Siemens Tests New EV Charging Approach for Businesses

GreenTransitNews | July 15, 2015

FreeWire Technologies, Inc. and Siemens are partnering to pilot and commercialize the Mobi Charger™, employing the Siemens eCar Operation Center (OC) and the Siemens VersiCharge electric vehicle-charging technology.

Mobi Charger is a potential game-changer in that it rolls the charger to the vehicles, regardless of where they are parked in the lot. The integrated system enables businesses to easily offer mobile EV-charging, cost-efficiently powered by second-life EV batteries, and interconnected to the Internet and electricity grid.

FreeWire and Siemens will be operating a three-month pilot at LinkedIn’s Mountain View campus, providing access to hundreds of employees who drive electric vehicles. Siemens also announced that it has chosen FreeWire to be the first partner in the U.S. to deploy its eCar Operation Center, a cloud interface designed to manage large-scale EV charging. The system is already in wide-spread operation by several of the world’s largest utilities, enabling them to use EV charging as a resource to support grid stability, and distribution networks across Europe.

Current EV-charging options usually require high infrastructure investment costs plus the delay and hassles of planning and permitting, challenges that may be further complicated by being on leased commercial property.

Using Mobi Charger, businesses would be able to rapidly scale-up to meet demand for charging availability, while gaining a flexible, distributed-energy asset they can use to efficiently manage energy usage and costs.

Mobi Charger presents an easy, alternate solution with additional benefits. A single Mobi, integrating Siemens’ VersiCharge technology and powered by repurposed second-life EV car batteries, can charge five cars per day and use lower-cost, off-peak energy. Siemens’ eCar OC includes useful interfaces for the EV driver, the Mobi manager, and the electricity-rate payer, and can provide predictive visibility for the utility. Mobi units may be leased or purchased.

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