EXAMENS ARBETE
Utvecklingsingenjör 180hp
ecGo
Charge, Pay & Go!
Anna Ekelund och Eric Standar
Bachelor Thesis
Högskolan i Halmstad
Akadamin för Ekonomi, Teknik och Nattur Anna Ekelund 910101-4422
Eric Standar 890713- 4871
Sammanfattning
Elbilsbranschen ökar ständigt och med tanke på flertal större satsningar, samt den miljövänligt hållbara elproduktionen i Skandinavien, har dessa länder precis rätt
förutsättningar för att vara förebilder när det kommer till utbyggnad av laddinfrastruktur för elbilar. Med en aktivt växande miljöfråga och det välkomnande som elbilar fått i
Skandinavien tror vi att vårt samhälle är redo för en stor förändring när det kommer till fordon. Dagens elbilar används oftast som extrabil för pendling av kortare sträckor och är inte det självklara som förstabil. Detta beror mest på att dagen elbilar inte har den räckvidd som fossila bilar har. Det beror också på att det är en ny teknik och många människor känner att den fortfarande är outvecklad och svår att anpassa sig till. Vi såg en möjlighet, att förenkla övergången från en fossil bil till en elbil och vi tog den chansen.
Idag finns det ett flertal olika eldistributörer och företag som etablerar nya laddstolpar runt om på våra vägar. Detta resulterar i att det de tävlar om bästa platser och flest elbilsanvändare. Då de olika företagen använder olika system för laddning och betalning är det krångligt för en elbilsanvändare att veta vart laddningen finns och hur den fungerar. Osäkerheten som finns hos elbilens räckvidd och okunskapen om vart stolpar finns gav oss möjligheten av skapa en ny tjänst som kombinerat kan underlätta både dessa problem.
Syftet med projektet är att förenkla vardagen för elbilsanvändare genom att ersätta alla dagens system till ett gemensamt system. Detta gör att det är lättare för elbilsbranschen att växa och på lång sikt förbättra vår miljö. För att kunna använda sin elbil som en vardagsbil måste man känna sig försäkrad o matt man kan hitta en stolpa på sin planerade rutt och att den finns tillgänglig när användaren kommer dit.
Därför presentera vi ecGo. ecGo är en tjänst utvecklad både för elbilsanvändarna men också för laddstolpsägarna. Användarna ska på ett enkelt sätt kunna gå in och lokalisera, navigera och reservera en specifik stolpe, en specifik tid. Laddstolpsägarna ska kunna fortsätta att etablera fler laddstolpar, men istället för att oroa sig om att värva fler medlemmar kan de fokusera på att utveckla stolparna och plasterna och ändå få betalt genom elanvändningen som sker på deras laddstolpe.
Abstract
The electric vehicles industry is constantly increasing and the Nordic countries have great qualifications to become good examples within the electric infrastructure. The electricity productions is environmental sustainable and we think that our society is ready for a change.
Today’s electric vehicles are often used as an extra car and not like an “everyday”-car, this is mostly because of the short range on today’s electric cars and the new techniques people needs to adapt to. We saw a chance to make the transition between fossil cars and electric cars as our mission to develop.
Today there are several operators that constantly establish new charging stations along Nordic highways. The operators compete to be market leader by producing their own charging and payment systems. This makes it very complex for the electric car users since they must abide to all various charging systems. The uncertainty of driving longer distances with an electric car and not know where the next charging station might be found and if it is occupied or not.
This project strives to ease the use of electric vehicles by replacing all various systems into one united and thereby contribute to the growth of the electric car industry. To be able to use an electric car as an everyday car by ensuring that charging stations are available when needed.
That is why we proudly introduce ecGo. ecGo has been developed for the electric car users and the electricity operators. Users should be able to easy locate, navigate and a reserve specific charging station. Operators can continue to establish new charging stations, without worry to link new members, and still get paid for the electricity that is being delivered. It is a win-win situation.
ecGo has taught us much more than just about the electric vehicle industry. We have been able to use all previous knowledge taught in classes during our study at Högskolan i
Halmstad. Project planning, analyzing data and project management are a few other thing we have had the chance to further develop skills within.
Preamble
ecGo is a result of e new product development project and thesis project of the Innovation Engineering program at Högskolan i Halmstad. This project started in September 2014 and lasted till May 2015. The project comprises 22,5 hp and is focusing on product development and innovation management. The project is a summation of what the Innovation Engineering program is about. Through dedication, interest and hard work develop an idea to a finished product.
We would like to thank all those people who helped us during this project:
• Tutor and examiner, Leif Nordin
• Mutual Benefits Engineering AB- Niclas Jarhall & Davood Fassih
• Computer Engineers- Christoffer Lindström & Richard Solti
• ALMI Företagspartner
• Garo, Anders Pettersson
• AES Nordic
• Halmstad Energi & Miljö
• Other partners that have helped us during the project
In the beginning of this project we decided to set up goals and challenges for ourselves. We were both sure that we wanted to work alongside with a company. A co-operation with a company has given us a good insight into how labor market works and looks like. We both wanted to work with a theme that is under development with good future prospects and when Mutual Benefits Engineering AB proposed a project within the electric vehicle market, we became very interested. Our thesis is not only made to conduct a thesis project, but to gain experience within a specific area that will contribute to valuable knowledge for future career.
To work along with a consulting company, and develop their idea is a perfect combination between innovation and consulting and we have become more like consultants than students writing a bachelor thesis. This is something we highly value and consider to be a good experience.
Table of content !
1. Introduction --- 3!
1.1 Background --- 3!
1.2 Needs/problems --- 3!
1.3 Purpose and Goals --- 4!
1.3.1 Vision --- 4!
1.3.2 The product --- 4!
1.4 Delimitations --- 5!
2. Methods --- 6!
2.1 Communication --- 6!
2.2 Novelty Search and Patent Application,, --- 6!
2.3 Financial support and feedback --- 6!
2.4 Empirical- and market surveys, --- 6!
2.5 Presentation, interviews and partners --- 7!
2.6 FMEA --- 7!
2.7 Brainstorming --- 7!
2.8 Risk analysis --- 7!
2.9 SWOT-analysis --- 7!
2.10 Gantt-chart --- 3!
2.11 Business model canvas (BMC) --- 3!
2.12 Technical requirement specification template (TRST) --- 3!
3. Project Model- method for product development and innovation management --- 4!
3.1 Agile project management --- 4!
3.2 Dynamic system development --- 4!
3.2 Parallel development --- 4!
3.3 Action Research --- 4!
3.4 Insider Action Research --- 5!
3.5 Insider Action Research and using studies --- 5!
4. Theory and references --- 6!
4.1 Electric distribution and existing charging stations, meeting with HEM --- 6!
4.2 The charging process, --- 6!
4.5 Study of electric production and Carbon dioxide emission of electric cars and cars with
combustion engines.,,,,,,, --- 10!
