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eMobility-Scout: Electric mobility in the vehicle fleet

How can companies efficiently integrate e-vehicles into their fleets and operate their commercial e-fleets economically? And how can a cloud-based platform for operating e-vehicles and sharing charging infrastructure contribute to greater cost transparency? The eMobility-Scout project has researched answers to these questions. For three years, the consortium, consisting of well-known companies and research institutions, worked on the economic integration of e-vehicles and charging stations in companies. The result is a cloud-based platform that drives electromobility through automation and ease of use, and provides precise guidance for the electrification of vehicle fleets.

Easy integration of electromobility

The need for support in the introduction and use of electromobility is great. The eMobility-Scout project has intensively addressed the requirements of corporate mobility and supports companies and institutions in integrating electric vehicles into their fleets in a simple and smart way. The developed platform was tested in practice at the project partner Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and helped to significantly increase the mileage of the e-fleet and reduce peak vehicle demand by 10%. BVG initially electrified 100 of its 400 commercial vehicles in order to use the knowledge gained to convert the entire fleet. Stuttgart Airport also wants to become climate-neutral by 2050. The project tested the integration of different user groups and vehicles into the energy system. This made it possible to integrate a public charging infrastructure into the building system, implement different charging rates, and reduce peak loads in the public sector.

We have proven that a regionally active company can economically convert its passenger car fleet to electric drives. An integrated IT system is a prerequisite for efficient pooling here.

Heinrich Coenen,
Project Manager of the Staff DepartmentInhouse Consulting of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Period

January 2016 - December 2018

Destination

Design, implementation and test operation of a cloud-based IT solution for the operation of commercial e-vehicles

Result

Increasing economic efficiency through the joint use of vehicles and charging infrastructure

eMobility-as-a-Service

The eMobility-Scout project was part of the research program “IKT EM III: Integration of commercial electric vehicles into logistics, energy and mobility infrastructures” funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The project focused on the integration of e-vehicles into existing logistics, energy and mobility infrastructures. For fleet managers and employees, the use of e-mobility should be made as simple as possible through the cloud platform used. All charging, fleet and infrastructure management processes were therefore combined and automated in the background of the system under the “eMobility-as-a-Service” approach.

The economic use of e-mobility is the most important argument for its rapid spread. Even before the complexity of use, this is the biggest obstacle for companies. Both factors are closely related to each other. We have integrated the various complex sub-functions in such a way that users perceive them as one application.

Frank Meißner, Project Manager Carano

Functionality of the eMobility Scout platform

Project partner

The experience and results gained in the project have been incorporated into our product development. This enabled us to significantly improve our CaranoCloud carsharing software for booking, dispatching and vehicle opening.

Guide to electromobility

As part of the eMobility-Scout project, a guide was developed for fleet operators on how to integrate electromobility into existing vehicle fleets. This summarizes the key findings from the project:

Is the fleet suitable for electrification? Which vehicles can be converted to electric mobility?
How can the mobility needs of employees be met with electric vehicles?
How does the fleet manager maintain an overview and troubleshoot operations?
What are the potential savings in the vehicle fleet?
How can energy costs be minimized?
How can electric vehicles be integrated into energy management?

Networked electromobility for vehicles

Intelligent charging and energy management was one of the most important tasks in the project. Operating forecasts for vehicles, charging infrastructure and energy demand as well as their deviations can be derived from the data obtained in the project. This creates the basis for a grid-serving and energy-cost-optimized use of electromobility. Vehicle bookings, precisely calculated charging cycles, faults, energy status and other important operating data can be evaluated and used to obtain specifications for charging from other systems in the future. The costs of all parts of the process are included in detail so that the economic viability of electromobility can be accurately assessed. The eMobility-Scout project was also able to contribute to Section 14a of the Energy Industry Act, which regulates the grid-oriented control of consumer devices and grid connections, as part of the ICTII program. For the spread of electromobility, policymakers and manufacturers are still called upon to drive forward the standardization of access to the charging infrastructure and vehicle data.

Our other research projects

Optimize energy costs through on-demand charging of the e-fleet

Cross-company use of e-vehicles and charging infrastructure

Cloud solution for e-vehicle fleets across company boundaries

The central questions surrounding electromobility in vehicle fleets

The research project was divided into a total of five thematic blocks that answer various questions:

What legal, statutory and contractual framework conditions must be in place for cross-company use?

What are the legal challenges of collaborative fleet use?
How can certain contractual arrangements help ensure smooth operation of the shared fleet and charging infrastructure?
What billing and process patterns can support the goals of the project?

What technical concepts must be in place to create a system architecture for fleet and charging management?

What applications and interfaces must a booking platform for fleets and charging infrastructure include?

How can the integration of already existing IT systems and data of the different companies take place in one platform?

How can existing processes be optimized for effective energy management?

How can forecast data be generated in a dynamic environment?
How can charging and payment models be developed to encourage vehicle users to charge electric vehicles during off-peak hours?
How can it be ensured that the legal requirements regarding logging of roaming and tariffing are met?

How can vehicle demand be reduced and can the share of electrified vehicles be increased?

How can vehicle demand be determined at peak times?
What results can be obtained to increase the degree of electrification?
How can usage patterns and daily driving distances be transferred from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles?
How can the utilization rate of the fleet be increased through shared use?

Which operator models make sense for cross-company use of e-vehicles and a charging infrastructure?

Which measures for operational safety and risk considerations can be derived?
What are the requirements for the booking and billing platform so that it can be used across companies?
What insights into fleet software failure management can be gained?
How can possible contingency models be made economically viable?

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