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The Future of EV Carpark’s & Charging is on it’s way.

"IoT is creating the opportunity for increased innovation, greater efficiency, and new business opportunities"

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We’re paving the way for a future where gas-powered vehicles become largely obsolete. In their place will be electric vehicles that are better for the environment, have lower running costs, and mean free parking and no congestion charges in Clean Air Zones. But as their name suggests, electric vehicles need to be charged, and many industry professionals are questioning whether we’ll have enough chargers to meet demand. Fortunately, IoT is creating the opportunity for increased innovation, greater efficiency, and new business opportunities. 

 Lamp-post charging

One of the biggest challenges for EV charging is that most drivers –especially those who rent their homes– do not have access to residential off-street parking to install an EV charger at home. In most cities, lamp posts are a common but underused resource. Yet, in some smart cities, municipalities are rolling out the use of smart lamp posts that provide WiFi connectivity, smart lighting, air quality monitoring and other metrics. But they can also offer EV charging. 

Companies like Char.gy are developing lamp-post smart charge points that fit onto street furniture like street lights. They provide a practical way of increasing access to chargers in public spaces. 

Pop-up pavement charging

The chargers are operated via a smartphone app and rise up out of the pavement only when needed, leaving walkways clear at other times. While their 7kW rates are relatively low compared with many public fast and rapid chargers, the units are designed to be used overnight, giving them enough time to deliver meaningful amounts of electricity. Similarly, their residential placement means EV owners can top-up frequently.

Airbnb for EV Charging 

It’s said that a car remains idle 90% of the day. Residential EV chargers also frequently sit idle, especially in single-vehicle homes. This has the potential to create new business models. Already restaurants, shopping malls, and hotel chains are ordering EV charging. But we could also see a growth in Peer-to-Peer electric vehicle charging, where homeowners hire out their EV charger when they don’t need it themselves in return for payment. Think of it like an Airbnb for EV charging. 

Of course, this will require a pretty nifty app and booking platform and appropriate smart locks for a connected home, considering most people charge their EVs in their garages. But it’s an idea that could have many benefits.

An increased emphasis on solar-powered EV chargers 

As more electric vehicles hit the roads, the greater the impact of charging them will be on the energy grid. With cities like California already telling their residents not to charge their EVs during a heatwave due to the strain on the grid, an emphasis on solar energy will be critical.  Solar EV chargers mean you can charge an EV during power outages. Further, the per-hour cost of a solar system is lower than using the electricity grid. Homes or businesses that already use solar energy can choose from EV charger providers who offer not only solar EV chargers, but also the option of putting energy back into the grid. 

Connected and predictive maintenance is everything 

As we touched on in our previous article about EV charging, public EV chargers are frequently out of service for various reasons, including power outages, a technical fault, or inaccessibility such as non-EV chargers taking up charging space, or a problem with a payment provider. This is complicated by the sheer number of different service providers involved. IoT has all the tried and tested tools to aid with visibility into all that ails and identify any maintenance needs before the machine breaks down. Thus, we’ll likely see some product offerings focused on interoperability and visibility here. 

Greater policing of EV spaces

With public EV chargers in high demand, there are already incidences of people being fined for charging their EVs beyond a permitted time or parking an internal combustion engine (ICE) car in an EV charging space. Smart cameras make it possible to identify and communicate the occupancy of EV charging parking spaces, and in the case of vehicle overcharging, an app could contact users in their charging app to prevent a fine. 

Author

Theo Giannopoulos, Marketing & Business Development Manager, Davra Connect on LinkedIn.

If your interested in learning more about what you read, reach out to us here at Davra.com.