The Mobility House adds grid-friendly charging module
The Mobility House has a new add-on module called “grid-friendly charging” for its ChargePilot energy management system. TMH says the feature enables grid operators to intelligently control multiple charging stations and help charge point operators save money.
The module allows users to connect multiple charging stations simultaneously and let the grid operator take charge according to demand at the time. The Mobility House expects this “grid-friendly adjustment of the charging processes” to contribute to a stable electricity supply during Germany’s energy transition (“Energiewende”) while largely avoiding costly expansion of the distribution grid. This could then reduce electricity costs “significantly,” says TMH pointing to existing customers, due to lower grid fees. “Operators of charging infrastructure benefit from reduced grid usage fees from 60 to 120 euros per year and per charging point,” claims TMH.
As part of the charge and energy management system ChargePilot, the new feature reads the control signals and adjusts the power of the entire charging infrastructure within a few seconds as it distributes the reduced power to the individual charging points. TMH explains this allows operators to prioritise individual cars for example and for the system to stop pushing power to sufficiently charged vehicles. The system also ensures that power is shut off or turned on gradually to go gently on the battery.
The grid-controlled charging may help operators again to save costs, i.e. by charging only as much as is needed or at off-peak times. The company adds rather concrete figures and says the intelligent management can help cut charging power by up to 20 per cent. For a fleet with 20 vehicles running for an annual average of 15,000 km, TMH says the potential savings could reach 1,200 to 2,400 euros per year.
So far, TMH focuses on Germany and Switzerland. Swiss clients show increasing demand for controlled charging processes. “Experience shows that not only grid connection consumers but also installers are being confronted with this challenge more and more,” says TMH.
In Germany, the new grid-friendly feature is in direct response to section 14a of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG). It classifies electric cars as controllable consumer equipment and is supposed to incentivise grid-friendly charging.
The full ChargePilot is available in conjunction with static or dynamic charging management. Customers can activate it once they have registered with the grid operator and if the technical requirements at the site are met.
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