Imatge
Imatge
The two projects are the result of a call made by the Barcelona City Council 2030 Agenda Commissioner’s Office and Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) through the InnovAcció 2030 programme
The aim of the projects is to tackle various challenges to expanding electromobility in the city, such as the concentration of recharging points in parking areas and infrastructure maintenance
The two solutions will be produced as pilot projects and tested in the BSM car park network in 2024
BSM has resolved the innovation processes that will enable the development of flexible, low-cost charging points to boost the expansion of electromobility in the city to get under way. The two projects stem from a public tender issued as part of the InnovAcció 2030 programme, a joint initiative of the Barcelona City Council 2030 Agenda Commissioner’s Office and BSM that aims to find innovative solutions to advance the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The expansion of electromobility is precisely one of the challenges in moving towards a sustainable, zero-emission mobility model. In Barcelona, BSM’s electromobility network, Endolla Barcelona, is one of the main strategies for supporting citizens in their transition to electric vehicles.
With 720 points distributed throughout the city, Endolla Barcelona concentrates 75% of the charging points in BSM parking facilities to prioritise sustainable, planned charging during off-peak hours freeing up public space for other uses.
In that regard, the two challenges posed are intended to thoroughly examine the charging infrastructure's efficient and sustainable development in these areas, speeding up the installation of easy-to-implement charging points that allow vehicles to move between different parking spaces to achieve high vehicle turnover.
The two projects have been chosen by means of a public innovation tender promoted by BSM. They are expected to be implemented through pilot tests in the BSM car park network during the first half of 2024. The total budget for the execution of the two proposals is 160,000 euros.
A charging point that can be moved to other parking places
The first innovative challenge is a mobile electric vehicle recharge point that can be moved and thereby cover several parking spaces, rather than being fixed to a single location. The call to the sector aims to develop a point that can cover several parking spaces consecutively.
In addition, the mobile point must be able to communicate with Endolla Barcelona's central management system and interact with users via the SMOU app. This challenge has a budget of approximately €90,000 for the development of a prototype.
The company chosen to lead this challenge was EV Safe Charge, a California-based start-up that offers solutions for the rapid charging of electric vehicles. The company has designed ZiGGY, a mobile, robotic electric vehicle charger, a preliminary project from which the solution to the InnovAcció 2030 programme challenge will be developed to meet BSM's specific needs.
A low-cost and easy-to-maintain charging point
The second electromobility challenge proposed developing a new concept for a low-cost and easy-to-maintain electric vehicle charging point. Specifically, five prototypes will be manufactured at a lower cost than at present to evaluate their performance and feasibility.
The awardee is a Catalan spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC - Barcelona TECH), teknoCEA, which provides customised power electronics components, systems and services to companies and laboratories.
Bearing in mind one requirement was to stay below €400 per point, teknoCEA has proposed a project for charging points that cost less than €250. This represents a reduction of approximately 80% on the current cost of the points. The challenge has a development budget of approximately €70,000.
Both the mobile charging point and the five low-cost charging points will be tested with real Endolla Barcelona users during the first half of 2024 at the BSM Plaça Navas - Paral·lel car park, where BSM plans to carry out various pilot tests for mobility innovation projects.
Endolla Barcelona, the public electromobility network
The public charging point network Endolla Barcelona, managed by BSM, has 720 charging points spread around all the city's neighbourhoods and districts. The network will continue to grow in 2023 until it reaches 1,000 points.
Endolla ended 2022 with more than 16,000 users and over 100,000 recharges.