5. Process of development --- 12!
5.1 Planning --- 12!
5.2 Current situation analysis --- 12!
5.3 Pre-Study --- 13!
5.4 Development process --- 14!
6. Result- The Product --- 17!
6.1 The ecGo system --- 17!
6.1.1 Website: --- 17!
6.1.2 Hardware: --- 20!
6.1.3 Database & Server: --- 20!
7. Production process --- 21!
7.1 Analysis of competence --- 21!
7.1.1 Software Developers --- 21!
7.1.2 Web designers --- 21!
7.1.3 Installers of the chargers --- 21!
8. Business Model --- 22!
8.1 Business Model Canvas --- 22!
8.2 Market Survey- Customer Survey --- 22!
8.3 The market, --- 22!
8.4 Market Strategy --- 23!
8.5 Distribution- Delivery --- 23!
9. Discussion/reflection – The product --- 26!
9.1 Sustainable Development, Working Environment & Ethics and Morals --- 27!
10. Discussion/reflection – The project --- 29!
11. References --- 31!
12. Appendixes --- 34!
1. Introduction
Today there are around 10 000 electric vehicles in Sweden and according to statistic, the numbers will keep increasing. 1 In conjunction with the growing number of electric vehicles, the charging infrastructure needs to adapt in the same speed. It is essential to develop and invent new features to the growing market in order to facilitate the transition between combustion engine cars and electric cars.
1.1 Background
The Nordic countries are constantly striving to increase knowledge in a sustainable
environment. A popular market strategy is to point out the “green thinking” in the product, the company or the project. This seems to impress and get people's attention, which often is the meaning.
The car industry is constantly developing new car models and new features. The most recent and fast growing feature today is the venture of electric vehicles. The technologies for electric cars are rapidly constantly developed and the market thirst for new and innovative ideas.
Because the market is in an early stage, there are no strict guidelines for how the future technology will be. The industry is malleable and instead of contributing to a growing market, any new technology can give the opposite effect and withdraws the evolution.
People believe that as soon as the batteries last longer and the charging is fast enough, the electric car industries will flourish. In order to get there, people need to see the benefits of electric cars and users must benefit from the progress.
This project is interesting because the industry is foreseen to grow significantly in the near future and our project will help this in the right direction.
1.2 Needs/problems
The electric car industry is under great development in an increasingly environmentally conscious society and the sales of electric vehicles continue to hit new records. In the Nordic countries, electric cars has gained a strong foothold where subsidize and other benefits have helped people to decide to buy electric cars. However, in connection with the growing electric vehicle industry, the infrastructure needs to adapt in the same pace.
Today, many charging stations are free to use, but this is not in the future economically sustainable. Major electric companies have already begun collaboration with other parties to expand the Nordic charging network with payable charging stations and more are expected to emerge over the coming year.2 Payable charging stations is relatively new in this industry and there is therefore no obvious solution to how the payment is to be made. Today, users can at most stations pay via their mobile phone, which is not the smoothest and most optimal
Some use RFID tags, which in turn is linked to a profile and an account, while some use cards, like petrol cards. When using these cards or RFID tags, the user has to carry these extra devices every time they want to charge their car. Another problem is that the different devices cannot be used on other companies charging stations, but are locked to the respective electric company and their systems. This makes it very complicated for electric car users because the latter will either be forced to pay through their mobile phone, or use several different payment devices depending on which electric company that operates in each area or charging station. 3 Electric cars technology of today are not developed enough to compete with fossil cars. This applies mainly to the charge time and mileage. The charging process takes considerably longer time than to refuel a fossil car. To charge an electric car battery from 0-80% takes today, with a quick charger, around 20-30 minutes. The range of electric cars is variable depending on the model and can be anything from 150-450 kilometers. This results in that at longer distances the users have to make a longer stop to recharge the electric car. In
connection with the growing electric car market, more users will have to charge their cars at commercial charging stations. This will result that chargers along highly trafficked and popular routes will be occupied when the user needs it.
People of today are very comfortable with the existing technology and to own a chargeable vehicle requires a change in everyday life. When change becomes tedious, most people tend to stick to the traditional. Therefore general knowledge of how to charge an electric car and where to find chargers need to reach people. The electric cars are significantly more
environmentally friendly, from a Nordic perspective, than fossil cars are documented, but the adaptation and use of electric vehicles must be improved.
1.3 Purpose and Goals 1.3.1 Vision
Our vision is to have a working prototype of the ecGo in May of 2015, to create a full-scale product and implement it within the next year. It should be installed into all new established and already existing smart chargers to become the leading suppliers of a European electric vehicle charging and payment systems.
1.3.2 The product
The most significant goal in this project has been to present a functional prototype that meets all given requirements. It has also been important that the product is implementable on the existing market and updatable to be market leader for future use.
By fulfilling the following requirements, the product goals has been achieved:
1. Locate charging stations 2. Find chosen charging station
4. Make a reservation on a specific station and time.
5. Save personal data on your profile to save time the next time you will use it.
6. Implementable onto existing charging stations to replace existing software.
1.4 Delimitations
We have chosen to delimitate the project within the Nordic charging infrastructure. We are not investigating how to supply the charging stations with electricity since a licensed
electrical wholesaler does this. We are not looking at the design of charging stations since we want to implement ecGo onto today’s chargers, using already existing manufacturers.
2. Methods
2.1 Communication
Communication within the project has occurred on weekly basis with Leif Nordin, tutor from the university. A weekly report has been sent to Leif Nordin and the two project leaders at Mutual Benefits, Niclas Jarhall and Davood Fassih. The report has contained what has been done during the present week as well as what should be done the upcoming week. Also if any financial involvement has been present that week.
