoort. As a result, up to three times as many vehicles can be charged simultaneously on the same electrical infrastructure.
from the same installation output
Machine learning
This initiative is innovative because it uses machine learning to determine how charging sites are physically wired, data that is normally incomplete and unreliable. At Royal HaskoningDHV, a smart algorithm determines how electricity cables are connected to each individual charging station. The electrical infrastructure is therefore put to optimal use. Lennart Verheijen, Head of Innovation at GreenFlux: ‘Now that this component has been tested and proven, we can use smart data to add extra functionalities. We can use the same technology to predict how much energy a car will need. We can also estimate a driver’s departure time. This kind of information will enable us to optimise the charging process even further.’
Living Lab
Mike van Gemund, Project Manager ICT and Fleet Manager at Royal HaskoningDHV: ‘In 2017, we started to operate a fully electric fleet. Optimising charging solutions is essential to facilitate our large fleet. So we are enthusiastic about participating and making the charging station at our head office available as a living lab to Eneco eMobility and GreenFlux. That, and the feedback from our users, will enable us to get much more out of our current charging infrastructure without having to make any further investments.’
Royal HaskoningDHV’s target:
a fully electric fleet
Future
Bart Fick, Lead Technology at Eneco eMobility: ‘Currently, the roll-out of smart charging solutions is based on projects, but we want to make it more universal and scalable, while increasing the effectiveness and flexibility of this smart charging technology. This is necessary because I expect every new charging station to be equipped with it in the coming years. This development from GreenFlux/Eneco has given us a scalable and reliable solution, both for new and existing installations.’