For real impact, focus on optimizing the urban charging experience

We know that the majority of people live in cities – a megatrend that is set to continue over the next decades with the global urbanization share rising from currently 55 percent to 68 percent in 2050. This expected increase is even more remarkable as it is expected to coincide with a significant global population growth: we will see the number of urban dwellers grow from just over 4 billion today to approximately 7 billion by then.

We also know that private and public transportation need to decarbonize fast, especially given the fact that CO2 emissions have hardly decreased in road transport since 1990.

Making the urban charging experience as convenient as possible is consequently a huge lever to speed up the adoption of sustainable mobility solutions for a vast number of urban drivers.

It is evident that charging solutions should be optimized in line with urban use cases: In the near future, urban dwellers should be able to take to the road whenever they want with the lowest possible impact on the environment. A recent whitepaper from Siemens highlights the huge potential of widely adopted urban electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, while identifying some of the challenges it faces. It also showcases promising use cases from around the world that offer a glimpse of a more sustainable future.

At home, on the go, everywhere – how would you like to charge?

One of the key insights gathered from industry experts and EV charging pioneers in this whitepaper is the importance of establishing integrated, standardized solutions to improve driver convenience and, hence, ensure lasting success.

Urban charging infrastructure needs to be integrated into the existing urban landscape, i.e., the grid infrastructure, the built environment, and – looking forward – this certainly also means integrating with a digital network. And to improve the efficiency and usability of charging infrastructure, it absolutely makes sense to adopt common standards so that different vehicle types can recharge at the same charge point.

How are EVs charged at the moment and how will they be charged in the future? For homeowners, most of the charging takes place in their own garages. But what about dense urban centers with historical buildings where retrofitting home charging solutions is often not feasible?

Essentially, we need to make sure that any destination where people spend several hours – such as restaurants, shopping malls, art galleries, entertainment or sports venues, and transportation hubs – is equipped with flexible charging solutions that allow for different layover times. But also ubiquitous curb-side charging will be an important part of the answer.

For larger-scale requirements, e.g., the charging of fleets of company cars, buses, or trucks, efficient and affordable depot charging solutions exist that can even be accommodated into restricted spaces.

In addition, charging processes need to become faster the more EVs are on the roads. But often, the local power supply is not equipped for connecting one or more fast chargers. The good news is that promising solutions are in place: battery storage for fast charging units manages power peaks and can ensure low power tariffs for the driver.

Integration is key

An integrated charging system could make the charging experience so smooth, efficient, and flexible that it will convince even the most ardent disciples of the internal combustion engine to switch to zero-carbon mobility. But what will it look like?

Looking from the grid perspective, the charging system will be interlinked with renewable energy generation assets, most likely photovoltaics, combined with battery storage and connected to a building energy management system. This, in turn, will communicate with other electricity-generating and -consuming assets in the urban environment such as heat pumps, PV generation, storage solutions as well as the grid, electricity markets, and other buildings. The goal is to avoid system overloads and keep charging procedures stable.

In the future, technological innovation will open up further benefits: Once vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is established, grid operators could draw power from EVs if needed, and owners will potentially be able to earn money by putting their car batteries at the service of the grid.

Considering the question from the IT perspective, such a level of connection requires a high degree of digitalization – and we’re not only talking about the intelligence in the system. An interconnected eMobility ecosystem is grounded in software integration and data security, which are also crucial when it comes to the deployment of customer interfaces such as apps that allow EV owners to optimize charge point use and costs.

The security of networked systems and the associated data really is the game-changer for the digital transformation of private and public transportation. To ensure the highest data privacy standards, it is necessary, among other things, to encrypt data, control access, and restrict data collection. In order to gain EV users’ trust, we need to implement data transparency for customers as well as a whole range of cybersecurity mechanisms.

?A whole new way of interacting with the grid

There is no question that the electrification of mobility amounts to more than just replacing combustion engines with electric drivetrains. It implies a whole new mode of interaction with the grid for vehicles and their owners. Much of this effort involves creating infrastructure that is smart: able to communicate and interact not only with EVs and their owners but also with the grid and the generation and storage assets attached to it.

While the rollout of EV charging infrastructure is hampered by delays in regulation, planning, and permits, it is clear that we need to build momentum and society is ready to move forward quicker. And if we provide the suitable EV infrastructure to convince urban residents – of which there will be almost 7 billion by the middle of the century – to switch to sustainable transportation solutions, we will have almost reached our zero-carbon goal.