2.2 Novelty Search and Patent Application4,5,6
See appendix 9
Research of existing patents and other protections that could block an idea or a product within the project. These researches were made to avoid intrusion that could result in violation of the law. Patent is a formal protection that provides all rights reserved and using the technical solution. There are two requirements that the idea/product need to fulfill to get approved. It needs to be newsworthy and it needs inventive heights. This means that the product should have technical solutions that never have been seen before.
2.3 Financial support and feedback
See appendix 1
Application and requests about financial support to our project has been sent to venture capitals, companies and other investors. The obtaining of capital also contains participation in innovation-, business plans- and entrepreneur- competitions. The applications for the
competitions also generate valuable feedback from jury members. The feedback will provide helpful information and thoughts about the market potential and product it self.
2.4 Empirical- and market surveys7,8
See appendix 10
Collection of primary and secondary data that proves the relevance of the project. Basically the information is gathered from Laddinfra.se and their ELIS. Market survey is made in collaboration with Monkey Survey, an Internet based service. Information about what people thinks about electric vehicles and what the society believes in.
4 www.prv.se (2015-03-24)
2.5 Presentation, interviews and partners
Presentations about the project have been made to industry experts, industrial companies, municipal, mentors and investors. The cooperation with Mutual Benefits is a source of expertise and information consulting that could favor the project. Partners have been picked from the factors of knowledge and interesting similar projects. Also the geographical factor has been a ruling element.
2.6 FMEA9
The method is used to find possible errors on the software. Areas with high potential of errors have an action plan to minimize the risk of the possible problem.
2.7 Brainstorming10
When starting this project, the project group did not have much knowledge or experience about electric cars and the brainstorm method was perfect. All ideas were put in one pot and then mixed together to take out the best parts. Brainstorming has been used in different parts of the project.
2.8 Risk analysis11
A risk analysis is made to analyze what risks that the project possible can face. Possible risks were determined and the probability and an impact factor were set. This two factors times each other gave the project a risk value and an easier way to prioritize the risks. The risk analysis goal was to write possible corrections if this risk would happen.
2.9 SWOT-analysis12
The SWOT analysis is made to analyze and verify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the project. The strengths and weaknesses focus on the internal factors that need to be improved or better utilized. What makes the idea better than the competitors? The external factors, opportunities and threats are made to see the potential in the project, how to customize the project to achieve a better result and to discover the negative factors that may influence the project.
2.10 Gantt-chart 13
To be able to stick to the time-schedule a Gantt chart is a perfect method to use. This helps to visually follow all the steps and activities in the project process, what activities that needs to be done and when in order to make progress. Overall this helps the project to proceed without unnecessary interruptions. This also allows external parties that are involved in the project, to easily get an overview of the project components and intended time management.
2.11 Businessmodel canvas (BMC)14
Business model canvas is a tool that helps map, discuss, design and invent a business model.
It shows how to create and deliver value, establish a good customer relationship, the key activities and who the key partners are. These are factors that help to accomplish the project.
It is designed by 9 basic building boxes, which easily can be visually inspected by external parties in order to form an idea of project’s main factors.
2.12 Technical requirement specification template (TRST)15
To rank the technical requirements for the product, a technical requirement specification template is a good tool to use. This helps to discover and analyze the main, secondary and sub requirements. When creating the product, it is easy to follow the requirements rank in order to develop the product step by step, with respect to the most important specification.
3. Project Model- method for product development and innovation management
3.1 Agile project management16
The agile project model has been the prior model during the project. The model is a flexible and slightly humble model, which is good when starting a new project with little or no prior knowledge, which has been the case during this project. It is flexible in both time and costs and it allows the end result to consist of parts that were not originally planned, but found during the project. The model has been very useful since the project has change due to expertise advices from other partners. Instead of working parallel with several different processes, the agile model divides the whole project into several different stages and phases.
This simplifies both the implementation and the overview of the project and which phase that has to be done before starting the next one. The agile model is a visual project model, where methods such as business canvas model, Gantt-schedule and brainstorming are used when mapping the project. The models is focusing on simplicity, in other words, doing the right thing, in the right moment, one time and using few resources as efficiently as possible.
3.2 Dynamic system development17
The dynamic system develop model is similar to the agile project model and has partly been used during the project. The small difference is that Dynamic system development is not as efficient and direct as the agile, but slightly more flexible. A Gantt-schedule can be used to visually see the different phases and gates during a certain time period. Although these phases are scalable and contains several smaller elements, which in its turn are solved with a
dynamic model. The various elements starts out with only a predicted solution which, during the project, easily can change depending on unforeseen or unexpected results that impact the final solution. As an example is starting one phase and realizing that another phase needs to be started, or finished, in order to continue with the current phase.
3.2 Parallel development18
The parallel project model is based on working and develop several phases simultaneously.
During the spring semester the software has been developed simultaneously with Christoffer and Richard, and at the same time mold and complete the business model and how to
implement the system on the market.
3.3 Action Research
Action research has been used to improve a defined problem and to find areas that can be improved. The product development has been examined from an objective perspective to improve certain parts of the project. By examine previous articles and studies about the electric car industry and already existing charging systems, a decision of how the ecGo system should be designed. For example the mapping and the navigation functions as well as the registrations of a personal profile are some of the already existing features that are well needed when forming the ecGo system. It is also important to keep in mind that by making decisions on documented basis, some new functioning’s can be distorted or completely excluded. Therefore an inside action research has been done as well. The action research has overall improved the knowledge of electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure, and from there been used to improve defined problems.
3.4 Insider Action Research
Insider action research is done to reduce and improve issues by using the internal resources, experiences and opinions within the project group. This has been done by using and mixing experience from the computer engineers, the project leaders and Mutual benefits. Discussions and documentations have been done to improve the understanding within the project group.
The method can be used in several different areas of the project. For example, the computer engineers have used their programming experience to create the ecGo system. Mutual Benefits has been a valuable asset when forming the business model. In this case, the use of an electric car has been valuable to gain knowledge in what is needed when owning an electric car. The processes are documented and analyzed within the project group to gain experience of how an electric car work and from there, form ecGo by a user perspective.
