Scientists at the university of Stuttgart develop charging infrastructure for electric vehicles

The project received funding of just under EUR 300,000 from the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg. The aim of the funding program was to develop innovative charging infrastructure solutions for electric vehicles that would serve as an alternative to costly and time-consuming grid expansion. To this end, in the first phase scientists from the Institute of Energy Transmission and High Voltage Technology at the University of Stuttgart added ten additional charging points to the existing charging infrastructure in the TIVOLI parking garage of the company PBW GmbH in Stuttgart. In the second phase they developed and implemented an intelligent, multi-stage charging management system. Finally, the researchers tested the system in practice by conducting a field test.

The charging management system actively regulates the power demand of a total of 20 charging points, to prevent the network resources becoming overloaded. For this purpose, power control was implemented in several stages using both a local and a superordinate charging management system. The local management system dynamically controls the charging process of individual vehicles. The superordinate charging system monitors the current  network status and prevents overloading by controlling a buffer storage unit and by specifying a power quota to the local charging management system. The overall concept was successfully tested and validated in a field test using several electric vehicles. The system is still in operation and will be transferred to other parking lots.

The project was implemented by a consortium comprising the Institute of Energy Transmission and High Voltage Technology at the University of Stuttgart, parking garage operator PBW GmbH, charging solution provider ChargeHere, an EnBW innovation, and grid operator Stuttgart Netze GmbH.

Alexander Reulein from the Ministry of the Environment emphasizes the importance of contributions from such research and development projects: "Testing innovative solutions in practical situations improves the implementation of strategic societal goals and aids the development of optimal solutions for specific challenges."