Smart Grid
Smart Charging
Load and cost optimized charging through smart scheduling
Overview
Elli, a brand of the Volkswagen Group and a provider of energy and charging solutions, started with a use case of smart charging based on a third-party product that mainly implements an incentivised electricity supply contract. Elli started building its own B2C smart charging solution supported by a German electricity grid company, using a common data platform provided by the grid company. This allows registered consumers to reserve capacity for future charging. The supply and demand data enables optimisation along several other conditions defined by a smart charging user, such as planned departure time, current state of charge and planned departure state of charge. The optimised footprint also takes into account environmental benefits.
Jan Luca Plewa, Product Management at Elli
"We have just concluded a pioneering smart charging project together…and when I say together, I mean together. The team performed an extremely fast onboarding and proactively contributed expertise from former projects, on top they delivered several unexpected solutions bringing forward the whole undertaking. Thanks to that now we can pick up on the results and bring them to the next level."
Key factors of smart charging
Load Management
Load management in the power grid for times of high consumption by shifting schedules to a later time.
Instant Charging
Rapid and high-power charging that quickly replenishes the battery for extended driving range.
Incentives
Incentives for Elli's eco-conscious customers to charge with a low carbon footprint.
Provided services
Technical product management
Bridging business goals with technical solutions to create the Smart Charging solution successfully.
Solution
Architecture
Designing the structure and technical components to fulfill software objectives and requirements.
API
integration
API integration of the data platform of the German electricity grid
company.
Frontend Development
Design and implementation of a micro frontend that seamlessly integrates
with the company's Charging App (iOS and Android). It allows to create a schedule and stores travel parameters.
Backend Development
Design and implementation of a smart charging backend service that calculates and executes charging plans considering certain constraints such as grid capacity, carbon footprint and travel parameters.