3.5 Insider Action Research and using studies
Insider action research and using studies is by examining the product through a user
perspective. This part has been done by testing the website, booking system and its features to simply analyze the use of the product. This part can be done several times during the project to enhance the product to improve the product. Both the project group and actual users can do this in order to gain feedback and improve specific features. Since ecGo has not been released for commercial use, the project group has only tested it and further by users can continually be made to improve certain software update.
4. Theory and references
4.1 Electric distribution and existing charging stations, meeting with HEM19
The product we are developing is, in the future, only a part of a final product. Our vision is to implement the ecGo-system into already existing and new smart-charging stations. Therefore we needed to collect knowledge about electric companies and the electricity distribution.
We went to meet the local electricity company in Halmstad, Halmstad Energi och Miljö, HEM where we met student counselor Kristoffer Arvidsson and charging specialist Alexander Öhrning. We asked how the electric distribution in Sweden works and this is the answer we got.
All the electricity comes from one so called backbone network owned by the Swedish
enterprise and authority, Svenska kraftnät. There are about 160 electric companies in Sweden, divided into geographical areas, which owns the electric network in a specific area. Each company has exclusive right to distribute electricity to customers within their area.
We also asked, if we wanted to establish a charging station along the highway in Halmstad, how would we proceed. The answer was that if we wanted to establish a charging station in Halmstad, HEM is the electric company that we must turn to for assistance with the electric installation in order to get access to the electricity network. We asked about the electric charging stations that are established on ICA Maxi’s parking lot, and who was the owner of those. HEM is the company who sold and delivered the station to ICA. ICA is in their turn offering it as an extra service for their customers. If you shop at their store, you can charge your electric vehicle for free while shopping. ICA is paying for the electricity used to fill the electric vehicle, and in return they get a good reputation and provides extra service for their customers, which leads to satisfied customers.
This meeting gave us good information about how the electricity is distributed, from source to the car, who is paying for what and who our customers are.
4.2 The charging process20, 21
The charging stations are connected to the Swedish electricity network, or to an already existing installation. The fast charger receives AC (alternative current) and transforms it to DC (Direct current) before charging the batteries. When using AC there need to be an integrated rectifier, On Board Charger (OBC), to be able use the electricity for the electric vehicles. Today there are differences between most chargeable cars, and the largest difference is the variety of sockets the car producers use. On the market there are charging stations for
all kinds of use, home charging, regular charging at work/stories/cities, fast charging, superchargers and other brand specific chargers.
Charging an electric vehicle has a lot of differences depending on what kind of car that will be charged. Different brands have different batteries and different technologies providing the batteries with electricity. The majority of them are built by the same material and because of that they receive the electricity the same way. When the battery start to receive electricity it also starts to build up a resistance, the more electricity in the battery, the more resistance. This results in that the first 80% of the battery and the last 20% take the same amount of time to charge. The resistance gets higher and the charging speed decreases the more electricity the battery gets.
• Regular
The regular charging is today the most common one. It is charging with a low charging effect during a long period. Depending how big your batteries are it will fully load the electric vehicle in 6-10 h, depending on the size of the battery. This kind of charging is often used at home when the car is standing still for a long time, usually during the night. The regular charging can also be used in a short time, while shopping or working few hours and this is great as a “top up”. Most common power is 230 V/10 A, 2.3 kWh Schuko, for it is
recommended when charging over an hour, but sometimes there is also 230 V/16 A, 3.7 kWh Schuko.
• Semi-fast Charging
The semi-fast charging is quite common in both residential and commercial places. The semi- fast charger is a smart charger and communicates with the car in order to vary the effect depending on the batteries capacity. The semi fast charger delivers up to 400 V, 32 A, 22 kW, but most residential chargers will operate around 230 V, 16 A, 7kW. The most common electric cars take between one to three hours before it is fully charge.
• Fast Charging
Fast charging is today the charging under most development. Constantly in change and there is not a specific time or effect that works on all different electric vehicles. There is a goal, which says that the fast charging should be that fast so you would wait by your car while charging. This means that approximately 80% of the battery will be charged in 20-30 minutes and the remaining 20% takes about the same amount of time. The given effect is 400 V, 16 A, 20 kW and 400 V, 32 A, 50 kW.
Sockets
There are different kinds of sockets for different cars and chargers, most common are the type 1, 2. The type 1 is developed in USA and Japan and the Type 2 is developed in Europe. There are also CHAdeMO, Tesla and CCS EU. The CHAdeMO and CCS are common in fast chargers and can charge up to 50 kWh. Most of the fast chargers also have the ability to connect the Type 2. In order to decrease the confusion between electric car producers, a
4.3 Electric vehicles in Sweden 22,23,24
Today there are 10 000 electric vehicles in Sweden, and about 41% of those are pure electric cars. According to statistic the most common pure electric cars in Sweden are Nissan Leaf (1082 pcs), Renault Kangoo (761 pcs) and Tesla Model S (513 pcs).
Use of electricity
Since we are working to improve our environment and to contribute the growing market of electric vehicles, we need to know how this will affect the use of electricity. According to statistics the market sale of electric vehicles has increased by 144% the last year. If the market keeps growing in the same speed, there will be an increase in the electricity use.
Today the one who owns the land it is located on owns the charging stations. If you visit a supermarket that offers a charging station at the parking lot, it is highly conceivable that the supermarket has invested in the stations and pays for the used electricity, the same way the pay all their electricity. It works the same way if you use a charging station connected to a company, that offer it to their employers, or to Mc Donalds. The complicity in this is that that deals need to be made specific for each area with different electricity suppliers. Therefor a general agreement could be written and then it could be customized over time. We also need to consider that this should be applicable, not only in Sweden, but the rest of Europe, so therefor we should find out how this service works in other countries.
4.4 Geographical plans
In order to develop and implement a nationwide charging system, research regarding where to establish charging stations needs to be done. Factors that have determined where to
implement new chargers are traffic flow and the range of modern electric cars. A few factors has be left out due to expansion. The locations have been delimited to specific parts of
Sweden, covering an area between Stockholm - Strömstad and southern Sweden.
