Besides Harz.EE-mobility, Siemens is also contributing its broad-based expertise in the field of electromobility to the Edison project in Denmark and to other collaborative research projects. Siemens Corporate Technology (CT) equipped the Greenster, a demo car from the Porsche tuning specialist Alois Ruf, with an electric drive system. The car puts out 270 kilowatts (nearly 370 hp) and has a range of approximately 200 kilometers. Electric vehicles could also be used in the future to balance the fluctuating supply of renewable energies on the power grid. This can be done by charging the vehicles whenever there is an overabundance of electricity available.

Wind, solar, and other alternative energy sources already contribute more than half of the power generated in the Harz region. This share is well above the German national average, which is roughly 15 percent for the generation of electricity. Very often, however, this energy cannot be used locally and must be transmitted with losses to other regions. The project aims to integrate electric cars, such as those used by delivery services or in car sharing projects, into the Harz power grid. Siemens Energy and CT are developing energy management systems that can automatically manage many small energy units. The focus of this project is on charging stations and the networking of system components plus their standardized integration into the smart grid.

The range of today’s electric vehicles cannot yet compare to that of automobiles equipped with combustion engines, necessitating the strategic placement of charging stations.   A Siemens energy management system routes drivers according to the charge status of their vehicles, so that they can adapt their routes to the location of, and the availability of energy at, the charging stations. The system has to match the environment-friendly energies available on the grid to the grid infrastructure and the power requirements of the electric cars, and make the best possible use of these energies. The electrical energy management system from Siemens also helps to integrate the electric cars into the power grid. This system provides the connection infrastructure for electric vehicle fleets, electric parking garages, and electric parking spaces.