// eLISA-BW
a smart way of managing and adapting e-charging infrastructure
Demand for charging infrastructure is on the rise with e-mobility ramping up and taking off. Public services and businesses are also adding e-vehicles to their fleets. One of these organizations, the Karlsruhe Regional Administrative Authority needs more charging infrastructure to transition from conventional vehicles to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Its fleet usually parks in the Waldhornstraße garage run by Parkraumbewirtschaftung Baden-Württemberg (PBW). This facility’s charging infrastructure has to be expanded to accommodate new vehicles. The building's connected load capacity is limited, so some other solution would have to be found. The German Aerospace Center DLR and the ZSW teamed up for this purpose. Rather than spending heavily on upgrading the grid connection, investing in a battery storage system, or limiting the overall charging capacity, this consortium is developing, deploying and testing a load and charging management system as part of the eLISA-BW research project.
Launched in September 2018 and slated to run until September 2021, the eLISA-BW project is funded by Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector. The BW in eLISA-BW is this German state’s initials; eLISA is an acronym for a German phrase that roughly translates to “intelligently controlling and adapting e-charging infrastructure.” The PBW, the Karlsruhe Regional Administrative Authority, and Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg are associated partners that are supporting the project by providing data, among other things.
The DLR is analyzing fleet data and the ZSW is developing a load and charge management solution with the support of AVAT, an energy engineering company, and Siemens, which are furnishing their expertise and services. A charging plan is to be part of this load and charge management solution. The goal is to keep power consumption below the local grid connection’s load limits, yet allow vehicles to set out on scheduled trips without having to recharge en route. Charging points are managed according to this charging plan, which is to be based on data sourced from the Karlsruhe Regional Administrative Authority’s vehicle booking logs.
If the proposed architecture and algorithms prove their merits in the real world, the PBW aims to apply this project’s results to other parking facilities. Lessons learned and recommendations are to be published in the form of a guideline.