Analysis of trafficked roads in Sweden.25
The statistic and data of the traffic flow are from trafikverket.se. The data shown on the map is the average numbers of cars passing on a specific route during one day, 24 hours. A specific study of a certain distance can be found at trafikverkets statistic.
Distance26
The distance will be used to locate where to establish charging stations, relative to each other.
The distance between the charging stations are based on the driving distances of pure electric cars. By analyzing the statistics from it is possible to detect the shortest distance of an electric car sold on market today. Fiat 500 has the shortest driving range of 110 kilometers. The
average range of electric cars are159km and therefore 100km is an appropriate minimum distance to start with.
Where to establish charging stations
The charging stations shall be established along highways and trafficked roads. Because of the waiting time when the car is being charged, the charging stations should be placed next to restaurants, for example McDonalds, max etcetera. The user can therefore have a short break while charging their car.
Charging stations requirements
To be able to implement ecGo, the charging station needs to fulfill some requirements. Some of the already existing chargers are so called “smart” chargers, which means that they are connected to the cloud and has a display. This will make it easy to implement the system with few components. Some chargers are analogue and will need extra hardware in order to
implement a fully working ecGo system. The idea is only to implement the system onto existing and new smart-chargers since these are the ones with a payment system.
Advice about where to establish charging stations in Sweden.
1. Strömstad 2. Uddevalla 3. Göteborg 4. Kungsbacka 5. Varberg 6. Halmstad 7. Helsingborg 8. Malmö 9. Borås 10. Jönköping 11. Värnamo
12. Markaryd (Kritisk punkt, Växjö 111km) 13. Kristianstad
14. karlshamn 15. Karlskrona 16. Kalmar 17. Växjö
21. Mjölby 22. Norrköping 23. Nyköping 24. Stockholm 25. Norrtälje 26. Uppsala 27. Gävle
4.5 Study of electric production and Carbon dioxide emission of electric cars and cars with combustion engines.27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34
The following study is made out of both a Nordic and a Swedish electricity production perspective. The study represents the difference of carbon dioxide emission between electric cars and cars with a combustion engine. The Nordic perspective includes the northern countries, their electricity production and usage while the Swedish perspective is done only by the Swedish electricity production. Although, Sweden cannot be self-sufficient of electricity and buys about 20% of their total electricity consumption from other countries.
To get a better overview of the carbon dioxide emission regarding combustion engine and an electric engine, a calculation of the charging process is presented below. The calculation is made out of the two most popular electric cars in Sweden, according to elbilsstatistik.se the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S, and the two most popular cars with a combusting engine, where the most popular car according vibilagare.se is Volvo V70 D4 and the most sold car in Sweden 2014, according to bytbil.se, is the Volkswagen Golf.
The Volvo V70 is the most popular car based on most registered model in Sweden, this includes the older versions of Volvo V70. Since the survey is made with the new Volvo V70 D4, and not the older versions that have predominantly higher carbon dioxide emission, the study shows a better image of the combustion engine cars than what it is in reality. The studies of the Golf model are also made on the least emission model of the Golf versions and are not including the other new versions of the model with higher emission. This means that
27http://www.svenskenergi.se/Elfakta/Miljo-och-klimat/Klimatpaverkan/Hur-mycket-koldioxid-medfor-din-elanvandning/
(2015-02-02)
28 http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/versions-specs/version.s.html (2015-02-02)
29 http://www.nissan.se/SE/sv/vehicle/electric-vehicles/leaf/charging-and-battery/range.html (2015-02-02)
30http://www.teslamotors.com/sv_SE/models/reviews (2015-02-02)
the survey are not entirely consistent with the reality in which the difference would be even greater than shown below.
Nordic perspective
According to Svensk Energi, the Nordic production of 1 kWh electricity results in about 100g carbon dioxide emission.
Charge a Nissan Leaf with a battery capacity of 24kWh.
24kWh*100g = 2400g carbon dioxide emission.
Driving distance: 199km.
2400g/199km = 12.06g CO2/km
Charge a Tesla Model S with a battery capacity of 85kWh.
85kWh*100g = 8500g CO2 Driving distance 502km.
8500/502 = 16.93g CO2/km
Compared to the newest Volvo V70 D4 model with least emission.
113g CO2/km (Manual)
Compared to the most sold car 2014 Volkswagen Golf, TDI (Blue Motion) with least emission. 35
85g/km
Swedish perspective
According to Svensk Energi, the Swedish production of 1 kWh electricity results in about 20g carbon dioxide emission.
Charge a Nissan Leaf with a battery capacity of 24kWh.
24kWh*20g = 480g carbon dioxide emission.
Average driving distance: 135km.
480g/199km = 2.41g CO2/km
Charge a Tesla Model S with a battery capacity of 85kWh.
85kWh*20g = 1700gCO2 Driving distance 502km.
1700/502 = 3.39g CO2/km
5. Process of development
5.1 Planning
In the beginning of the project a method called brainstorming was used. All thoughts,
speculations and reflections were written down on one paper and then the best part out of each proposal was chosen. Information was gathered to gain knowledge about the electric vehicle industry. Mostly how electric cars work and the usage of them in Sweden. There was a focus on the different charging system and how they work in real life. All the information was put into different categories and read carefully. The gathered expertise has helped the project in the development of a charging system that will not only facilitate the usage of electric cars, but also contributed to a growing electric car business. The brainstorming also improved the project groups understanding on delimitations. Delimitations were set to the Nordic countries and the design of chargers was also delimitated. All decisions that were made and all the solutions that were invented are based on a wide communication with everyone involved.
The financial situation was something not relevant in the beginning of the project. A prototype was the project goal and to be able to produce a prototype, some investors were contacted. ALMI was contacted from start and a presentation about the project was presented.
ALMI saw potential in the project and invested 15000SEK. That money was to be spend on a prototype and all necessary studies that had to be done to generate a prototype.
Weekly meetings with the University tutor, Leif Nordin, have had the outcome with lots of feedback and supporting. A weekly report has been written to see what has been done and what to do next week. This have given the project a great overview and it has been easy to look back to see what has happen during the period. The weekly report has been sent to Niclas and Davood at Mutual Benefits and Leif Nordin. This procedure also gave a chance for
external inputs from both Mutual Benefits and the tutor.
