Indian IT solutions and business services company Tech Mahindra will partner with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), SAP Canada and Nissan Canada to establish an Intelligent Electric Vehicle Charging System (IEVCS) in Ontario.
The IEVCS is being developed on the network of yet another partner Ontario, Canada, -based distribution company Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro.
The pilot EV Charging System project was started in March and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next September. The company announced names of the partners on the project on Friday.
The ministry of energy of Canada has sponsored the project and it is partly funded through the Ontario Smart Grid Fund initiative.
An integrated hardware-software solution that Tech Mahindra is developing as part of the pilot will allow utilities to gather data on both EV charging patterns and local transformer performance.
Also 10-15 electric vehicle users in Niagara-on-the-Lake have been enrolled to help study and plan for future impact of electric vehicle charging on distribution systems. Consumers will be able to manage their energy use through an in-home display.
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While Nissan is partnering with the project and sharing its expertise from electric vehicle manufacture, SDG&E and SAP will power the project through their technologies.
SAP has stated that it will provide the Internet of Things platform solution for the pilot project.
One of the key challenges before expansion of the electric vehicle market has been the limited availability of charging solutions. Currently electric vehicle users suffer from what has been termed range anxiety, primarily owing to the unavailability of charging stations.
In recent times electric vehicle manufacturers have come forward to address the issue. In May Nissan and BMW had partnered to establish a national network of electric vehicle charging stations in South Africa.
Sustainable technology oriented companies such as IKEA are contributing their mite by introducing electric vehicle charging stations at their outlets.
On another front, research is being promoted to develop wireless charging technologies.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy funded Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center and wireless power technology company Mojo Mobility to develop wireless charging technology.
Ajith Kumar S
editor@greentechlead.com