ELVIIS is alive and well and living in Sweden, developing a smart on-board concept for controlling, measuring and paying for electricity when charging an electric vehicle (EV) via any outlet.

The Electric Vehicle Intelligent Infra Structure project- ELVIIS for short –  is a consortium involving Geely-owned Volvo Car, Ericsson, the utility company Göteborg Energi and the Viktoria Institute. The cross-industry project aims to bring mobile connectivity to electric cars – and to identify and remove barriers for using EVs in daily life.

The concept works like this:

  • The driver can choose to charge the battery pack via any ordinary power outlet.
  • The outlet is identified via GPS.
  • The driver pre-sets timing and charging amount on the touch screen or remotely via a smart phone or tablet.
  • Using the mobile network, the car communicates with the grid and sets the charging scheme in order to support optimal utilisation of the grid and most favourable energy price.
  • Any unintended interruption of charging process is directly reported to the driver’s mobile phone.
  • The system directs the cost for each charge to the car owner’s personal utility bill.

Volvo’s C30 Electric has been used as a test car in the project. Equipped with an integrated seven-inch colour touch screen, it makes the charging concept available via the driver’s finger tip. Five such cars will now be used for testing and evaluating the technology over a year.

Lennart Stegland, head of Volvo’s electric propulsion systems unit, said: “Our basic view is that the owner of an electric vehicle shouldn’t have to sacrifice any of the properties he or she expects from a luxury car.

“This smart technology for charging in any outlet, and paying automatically via your own electricity bill, is an example of how we do everything to make the daily use easier for the customer.”

The concept is developed on a generic communication platform to make the technology globally applicable, and in line with Volvo’s development of Sensus technology.

Stegland added: “Sensus is the interface that promotes intuitive communication with the car, connecting it to the driver’s digital world. We will continue to extend the offer of intelligent content that provides easy access to support, information and entertainment.”