The time period the project had was structured with the help of a Gantt-chart (see appendix 6). The timeline was organized with a Gantt chart to be sure that important functions was left out. The schedule has been reorganized a few times after realizing that some parts was done earlier than planned and some parts was more time consuming than planned. The Gantt-chart has facilitated the project in different ways:
• The easy overview
• The structure of the project
• A better time perspective
5.2 Current situation analysis
A novelty search and seeking for patents was done in an early stage of the project (see
could integrate with ecGo. The research that was made for already existing applications were both positive and negative. The search was done through PRV and the following keywords were used in the search, “laddstolpar”, “bokning laddstolpar”, “elbil laddning” “reservation charging system”. The applications that already exist have a few of the functions ecGo consists of, but none of them has the function to reserve a charging station. After the research the main focus became very clear, to develop a working booking system, because it is never seen on the electric car market. It should be time specific and still have a choice to use the charging stations with a drop-in function. This search gave us more confidence that this project is unique and something that could make the transition from fossil cars to electric cars easier. The search for a similar brand name was done through the Swedish patent database, PRV and the TMview. The search for ecGo gave no negative results and there was no risk for intrusion.
A meeting with HEM, Halmstad Energi och Miljö, was set up to gain more knowledge about electricity supply and the charging infrastructure in Halmstad. A broader understanding about the electricity’s way from the source to a home and what Halmstad, the community, thinks about charging and electric vehicles. Lots of new information and inputs to the project helped ecGo in the right direction, forward.
5.3 Pre-Study
To be able to see what the market actually is looking for, a market survey was prepared and completed (see appendix 10). Two different surveys were made because of different market segments. The first survey was drawn and targeted to people on the market that does not drive or own an electrical vehicle. This one provided information that was relevant in order to see what people actually knew about electric vehicles and chargers and what they thought about the future of the electric car industry. It gave the project a base to stand on from the
“non-users” point of view. It was clear that there is a knowledge gap about electric vehicles.
A lot of the answers had questions within the reply and there were also a lot of assumptions that were wrong. The second survey was targeted towards the group of people that is currently driving or owning an electric vehicle. Some of the people who participated in the survey were working with development of charging or electric vehicles instead of owning their own. This survey gave the project a fairer outcome compared to the first one.
To explore and understand the other markets in Europe a market study was made (see appendix 12). The chosen countries were Estonia, Poland and Croatia. These were chosen after consideration with Mutual Benefits and a small research on European charging infrastructure. The market study was made as a complement to the project and to see how other governments plan to build their infrastructure and plan their future. It gave us a big understanding in the electricity productions in different countries. It is facts the Nordic
countries have a green production of electricity compared to a lot of other European countries.
This means that even if for example Estonia have a nationwide charging infrastructure and a lot of electric cars the equation still ends up worse driving an EV than a fossil car, because of
5.4 Development process
A list of requirements was developed with a mix of people in the project; it is called Technical Requirement Specification Template (see appendix 8). It was our project group, Mutual Benefits and chosen users who participated. All team members seemed to be satisfied with the different requirements from starts. These requirements have been replaced and changed during the projects time. Some of them has been removed therefore a new idea have come up or a better idea have replaced it. For example a requirement about being able to pay with your credit card right on the charging station have had to be compromised because of chargers without those function who already exist. This list is called the Technical
Requirements Specification Template and it gave the project a simple overview of the priorities of the functions. Main functions will be locating, reservation and the profiles.
Two different SWOT-analysis (See appendix 5) were made to be able to see what the project and products strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are. The project- SWOT had an outcome that gave the project group an advantage that made it easier to see what needed to be done and improved. The analysis pointed out that software, and website related problems were to be our soft spot. The product-SWOT analysis was made to be sure this was a product with more strengths and opportunities than weaknesses and threats. We understood that there is a big advantage to be first on the market with a reservation system and with Mutual
Benefits there is an opportunity to make it successful on the market.
After the SWOT-analysis was done the threats and weaknesses were reformulated into risks.
The risks were used as factors in a risk-analysis (see appendix 4). The risk-analysis resulted in a clearer understanding of the functions and parts that needs to be improved or changed. Some risks are more important to deal with than other and this analysis was also performed so it would be easier to put the risks in a priority order. The most problematic risk is that the time will not be enough before the implementation phase. Also that Mutual Benefits will not be satisfied with the final solutions and that we will not meet the demand of the requirements.
When the risks were determined a plan was made to deal with them, a Business Model Canvas was compound (see appendix 7). The BMC was done at first because it was a mandatory part for the application for Venture Cup; an entrepreneurship competitions ecGo was competing in. The BMC different steps together brought out a business model. It shows how to create and deliver value, establish a good customer relationship, the key activities and who the key partners are. It was a great method to use that gave the project its basic “business rules”. Questions like these got an answer:
• Who should we sell this to?
• Where is our market?
• How to respond and treat our customer?
ecGo competed in Venture Cup in three different categories. Business Plan 2014-11-11(See
Two students, Christoffer Lindström and Richard Solti, from the Computer Engineer Program were contacted with a request about cooperation. The lack of knowledge in programming, servers and databases in our group gave the computer engineers an invite. This part of the project has been a challenge in management. The group had to adjust to each other and the differences had to become an advantage instead of disagreements. The computer engineers were put in charge of the software development. The requirements and thoughts were discussed and a more technical specification was compound.
The midterm presentation was presented and a concept report was submitted. The questions that were asked after the presentation gave the project new perspectives and new ideas. The presentation was also used in other events like a course called Mentorship and a taped version of the presentation was send to Mutual Benefits.
A design for the logotype and upcoming brand was drawn before presenting the project in the midterms (see appendix 11). A matching website layout was designed that reflects the
ecological think ecGo is dedicated to and the charging network as the primary purpose. The first sketches of the websites and mock-ups were made by hand (see appendix 11) and were discussed with the computer engineers. It gave the website a basic layout that included all the functions and features that ecGo is providing. A graphic manual was combined to simplify the process of design. Colors were chosen, fonts were picked and specific functions got specific colors. This is for applying it on the website, (See appendix 24).
A company called AES Nordic has a history as suppliers with software to charging stations.
The project group met Johan Karlsson at AES Nordic and received more knowledge in those areas. It has been important for the project to see the whole picture from software to hardware to implementation and marketing.
