The federally funded initiative, one of two led by Montreal’s Mogile Technologies, will use predictive analytics to shift electric vehicle charging demand
The federally funded initiative, one of two led by Montreal’s Mogile Technologies, will use predictive analytics to shift electric vehicle charging demand
On Aug. 22, Minister of Natural Resources Amarjeet Sohi announced Mogile Technologies Inc., a Quebec-based EV technology developer, would be receiving an investment of $2 million for two projects that could help bring greater maturity to the EV charging landscape.
“Getting more electric vehicles on the road is a practical and effective way for Canadians to reduce pollution and fight climate change,” says Sohi. “The Government of Canada will continue to invest in the infrastructure needed to give drivers easy, fast-charging options for low-emission vehicles, giving Canadians cleaner options when they drive.“
“We want to test ways to shift demand using dynamic pricing or limiting the power to the stations”
Olivier Proulx, co-founder and CTO of Mogile Technologies Inc.
Olivier Proulx, co-founder and CTO at Mogile, told Electric Autonomy Canada that the first project will focus on shifting EV users charging patterns. Currently, most drivers charge their vehicles at around the same time, which can put stress on power grids. As more EVs come into use, the problem will only get worse if left unchecked.
Three phases of development
“We want to demonstrate and test ways to shift that demand using, essentially, dynamic pricing or limiting the power to the stations,” he says. “The first phase is to analyze all the usage information and the second phase is to use that and try to predict power [solutions].”
For example, says Proulx, if one station sees a lot of use on Sundays, then during the project’s third stage they may adjust pricing for that station.
“We can predictably do that, and then see if someone charges at another station, so it spreads out the power,” he says.
Payment apps
The second project is a universal payment system that would simplify the EV charging process. Currently EV users have to download different payment apps, based on the station they are using. With Mogile’s new software they will only need one account.
Both projects are funded through the federal government’s Green Infrastructure program. Additional partners include Hydro-Québec, the Electric Circuit charging station network, and SemaConnect, an EV charging station and software producer.
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