Smart2Charge

The expected rapid expansion of e-mobility poses great challenges for rural communities. In particular, the question arises of how the necessary charging infrastructure can be set up intelligently and in a forward-looking manner with a high level of acceptance and how it can be integrated into the existing power grid, which often has grown over several generations. The Smart2Charge project will analyse and implement how this can be operated in an economically sensible way and with high acceptance in the long term.

Through intelligent digital networking, the storage capacities of the vehicles and supplementary location-based electricity storage systems can provide flexibility for the power grid. This allows for a better use of volatile renewable sources. This is to be demonstrated in municipal buildings, private households, businesses and in the public area of the municipality of Wüstenrot. In addition, the selection behaviour with regard to sustainable forms of mobility will be explored and possibilities for positive influence analysed. An intelligent IT infrastructure linked to a virtual power plant is to enable an anticipatory control of charging and discharging processes (in the case of bidirectional use) and their networking with energy management systems at building and district level.

The Smart2Charge project consists of eight work packages that build on each other. The first step is an analysis of user groups and traffic flows (AP 0), followed by the planning (AP 1) and network implementation (AP 2) of the charging infrastructure, followed by monitoring and optimisation (AP 3). A cloud-based data exchange and optimization platform controls the data exchange between the systems (AP4). With acceptance and usage analyses through to profitability analyses (AP ) sustainable business models are to be developed (AP 6). At the end of the project a planning guideline for municipalities in rural areas will be prepared (AP 7).

In cooperation with the economic partners, the functionality and economic transferabiölity of innovative charging infrastructure at building and neighbourhood level is to be demonstrated and economic solutions developed. From a scientific point of view, the HFT Stuttgart intends to expand its expertise in the area of sector coupling between mobility and power supply in buildings and districts through predictive simulation-based control. At the same time, simulation and planning tools developed at the HFT are to be optimized as innovative integral planning tools.