In February a new class started and it was called Mentorships for engineers. Anna and Eric were both students in this class and had the opportunity to have Emil Lundvall as their
mentor. Emil Lundvall is a former student at Utvecklingsingenjörsprogrammet and during his bachelor thesis he was building an electric sport car. The meetings with Emil have given our project new perspectives and new issues. Thoughts and questions that have not been brought up before came up to the air. Emil is a great project leader and had great ideas and alterations the project could take benefit from. He questioned our solutions and our business plan, which made us think in different ways.
A meeting with a large company called Garo was set up in March. Garo provides Sweden with all kinds of supply for electricity using. Their product line is very wide and they both have retail, suppliers and electricity workers as their customers. The visit was very
informative and gave the project a big understanding in the whole electricity process. A small co-operation was set up with Garo and their interest in our project was big. In the end of May the project group will attend a fair at the University, called Utexpo. The fair contains all bachelor theses from the university. To visualize our reservation system we got the chance to borrow a charger from Garo. This charger was modified with some new led-light and an Arduino Udo as our communication with the system. The prototype for the Utexpo fair will
An opposition on the project was made in April. The other project groups did an opposition on our concept and solution. Feedback and thoughts from new perspectives gave the project new ideas and inputs (See appendix 25). In order to be able to change the concept and get the most out of the opposition it should be scheduled much earlier in the project.
Two domains was bought to get the website up and running. www.ecgocharge.se and www.ecgocharge.com was the choice of name that in the end was the best proposal. Mutual Benefits bought the domains and Christoffer and Richard moved the system into the domains.
The website had to be configured with different platforms and also be modified into a mobile friendly version.
6. Result- The Product
6.1 The ecGo system
The ecGo system is developed as an open system to make it implementable on todays charging and payment systems. The system mainly comprises a website, server and a database.
6.1.1 Website:
The website, www.ecgocharge.com or/and www.ecgocharge.se is designed and developed in cooperation with Richard Solti and Christoffer Lindström, two computer engineers at
Halmstad University. The website is a mobile adapted website and is designed to fit various operators. The booking system can be accessed from any smartphone, tablet or computer.
When visiting the website, one can click through different menus, read about ecGo and their founders, navigate through a mapping system and see FAQ’s. By the website, users can create a login profile. The profile will consist personal data, name, users name, address, email, and even what kind of car and socket it has. After login, the user can access its profile and study previous bookings and book a specific charging station. Here is also where the user will enter its credit card number. In order to pay with the profile the user has to enter a personal code which will be used to unlock the charging station when the user booked it, this will be a so called Key-ID.
On the website there will be a mapping system, which will easily visual the location of all registered charging stations in Sweden, booth smart and analogue chargers. By registered it referred to the registered charging stations on the website, Laddinfra. Laddinfra is an association in the electric power industry and includes all registered charging stations in Sweden. When using the mapping system, the user can both visually or by address find and locate a charging station. When locating a specific charging station, the user can select the station and see its features, what kind of sockets it has and what kind of effects and how many chargers there are available. Through the website the user visually get live update if the charging station is occupied or free to use. The smart charging stations will be bookable through the ecGo booking system. To make a reservation, there is a simple click on the station and chose what time is preferred or needed. It is possible to reserve any time needed.
This depends on batteries performance and charging capacity and that might change in the future. The user can also get directions to chosen charging station by clicking on the charging station on the map and select get directions.
It is important that the website communicates with the hardware in the charging station so that when you book a time on the application, the data will be sent to the chosen charging station right away.
Figur 6.1.1- Visar hur hemsidan ser ut. Detta är sidan ”Om ecGo”
Figur 6.1.2- Visar hur hemsidan ser ut. Detta är sidan ”FAQ”
Figur 6.1.3- Visar hur hemsidan ser ut. Detta är startsidan.
Figur 6.1.4- Visar hur hemsidan ser ut. Detta är sidan ”Kontakt”
Figur 6.1.5- Visar hur hemsidan ser ut. Detta är sidan ”Nyheter”
6.1.2 Hardware:
The ecGo system is programmed to be implemented into an existing hardware in charging stations of today. The most important features is that the station needs to be able to switch of the electricity on a specific time when the stations is booked, and to be unlocked via a Key-ID when the user arrives. Smart-chargers operate through software and are therefore possible to be reprogrammed, including the ecGo system. They also have to communicate with the server in order to send and receive data, therefore is has to be a GSM or Internet based charging stations, hence smart charger. Smart-chargers operate this way today. The hardware depends on what kind of charging station supplier the electric company has chosen to collaborate with.
The Key-Id is an idea that is based on replacing the various operators existing complement.
Most chargers have an RFID-tag-reader or a mobile texting solution. The Key-ID solution is under progress and has to be manage depending on the suppliers and their charging station and operating system.
6.1.3 Database & Server:
The database will collect and organize the necessary data from all users and charging stations.
The server will store the database and these units will provide the communication between the hardware and software. The server will answer on requests and send the requested data. The
7. Production process
The ecGo system consists of a software, database and server. The ecGo system software is designed in a basic configuration, which can be updated and customized for customers’
unique needs. Therefore, no further production needs to be done more than adjusting and implementing the software onto already existing modules in the charging station. Adjustments are made along with the growing numbers of operators.
The database, server and ecGo system is programmed to operate together. If the numbers of users grow, the server needs more space because it has a limitation to a certain size and number of data. It is possible to rent larger servers at already existing server providers.
ecGo needs to be installed and implemented, into new and already existing chargers, by an authorized electricity installer. The electricity suppliers usually install their own charging stations to be sure that it is made correctly and legally fair.
7.1 Analysis of competence
To be able to produce, implement and keep the system updated there are a few different types of competences that are needed.
7.1.1 Software Developers
A big part of the system is the software development and for that computer engineers and programmers are required. The whole development process and the continuing operational work also require those professions. The tasks are mostly the servers, databases and the basic functions that are the foundations for the system.
7.1.2 Web designers
When to implement ecGo on the market, a big part of it is to make it easy to understand and use. To make it more user friendly and get a stylish design with a common thread it should be a qualified web designer in charge of the website structure.
7.1.3 Installers of the chargers
When to implement the system in different chargers it will sometime be necessary to recruit an authorized service electrician. This depends on what kind of charger and which company who owns it.
