Skip to main content

The Dutch revolution in smart EV charging

By turning itself into one huge Living Lab for Smart Charging of electric vehicles, the Netherlands aims to become the international frontrunner for smart charging EVs, using them to store peak solar and wind power production. Already 325 municipalities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, have joined the Dutch Living Lab Smart Charging project, representing 80 per cent of all public charging stations. It is also supported by the Dutch government and has been joined by some The New Motion
October 18, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
By turning itself into one huge Living Lab for Smart Charging of electric vehicles, the Netherlands aims to become the international frontrunner for smart charging EVs, using them to store peak solar and wind power production. Already 325 municipalities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, have joined the Dutch Living Lab Smart Charging project, representing 80 per cent of all public charging stations. It is also supported by the Dutch government and has been joined by some The New Motion and EV-Box EV charging companies.

The Living Lab Smart Charging is an open platform where small and large companies, universities, local and regional governments and grid operators cooperate on a three step program.

Step 1 is to make as many charging stations as possible ready for Smart Charging. An upgrade operation is now taking place across the country to ensure existing charging stations will be technically able to facilitate smart charging. All new stations are already smart charging ready.

Step 2 uses those stations for smart charging research and testing, such as the app by Jedlix which allows users to earn money by using technology to charge a car in the middle of the night when the wind is still producing power but there is little demand for the power. In Utrecht, Renault is testing 'vehicle to grid' charging, using an electric car with solar panels as storage to put power back into the grid when the sun goes down.

Step 3 puts all the innovation, tests and research findings into international standards, with the ultimate goal of all electric cars driving on solar and wind power.

Related Content

  • August 1, 2012
    Delivering accurate vehicle identification
    In the Netherlands, TNO, the independent research organisation, has been engaged in a project on behalf of the RDW, the Dutch vehicle registration and licensing authority, intended to look at the feasibility of using electronic means to make vehicle identification more accurate and less susceptible to fraud. Electronic Vehicle Identification (EVI) has been in existence in various forms for several years now but TNO was tasked with finding out whether OnBoard Unit (OBU)-based applications could be complement
  • November 22, 2012
    Denmark expands EV charging infrastructure
    Denmark’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is to be expanded with the installation of fifty smart DC fast chargers. Electric mobility operator Clever has chosen power and automation technology group ABB to supply and maintain the fast chargers throughout Denmark. The companies say the ABB Terra 51 chargers, which are to be installed at strategic locations in the country, are ideally suited for freeway driving and has the capacity to fast charge electric vehicles in a matter of thirty minutes.
  • January 26, 2012
    Debating road user charging systems
    Are pre-launch trials of charging systems the way to improve public acceptance? Or is the real key a more robust political attitude? Here, leading system suppliers discuss the issue. The use of distance-based Road User Charging (RUC) is now well established, at least for heavy goods vehicles on strategic roads. However demand management for all vehicles, whether a distance-based charge or some form of cordon scheme, has yet to make significant progress. This is in spite of the logic and equity of RUC being
  • February 21, 2018
    Autonomous vehicles, smart cities: moving beyond the hype
    There is a lot of excited chatter about autonomous vehicles – but 2getthere’s Robbert Lohmann suggests we might need to take a step back and look realistically at what is achievable. You might be surprised that the chief commercial officer of a company delivering autonomous vehicles would begin an article with the suggestion that we need to get past the hype. And yet I do; because we have to, and urgently so. The hype prevents the development of autonomous vehicles that address actual transit needs. And