[October 13, 2011] IBM develops pilot app for electric vehicle charging in partnership with Switzerland's EKZ Tweet Oct 13, 2011 (TELECOMWORLDWIRE via COMTEX) -- Technology company IBM (NYSE:IBM) said today that its research organisation, IBM Research, has been working on a new pilot project with EKZ, the electricity utility provider of the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland. This pilot combines a web-based app designed and developed by IBM scientists in Zurich and a data recording device created by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). The solution is intended to allow consumers to conveniently charge electric vehicles and monitor their energy costs using a mobile device. The data recording device has been installed in several electric vehicles to collect information on the vehicle's battery charge level, location and the power source. This data is transmitted over a cellular network to an IBM cloud based on IBM BladeCenters running DB2 and WebSphere. According to IBM this monitoring capability benefits the user and also gives utility providers further insight into energy generation and consumption. The IBM app runs on most smartphones, tablets and web browsers, providing an integration point between the vehicle, the utility provider and the driver. It shows the vehicle's battery level, range of travel distance, vehicle location, charge schedule and current energy costs in real time. Electric vehicle owners can use the app on their mobile device to check whether their car's battery level is sufficient for its next use. The app can also be programmed to start battery charging at a future point in time, such as when rates are lowest or when a trip is planned. In addition, vehicle owners can use the app to delegate the responsibility of recharging the battery to the utility provider, which can schedule charges based on the availability of renewable resources. Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]