By Nick Clayton Electric cars are novel enough that nobody seems
to have thought about some of the shortcomings that could be
overcome fairly easily. We know they have a fairly short range
and charging points are few and far between, but how does an
owner pay for power they have used from a regular outlet? Also,
if somebody is charging a car overnight, how can they take
advantage of cheaper off-peak tariffs? These are the sort of
issues that an organization with a rock ‘n’ roll pun of a name
is setting out to address, as Green Car Reports explains.
Swedish automaker Volvo has announced its participation in the
Electric Vehicle Intelligent Infra Structure (ELVIIS) project,
to improve the electric-car charging process. Together with
Ericsson, Swedish utility company Göteborg Energi, and the
Viktoria Institute, Volvo Car Corporation is helping to develop
the future of smart charging. Essentially, smart charging is a
means of taking the charging process beyond simply plugging in
and forgetting about it. While one