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POWER DECODED

Latest edition: 29 Feb 2024
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DATA: THE MISSING LINK FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Electric utilities are pushing for greater data sharing between cars and
infrastructure, says Eurelectric secretary-general Kristian Ruby.

In one sense, the electric vehicle revolution is about hardware. It requires new
kinds of cars to be built, powered by expensive and complicated batteries, which
must be recharged by new types of infrastructure necessitating new grid
equipment. However, in a less visible sense, it is also about software – the
systems sending data around inside the electric vehicle.

The question is whether and how that data will exit the vehicle in a useful way.
Electric mobility presents a unique challenge in that it must bridge the world
of transport, energy and the built environment. Creating that bridge is going to
require data interoperability and information-sharing between stakeholders,
something that has been a struggle thus far. This has particularly been the case
for the auto industry and utilities.

“These are two industries that have historically not been very close to each
other,” explains Kristian Ruby, secretary-general of the Brussels-based industry
association Eurelectric, which represents electric utilities across Europe.
“There are some examples of direct cooperation between auto manufacturers and
utilities, but it is not good enough yet. We should be on a par with the
relationship that has been built over more than a century between fuel
suppliers, their service stations and cars. We need to replicate that experience
for electric cars.”

Eurelectric has launched a push to improve data sharing between electric
vehicles, electric utilities and other parts of the value chain. It has carried
out research with consultancy Ernst & Young on the subject, which will be
presented at its flagship EVision event in Brussels on 6 March. The research
maps out the current state of data sharing and how things can be improved.

“[In the report,] we are laying out how the emerging ecosystem of e-mobility can
get wired up – what kind of data flows exist today and what kind of data flows
will be needed for these things to evolve in a turbocharged mode,” Ruby tells
Energy Monitor in an interview ahead of the event. “You could revert to existing
industry standards for some of it, but some of it will need industry cooperation
between manufacturers of cars, charge point operators and utilities to agree on
what will be the valuable data we can exchange while respecting the privacy of
the individual driver.”




DATA NEEDS AND AVAILABILITY IN THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUPPLY CHAIN

There is already a lot of data being generated by electric vehicles – so much so
that there have even been rising concerns about them being used for espionage.
Some US embassy compounds are not allowing electric cars inside, for instance.
The cars are gathering data about driving habits, recharging needs and weight
patterns. The vehicle manufacturers can use that data to improve their services
and their vehicles. However, if the data isn’t being shared with the electric
utilities, then it will be of no use in improving the grid and recharging
services.

“Everybody’s been waiting for the cars. Now we have scores of incredibly cool
cars out there from big brands – one in five cars sold in Europe today is
electric,” says Ruby. “To move from early adoption… to mass adoption of
electromobility, we now need to work on the experience to convince those who
don’t really care that e-mobility is as good or better than traditional
mobility. That has to do with overcoming peoples’ fears, which are mainly about
range anxiety and the ability to recharge.”

There are several types of user in the electric vehicle data value chain who
will each have their own needs for generating and using data, Ruby says. There
are the drivers, who generate data from driving their vehicle but also need data
to know where and when to recharge. Then there are the e-mobility service
providers (eMSPs) that establish a charging network and the charge point
operators (CPOs) that operate those stations. Drivers could share their vehicle
and battery data with eMSPs and CPOs in return for reliable route planning and
other value-add services such as providing food or activities for people while
they charge.

Then there are the distribution system operators (DSOs) that must make
significant investments in the electricity grid and play an important role in
connecting charging points to medium and low-voltage grids. Data can provide
DSOs with the potential for real-time insights into grid performance and would
let them have more proactive grid management and better electric vehicle
integration. Then there are urban planners, which need the data to better
understand electric vehicle hotspots and usage trends so they can strategically
deploy infrastructure in areas where it is most needed. The key to all this
data-sharing is the automakers, who must grant access to in-vehicle data,
allowing other third-party service providers to detect and rectify faults or
improve battery design and overall performance, Ruby argues.



Kristian Ruby, secretary-general of industry association Eurelectric. Credit:
Eurelectric.

That last part has been tricky, with a natural competitiveness instinct
inhibiting collaboration between automakers. For instance, right now different
companies provide different charging technologies – and drivers can only use the
charging points that correspond to their car. Roaming platforms can sometimes
connect CPOs with eMSPs and facilitate interoperability, but this has been slow
going.

“Imagine you were in a combustion engine car and you only have a subscription to
BP tanks,” said Ruby. “You pass Circle K, you pass Shell, but unfortunately you
are not allowed to stop and fill your tank there. That would be an unacceptable
experience for a combustion engine car driver. So it is about establishing that
openness of standards: that would go a long way to ease the range anxiety.”




CONCERNS ABOUT DATA PRIVACY

The other obstacle is from the drivers themselves and their privacy concerns.
Not everyone thinks that handing over their driving data in exchange for better
access to an electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a fair deal – or they
would rather have other people do it, but still benefit from the infrastructure
improvements. That is why automakers have to make sure that they are giving
clear and reassuring messages to their customers about when and how their data
will be used.

“This [privacy] balance has to be struck [for electric vehicles] just like we
have to find that balance in relation to media and our smartphones, etc – the
devices we use have become so much more complex and able that it is also
incredible how much data they can actually collect,” says Ruby. “I was told that
the new electric Mercedes has more coding lines than an F16, just to give you an
idea of how technologically advanced the new electric cars are.

“You very quickly come into some delicate legal conundrums such as the data
that’s been gathered in the immediate moments before a major car accident. Who
owns that data, and who is obliged to hand it over to whom? There are plenty of
privacy issues that need to be considered, but the fact that we are getting into
such a richness of data availability doesn’t hinder the ability of us as a
community of companies to agree on standards for anonymised data transfer.”

There are already some successful examples of data collaboration that have
improved electric vehicle infrastructure. Amazon launched an open data mash-up
where it showed all the delivery patterns it has and how they have changed over
time. They made that heat map available to utilities so they could provide
charging at places that would be convenient for Amazon delivery vehicles.

The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive already obliges any operator
of liquid fuel supply to also have charging points at their facilities, but the
Eurelectric report will suggest that these requirements should extend into
cooperation between all these different players. Because even if Europe succeeds
in building many thousands of electric charging point stations, it won’t do much
good if they are not in the right place or if people can only use certain ones.






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