Uptake of electric vehicles is still restricted by the fact the most drivers don’t have the ability to charge their cars at home. One solution is for them to charge it at their place of work. The “LamA project – charging at the workplace” from Germany’s Fraunhofer research institute will test how charging in the workplace will work both in practical terms and from the perspective of grid integration.

Charging points will be set up at 36 institutes across Germany and in the car parks of its partners – some 480 points until 2022. The lighthouse locations will be Dresden, Stuttgart and Freiburg, where the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) will be working with bnNetze GmbH – a subsidiary of the regional energy and environmental service provider badenova – to test how intelligent controls can protect the distribution grid during congestion.

"LamA is a pilot model with the aim of decarbonising commuter traffic. Charging electric vehicles at the workplace is an optimal use case: the private vehicle is parked in the company car park all day anyway. By implementing charging stations in company car parks, electric mobility can become a viable alternative for the masses," explains Jörn Schumann from the Fraunhofer ISE project team in a press release.

bnNETZE will develop the control logic to ensure the distribution networks aren’t overloaded. If everyone were to charge their vehicles at the same time, for example, the load limit at the transformer could be exceeded and might cause damage to the infrastructure. A charging algorithm will generate charging plans that take into account load forecasts as well as user needs and departure times.

The results of the pilot could be transferred to company car parks, shopping or recreation centres in order to push forward electromobility and the decarbonisation of the transport sector. The German government – which has committed to reducing emissions in the transport sector by at least 90 percent by 2050 – is supporting the project.