e-mobility
NewMotion – 10 years in Charge
Interview with Sytse Zuidema, CEO of NewMotion In the last 10 years the e-mobility market has changed a lot. What were the most important changes for NewMotion in that period? The EV driving experience has improved significantly the past 10 years and so has e-mobility itself. Range anxiety is a thing of the past thanks to the many solutions that have conquered the market. As a pioneer in e-mobility and smart charging, we developed a number of our own innovative solutions and services which convinced clients such as Arval and Daimler to choose us as their preferred EV charging partner. We not only celebrate 10 years in charging, but 10 years in charge. For example, in 2009, the company started developing products and services around electric mobility, which was a largely unknown territory back then – there just wasn’t that many EVs but more importantly, there was nowhere to charge. When the Nissan Leaf came to the market in 2011, we bought a couple of them just to experiment and develop charging solutions. That was at a time when e-mobility was still in its infancy, charge points were hardly available, and visionaries like Elon Musk were not taken seriously. We never stopped believing in the power of e-mobility. Since becoming a member of the Shell group in late 2017, NewMotion has become Europe’s leading provider of smart charging solutions with access to the largest roaming charge network. Just in time for our tenth anniversary, we hit a big milestone: our roaming network now consists of over 100,000 charge points in 28 European countries. What are the benefits for companies that switch to e-mobility? Many companies already use EVs as company cars and are electrifying their fleets. In particular, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) plays a big part in their decision to join the e-mobility movement. When you look at maintenance costs of EVs, you will see that these are likely to be much cheaper: there are fewer number of parts in the engine and powertrain that are more prone to wear and tear in internal combustion engines. Electrifying your fleet is the smart choice in more than one way, especially when you take into account insurance costs, subsidies and tax reductions many European countries offer. Our smart chargers and charge cards give fleet managers additional insights in car usage. Explain your smart charging solution? Smart charging will accelerate the adoption of EVs by continuously improving the charging experience for EV drivers, while making charging infrastructure and fleet management more efficient and cost effective for businesses. Our cloud-connected charging solutions allow businesses to remotely monitor and control charge points and charging sessions. This provides them with full insights into the charging behaviour and charging costs of their EV fleet or at their location. Being cloud connected also enables our charging solutions to get better over time by over the air updates that enable new features and benefits. For instance, our partner Daimler was looking for a solution to help their business customers to electrify their fleet in a smart and efficient way. Together we were able to provide their customers with not only the necessary advice and installation to operate the charge points, but also with our specialised online tools, which include smart EV fleet management services, such as charging access and payment controls, automatic reimbursement of charging costs and international billing and settlement makes the solution easy to operate. This smart charging offer includes access to our public charge network of over 100,000 charge points throughout Europe plus NewMotion’s range of products and services like the Group Charge App and Dynamic Power Sharing to balance the power between multiple charge points. The overall response from the fleet owners and our partner is very positive so we look forward to replicating this in other European countries. Smart charging solutions E-mobility, infrastructure and services should be designed for utmost efficiency and ease of mind. As an innovator in smart charging the company offers several smart solutions to EV drivers, fleet and location managers. Electrifying a fleet provides much sense, especially when you look at the total cost of ownership, as you gain complete cost transparency. From costs per driven kilometer to insights regarding driving behavior and maintenance fees, these insights help fleet managers make informed decisions to save money and to better utilize vehicles and charge in a better way. In addition, services such as automatic reimbursement of charging costs for company car drivers offer extra comfort. This helps both drivers and companies to save time and money while providing the best charging experience. Smart and cloud-connected charge points: Our smart charge points are cloud-connected. This enables companies to have better control and overview of their fleets and usage data. By precisely tracking all journeys and charging sessions, the utilization of vehicles can be planned in a data-based and efficient manner. NewMotion app: The app gives an overview of the whole network of charge points, their location, tariffs and availability. It’s even possible to start and stop the charging process remotely with this app. Group Charge App: EV fleet management becomes simpler thanks to this service. The Group Charge App helps companies and their employees optimize the utilisation of the company’s charge points. It shows the availability of the charge points on site and it also notifies you of when a charge point becomes available or reminds other colleagues to move their fully charged car. Dynamic Power Sharing: Smart charge points are also capable to include our Dynamic Power Sharing product in order to balance the energy needs and supplies. By using this technology, grids do not need to be upgraded as power can be distributed evenly, thus positively affecting overall costs. Charging network and site planning: We advise on how to maximize the utilisation of the charging solutions without the need to invest in an expensive grid connection upgrade. Data from the EV drivers in a managed fleet is collected and analysed for further fleet management optimisation. We future
Collaboration – a powerful enabler of innovation
The growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market is undoubtedly gaining pace, with some commentators predicting that there will be 559 million EVs on the road by 2040 and 55% of all new car sales and 33% of the global fleet will be electric*. While we are still away from hitting these ambitious figures, we are seeing good progress towards creating a more sustainable transport solution. ABB is witnessing surging demand for public and private EV charging solutions, having sold more than 10,500 DC fast chargers across 73 countries. We are also supporting stakeholders across the globe to establish electric bus services to reduce our impact on the environment. If we are to deliver this clear vision for a sustainable, emission-free future, we need to continually innovate and develop new solutions to satisfy this increasing demand. We have a strong Research & Development (R&D) culture, that is continually advancing pioneering technologies in the field of electric mobility. We were one of the founders of both the CHAdeMO and CCS alliance charging standards, we launched our first DC fast charger in 2010, the first nationwide DC charging networks in 2012 and the first eBus charging networks in Europe in 2016. We believe there are three key disruptions aligned to the delivery of sustainable transportation for the future. Firstly, we need to see continued investment in the sector, both in the development of battery technology by vehicle Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to enable greater range and cost efficiencies, but critically in the development of a widespread charging infrastructure network to satisfy growing demand. In many markets, the current reality paints a different picture. When we look at the United States for example, while 200,000 EVs were sold in 2017, the country’s charging infrastructure is still ‘lagging behind’, with consumers lacking confidence and ‘range anxiety’ being a major barrier to electric vehicle adoption. In response, we are proud to be collaborating with Electrify America to create the largest network of fast charging stations the country has seen. Secondly, we must focus on standardization and operability. The automotive industry only needs to look at the electric public transport sector to see that adoption rates are significantly increased as the number of charging standards decrease. If we want to create positive change for the future, now is the time to replicate this for passenger vehicles, which will need a truly collaborative approach. Thirdly, we need to accept that we have to evolve our energy ecosystem to enable an emission-free future. A reliable power infrastructure with low maintenance costs is key for modern cities to address peaks in demand effectively. That’s why enabling safe, flexible and smart electrical networks is of crucial importance. The integration of energy resources, the installation of smarter home technologies linked to private EV charging and the adoption of EVs with expanded battery capabilities, could in the future turn homes around the world into self-sufficient grids. Car batteries could be used to not only store energy, but that energy could also be sold back to the grid, enabling residential and commercial communities to become active participants in the energy revolution. Future Proofing with High-power Charging Solutions Currently, the pace of change, both in commercial and consumer markets, is being driven by the need for faster and higher power charging. The sector is however faced by one key challenge, the capacity of current EV batteries. At the moment, DC charging is still too powerful for most consumer vehicles, but all that may be about to change with the launch of the first consumer car capable of taking this power, the Porsche Taycan, later this year. While current EV batteries don’t have the capacity to store the level of charge available from a high-power charger, technology like our Terra HP charger, serve as a future proof solution which will support the development of next generation of EVs. Capable of delivering 350Kw of power, it can add 200 km of range to an EV in a time frame not much longer than refuelling a traditional gas engine vehicle (8 minutes). Meanwhile, for buses and trucks, the industry is currently limited to a maximum charge of 600kW. We are confident that there is potential for evolution here too, with 1MW charging on the horizon. Our $10million investment in a new R&D Center, due to launch this June, includes facilities for expanding our capabilities in the rapidly expanding eBus segment and will see us continuing to evolve pioneering solutions in this field. The Power of Collaboration Hand in hand with technological progress, comes the need for greater collaboration, which is a powerful enabler of innovation within the EV field. Working with other high-profile players allows us to push the boundaries of technology and develop new solutions. With the sector evolving at such a rapid rate, this need for collaboration is greater than ever. We continue to work closely with OEMs and charge point operators to ensure technology not only meets but exceeds current needs to facilitate future growth. For example, ABB in conjunction with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the Land Transport Authority and Volvo Buses, has just launched the world’s first 12-metre fully electric autonomous passenger bus in Singapore. This flagship project aims to prove that it is possible to provide fixed route and scheduled services powered by emission-free vehicles and demonstrates the fantastic advances which can be made in public transportation when these two pioneering technologies come together. Driving Innovation Taking the art of the possible one step further, we need to continually push the boundaries of what e-mobility technology can deliver. The ABB FIA Formula E Championship series is a fantastic example. It provides a powerful platform to test mobility electrification and digitalization technologies, while showcasing the potential to a much wider audience. Latest Formula E cars are now capable of doing 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds with a maximum speed of 280 km/h, thanks largely to significant gains in battery efficiency. The battery fitted to the new Gen2 racecars is heavier
