{"id":15787,"date":"2021-11-16T13:10:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T13:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=15787"},"modified":"2022-07-31T17:56:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T16:56:10","slug":"smart-ev-charging-requires-smart-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/smart-ev-charging-requires-smart-solutions\/15787\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart EV charging requires smart solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kayleigh Thomas, Senior Manager at KORE<\/a> Wireless, describes how the Internet of Things and smart EV charging is the solution to the challenges facing the EV sector.<\/h2>\n

More than ten million electric battery cars were on the world\u2019s roads in 2020 and Europe had the largest annual increase to reach 3.2 million, according to the IEA<\/a>. Electric cars are a key contributing factor towards improving air quality, as electric cars produce no carbon dioxide emissions when driving – reducing air pollution. According to a recent EDF Energy article<\/a>, \u2018In over a year, just one electric car on the road can save an average 1.5 million grams of CO2<\/sub>. That\u2019s the equivalent of four return flights from London to Barcelona.\u2019<\/p>\n

We face a global environmental crisis, and industries, organisations and people are looking for innovative new ways to drive the green agenda. The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of those advancements that is helping drive innovation, and IoT-enabled charging stations are redefining how the world fuels its vehicles.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Innovation News Network<\/em>, Kayleigh Thomas, Senior Manager, Product Marketing at KORE Wireless, explains their EV charging technology.<\/p>\n

Can you provide an overview of KORE Wireless and where your expertise lies?<\/h3>\n

Often referred to simply as IoT, the Internet of Things is the reality that connects devices to the Internet to collect and communicate data. It is what drives the possibility of remotely monitoring the glucose levels for diabetes patients, connects vehicles with alert and emergency systems for safety, and allows you to monitor your EV\u2019s charging status from your smartphone, no matter where in the world you are.<\/p>\n

It enables the things around us to gather data and turn that data into action. EV charging is no different. IoT-enabled charging stations gather large quantities of varying data (battery charge, billing, time taken, etc.) that is then communicated in real-time. And at KORE, we believe in translating data into insights and actions and, most importantly, to results. As Marco Bijvelds, SVP EAP of KORE, says: \u201cWe help organisations deploy, manage, and scale their IoT solutions. Whatever IoT means to those companies – from remote patient monitoring to fleet management to remote asset monitoring, we help them successfully deploy IoT solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people do not think about what they do as IoT. They think of it as solving a business problem, reengineering a business process, or taking their digital transformation out to the edge of their business. But at the end of the day, if a sensor or device is going to be connected to the internet and provide data to make our planet more intelligent, it is IoT. It is estimated that by 2030, there will be ~75 billion IoT devices connected to the internet. In total, if you add consumer devices like smartphones and laptops, there will be about 91 billion connected devices. To put that in perspective, that\u2019s about nine or ten devices per person on the planet.<\/p>\n

Now, getting these devices safely and securely connected anywhere in the world presents a tremendous set of challenges. But that is where KORE comes in – that complexity is our opportunity. When it comes to IoT, there are many moving pieces across the ecosystem, and KORE is at every single touchpoint. KORE orchestrates the IoT ecosystem on behalf of our customers.<\/p>\n

What are the main challenges surrounding connectivity when it comes to smart EV charging currently?<\/h3>\n

EVs are here to stay, and the growth is undeniable. In a recent survey carried out by Nissan<\/u><\/a> across Europe, the most popular reason for choosing an EV car is that drivers consider the environmental impact and benefit of a zero emissions vehicle. But, there are a few reasons why adoption is not as fast as many would like it to be; the vehicles are still quite expensive over traditional petrol or diesel vehicles, there is limited driving range, and the EV charging infrastructure<\/a> is just not available right now.<\/p>\n

The customer-facing challenges have been well written about, as mentioned above, but the smart EV charging operator\u2019s challenges with connectivity are less so. But fundamentally, without connectivity, the smart EV charging unit is redundant. Finding reliable connectivity for charging stations amidst a fragmented cellular network ecosystem, as well as mitigating other issues like signal penetrability, was an issue. The EV charging unit requires always-on resilient connectivity to ensure that each and every day of the year \u2013 a customer can use the charger, and the unit can process payments.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s tackle two key challenges: always-on connectivity and hard to reach areas.<\/p>\n

Always-on connectivity<\/h3>\n

Manufacturers of smart EV charging units might not know where their unit will be sent, so SIMs must be ordered separately and many times in small batches depending on orders placed. With eSIM technology, you can have a single SIM for the device\u2019s lifetime with network switching capabilities depending on
\nits location.<\/p>\n

What if the network goes down or the technology you are using, like 2G or 3G, is phased out? Again, eSIM helps mitigate that risk by providing service continuity with over-the-air provisioning should the original network solution need to change.<\/p>\n

Hard-to-reach areas<\/h3>\n

Hard-to-reach areas do not always mean rural areas; as we know, connectivity coverage can be spotty anywhere. But in dense urban areas like London, most vehicles are parked in underground car parks or basements reinforced with thick cement and steel. A car charging station would need deeply penetrative signals for reliable connectivity in those conditions. For smart EV charging vendors \u2013 having the proper hardware is a crucial element of the overall solution.<\/p>\n

What are the critical requirements for a reliable and effective EV charging station, and how does KORE\u2019s technology help charging station companies meet these requirements?<\/h3>\n

The KORE \u2018DNA<\/strong>\u2019 empowers companies to drive their transformational IoT initiatives by providing solutions that include D<\/strong>evices, N<\/strong>etwork connectivity and A<\/strong>pplications to manage IoT connections \u2013 all wrapped up with services to reduce time to market. Our IoT EV charging offering includes just that. Hardware (routers and antennas) that drive high reliability \u2018smart roaming\u2019 technology, as well as multinetwork, resilient eSIM connectivity for full coverage in all locations \u2013 managed by one connectivity management platform and managed services to scale, manage and deploy.<\/p>\n

Devices<\/h4>\n

Procuring and configuring IoT hardware that meets your company\u2019s requirements and user preferences can be complicated. Look to providers that offer a variety of devices from various brands, so you get customised hardware solutions for smart EV charging that are preconfigured for connectivity from your choice of leading carriers. The Robustel R1511P embedded LTE router is one of the hardware solutions available from KORE that is of most interest to smart EV charging companies. It is a small footprint embedded 4G router capable of using any standard KORE SIM, including eSIM and has the following benefits:<\/p>\n