A system for comprehensive and universal management of electric vehicle charging stations designed

Doro Rodríguez, an entrepreneur with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering and a student on the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), has designed a cloud platform to comprehensively manage electric vehicle charging stations. The SmartMôob project, created together with Rômulo Batista, a computer engineer who specializes in the management of software projects and digital innovation, is an "innovative, responsible, cheap, efficient and easily scalable solution for a clearly developing market".

SmartMôob, one of the finalists in the SpinUOC entrepreneurship programme, is a cloud-based (SaaS) end-to-end management platform designed to give companies or administrations that own electric charging stations full control over the chargers to manage and optimize their use easily and remotely. Among the possibilities offered by the software developed by Rodríguez and Batista for this plug-and-play solution is the management of roaming connections and the optimization of the service's monitoring, pricing and energy management operations.

Doro Rodríguez and Rômulo Batista presenting SmartMôob at SpinUOC on 27 June

"Our mission is to aid the growth of any company in the world of electric vehicle charging by providing efficient and accessible tools that promote sustainability and interoperability," said Rodríguez. One of the main advantages of SmartMôob is that it contributes to energy efficiency and reduces costs thanks to a set of smart charging algorithms that predict demand and optimize the use of the available energy. In addition, the platform also aids communication between different charging service providers, maximizing reach and revenue for charging point owners.

SmartMôob is based on innovative station management technologies that include different charging protocols able to provide two-way communication between chargers and management systems. This ensures interoperability and compatibility with different manufacturers and between different charging networks, giving users access to a variety of charging points regardless of the supplier or manufacturer of the equipment. The solution also simplifies invoicing processes and ensures secure financial transactions.

The project, which was devised in Barcelona, aims to help create a world where electric and sustainable mobility is the norm rather than the exception. For this reason, beyond charging point operators, the services provided by the project, which include a simple and transparent pricing model, are also offered to sectors such as group car parks, hotels and restaurants, e-mobility service providers, service stations, charging point manufacturers and town councils with municipally managed charging points in place.

A growing sector

Spain has about 30,000 electric vehicle charging points, a third of which were installed last year. There are already more than 300,000 cars that can access these points, but they still only account for 3% of all vehicles, so spectacular growth is expected in the next few years. According to Rodríguez and Batista, "by 2030 it's estimated that in Europe alone there'll be 45 million electric vehicles, requiring a network of almost seven million electric charging stations. This is approximately 1300% more than the number currently installed on the continent, so the growth of the sector will be huge."

This expected growth works perfectly with one of the intrinsic characteristics of SmartMôob: its scalability. "Our platform isn't software to be installed at each charging station: it's a cloud service, which makes it a perfect solution to ensure very smooth scalability for companies that want to grow at any rate," said Rodríguez. For the moment, SmartMôob is looking to establish itself in the Catalan market and make the leap to the Spanish and European markets later on.

This entrepreneurial project contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

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