Improved charging infrastructure for electric cars through SLAM

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02-May-2017 

A few weeks ago was an anniversary of the very first drive of the world's first electric vehicle. On April 19, 1881, the Trouvé Tricycle, a tricycle powered by a 70 W electric motor, rode through Rue Valois through Paris. The inventor of the car, which was named after him, was the French engineer Gustave Trouvé. The vehicle drove the route several times "with the speed of a good horse-drawn carriage," as Alexis Clerc wrote. Since that day, 136 years ago, which can be, quite rightely, described as the birth of electromobility, there have been tremendous technological advances in the field of electric drive. In the meantime, seeing electric cars is no longer a matter of curiosity, and after the will of the Federal Government’s one million electric vehicles should travel on Germany's roads and highways by 2020.

In order to achieve this ambitious goal, The large-scale project SLAM (Fast Charging Network for Axes and Metropolises), in which the automotive industry, the EnBW, the DG publishing house, the RWTH Aachen University and the Institute for Work Science and Technology Management (IAT) of the University of Stuttgart work together to build up to 400 AC and DC rapid charging columns. One of the researchers involved is Denis Horn of the Fraunhofer IAT. On the anniversary of the electromobility, we asked him about the future of electric mobility and the progress of the SLAM project.

1. Good day Denis, can you describe SLAM from your point of view briefly and explain to our readers the objectives of the project?

D.H.: As a research project, SLAM is a trailblazer to explore and eliminate the challenges of electric mobility in general and the obstacles to rapid charging in Germany. 

2. What exactly is your role in the project and what are you currently working on?

D.H.: We support investors in the construction of fast-charging stations and I am their contact person. Together with our investors, we would like to conduct research on Germany's largest research charging network and investigate topics such as location attrition, business models, but also user behavior and acceptance. By the way, working on business models is my second task in the project. To be more precise, we examine how the offer can look with regards to the quick-charging stations. In contrast to conventional charging stations, charging infrastructure for electric vehicles can theoretically be built anywhere as long as there is sufficient power supply. The location - be it on the motorway, in front of the shopping center, on the company premises or in front of the soccer stadium - has an enormous influence on the supply to the customer and the business model.

3. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges in the short- and medium term future towards more electric mobility?

D.H.: At the moment through the assistence of the BMVi-funded program with a total volume of EUR 300 million, already lot of progress is being made in the direction of promoting the charging station infrastructure building. How well will this be taken, one can not say exactly yet. One thing is clear though, that if electric vehicles won’t manage to cover the long-distance routes without problem and through the help of quick-charging system, it will only stay mostly as a second vehicle in the garage.  

4. When it comes to electric mobility, it is often referred to as the Chicken or egg problem with regard to whether more e-cars will cause an expansion of the infrastructure or if certain charging infrastructure is already necessary to be in place in order to make the product of electric cars more attractive for the customers. What do you think is right and what should be done to increase the acceptance of electromobility?

D.H.: To resolve this so called Chicken-Egg problem, either one side or another should make step forward first, which means waiting until something will function on its own – will not work. This is also currently being initiated by the funding program. Of course, more is needed than just a functioning public charging network. In this context, R.I.P. is being often discussed – R.I.P stands for Range, Infrastructure, Price; Electric vehicles must be able to provide a certain range and variety, infrastructure must be available and the price of the vehicles must be within an acceptable and accessible level for the customer. In addition, there should be an offer of all vehicle classes in the portfolio of our manufacturers. If the advertisements of the industry will be followed by real actions, in the next few years electromobility could actually experience a second spring.

5. SLAM was officially launched at the 2014 Hannover Fair. The visitors included the current Minister of Economic Affairs, Brigitte Zypries. Since then some time has passed. Could you give us a brief interim report and tell the readers how far have you come now?

D.H.: At the beginning, the framework conditions had to be set as to how the system for rapid has to be implemented in Germany; Topics such as open access systems, ad-hoc payment options, uniform plug and EV charging station standards, interoperability of the vehicle and charging station, eRoaming, etc. were the initial focus. Afterwards, a selection process was designed to attract investors for the project, therefore we wanted to tackle our scientific questions. In the meantime, in consultation with our subsidy provider, the Ministry of Economics and Energy BMWi, we have adapted the conditions for the construction of the rapid-charging stations; Thus with this, we paid attention to the forthcoming progressive development in order to be able to offer much higher charging capacity in the future. Currently, with the help of our investors, on almost 60 locations nationwide, DC fast-charging infrastructure are being built, a large part of which can easily be converted to higher charging capacity in the future. This puts one on the safe side in the future when vehicles with 150 kW or more will be able to be charged using such charging stations.

Thanks for the interview and we wish you the continued success with the project.