8. Business Model
8.1 Business Model Canvas
See appendix 7
To easier the understanding the business model an overview on the business model was created. A method called Business Model Canvas was used and showed the project. See appendix for the full version.
8.2 Market Survey- Customer Survey
See appendix 10
A market survey was completed after a few months within the project. The survey is compiled and showed in appendix.
8.3 The market36, 37
The Swedish market is constantly increasing and last year there was 147% more electric vehicles sold than the year before. According to statistics, it is calculated to grow in same speed and a proximately grow by 150% per year. Today there are only really enthusiastic people who own an electric vehicle but hopefully the society will realize how great the electric vehicle market is to our environment and start to invest in this industry. The future expectations is that the market will continue growing and that more people are willing to buy an electric vehicle than a regular car.
Prospective customers are those with an electric vehicle who would like to be able to simplify the usage of their car. ecGo has a combination of functions that no one else have. The
booking system has therefore no current competition. The current services on the market is only locating and live updating the chargers but no one offers the reservation function.
The consumers and the electricity suppliers will both benefit from ecGo. The electricity suppliers would get more users to the charging stations, if everyone could use all different stations, instead of just one brand. The retail, the car owners, will easier locate a charging station, reserve it, charge their car and continue the trip without any longer breaks.To get a functional infrastructure, for electric cars in Sweden, standardization needs to be established.
ecGo has new, for the market, functions and the benefit of being first. Another advantage is that the system has an open source code, which makes it easier to implement on different chargers.
8.4 Market Strategy
The idea is to make it easier for customers to use the service, and on the other hand it will gives more benefits to the owners of charging stations to make it easier for customers to book and pay by using same tool and service. As this service is not available right now, Mutual Benefits Engineering will be the first to present ecGo in Scandinavia.
This will be good marketing for charging stations to be seen on our website, by one click on the map customers will get all information about the charging station (name, passions, number of charging units, Type of charging, connections). We need to get even government bodies in Scandinavia to support us. The most important is to prepare a demonstration to show how the system works.
8.5 Distribution- Delivery
This is a tool we are going to offer customers (Electric car owners / users) To make it easier for customers to book the charging place and charge their car by one payment system.
To reach the electric car owners is not difficult. To inform car dealer to further inform their customers that the ecGo system is a helpful tool when owning a electric car. This may also help to increase sale since the customers then knows that features like ecGo exists for their support.
One way is to co-operate with a company that already are selling charging stations and think this booking system is a function they would like to offer their customers. It might have some smart functions in the charging station and ecGo system can easily be implemented as a complement.
Today when buying a new car it is often connected to a profile controlled by the car brands application that can help the drivers in many different ways. Functions like locking/unlocking the car through a smartphone or opening the application to see existing energy level in the battery are only a few examples. The maps in a smartphone might be connected to the GPS in the car, when searching for a route in the smartphone it can transfer the directions to the car with an easy click. If the GPS would have the option to show the charging stations along the chosen route that would eliminate the using of application or website, just a button on the GPS-display.
There is also an option to contact large companies that would like to offer a reservation service to their employees or customer. Examples could be a shopping mall or a hotel.
The main focus is to go through charging stations distributors. Get them to understand the advantages of the system and to use the system to implement on their chargers.
8.6 Production Process
Since the ecGo system is based on software, there is no big process that involves machinery
will be outsourced to a professional web developer. Also adjustments shall be partly
outsourced to software engineers at targeted electric companies, working along with software developers from Mutual Benefits to be able to implement and adjust the ecGo system onto their charging and payment system. The data needs to be stored at a web-hotel, which also needs to be outsourced.
Mutual Benefits will provide software developers and support that can adjust and control the system when bugs need to be adjusted. They must in its turn be provided with right equipment to further develop the system. The implementation and the communication process between various operators will be done through project leaders and consultants from Mutual Benefits and in cooperation with the targeted operators.
8.7 Financial calculations
The financial calculations have not been our primary task. Since Mutual Benefits will own the system after the thesis project, it will be their decisions how to make this a financial
sustainable operation. During the project there has been a few ideas about financial income.
Different revenue models
The customer should not pay any fee, as it is visible. They are going to pay us by using the service and charging their car. A reservation fee could be charged and we may get paid by charging stations (20% of connection fee) or other type of deal with charging stations.
Reservation fee
When users make a reservation, the system will charge a reservation fee. The fee will be 15kr/reservation or 2€/reservation. The fee is a fixed lump sum for each reservation.
Income through charging
When users charge their electric vehicle, a fee, based on used electricity (kWh), will be debited. This fee will cover both services & maintenance, the electricity cost + extra to the company who owns the charging station and to ecGo system.
8.8 Time plan
See appendix6
A time plan was made to get an easy overview of the project and its milestones. One of the most important milestones the project has had was the concept report and presentation. This was the deadline for the concept and it was important to have a clear vision of the project.
The opposition was a great opportunity to get feedback and see the project from other
perspectives. The project had a different target during the opposition compared to the concept.
The feedback was very valuable.
The last milestone was the final presentation, the final report and Utexpo where the product was to be shown for everyone.
8.9 Risk analysis
See appendix 4
A risk analysis was made so that it will be easier to eliminate possible barriers during the project. A stable with risks, the risk values, and corrections shows which barriers will be the toughest to handle and which ones are easier to solve. Simple corrections were determined to with the easy overview see what could be done during the process to avoid and fix the
barriers. The analysis helped the project planning; from the beginning to know what to look out for and when to evaluate a specific part of the project.
The most significant risk the project is dealing with during the whole project is the time. Will it be enough time to get the result? There is always a risk with competing companies and new techniques on the market and with that we have to keep our eyes and ears open to notice if there is something that sabotage the project.
There is also a risk that we will not manage to complete and implement all the requirements and request to the website. We strive to get all the functions done but if not, the website can always be improved and updated.
About the budget and possibly exceeding the limit we chose to plan wisely and think an extra time before purchasing any components or services. The planning should help decrease the risk of exceeding the budget. ALMI has invested 15000 SEK in the project. The money will have the main purpose for the prototype. The cost for the prototype is mainly the software development and hopefully the price will be a fixed cost.
