Charging my electric vehicle – child’s play? Energy flexibility via EV Gamification

Gengame, GridDuck, I-ON Communications, Korea EV Services and Gachon University are starting a pilot to trial gamification to entice owners of electric vehicles in South Korea, the UK and in Thailand to defer charging their electric vehicles when the electricity grid is under strain.

The project is supported by the British and South Korean government, with grants from BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and KETEP (Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning) as part of their UK-South Korea Smart Energy Innovation Partnership.

Users of electric cars expect their vehicle batteries to be full before driving to work, when driving home after work or before picking up children from school.

Charging a car takes 2-3 hours and can be done during a window of 8-10 hours, either overnight or during working hours. That “time flexibility” can be turned into demand flexibility.

Conventionally this would be done with demand response incentives or differential pricing (time of use tariffs), but the incentives for individual households can be quite small.

Gamification engages consumers with energy flexibility at a different level. EV drivers get rewarded for deferring their charging outside the peak and can play to win points and prizes based on how well they play the mobile game. For this project, gamification will be trialled with a brand new EV mobile game created by GenGame.

Additionally, car charging over a long period can also be balanced against air con compressor curtailment. This means the air flow is still on, but the cooling is off. How this can be done without affecting user comfort will be trialled in Thailand.

The five partners will also examine how gamification can work with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers, where your car acts as a battery to help stabilise fluctuations in electricity demand and supply.

This consortium assembles four specialist technology companies with Gachon University, a leading academic institution with a strong research track record in energy flexibility, peer to peer energy trading, prosumers and battery storage.

Gengame’s gamification-based incentive technology is combined with GridDuck’s low-cost wireless control system to control Korea EV Service’s novel EV chargers. The project is led Gachon University and I-ON Communication, whose LAMS Demand Response software integrates with the electricity grid.

By combining the strengths of the Korean and UK partners, the consortium members are sharing their experiences and integrating their technologies to create a globally competitive joint product, and prove it in the UK, The Republic of Korea and in Thailand.

Professor Sung-Yong Son of Gachon University says “This is a very interesting research field, and highly relevant to our time. We have a strong gaming culture in South Korea, and a strong EV sector. Bringing those two together will give us a much better understanding of how we can address this global challenge”.

Wheesung (Tony) Lee of I-ON Communication says “I am very excited about this global opportunity to create a solution for one of the most pressing issue coming our way. Instead of letting electric vehicles to be a huge burden on the electricity grid, we can help drivers make a contribution to grid stability.”
Stephane Lee-Favier agrees, “Gamification is the right solution for this kind of problem. We’re very enthusiastic about working with mobile gamers who drive electric vehicles in Korea, the UK and Thailand”.

Sang Young Lee of Korea EV Services adds that “EV charging at home will be so normal in only a few years’ time. People will be excited about playing this new game with their own car charging!”

Gregor Hoefter, CEO of GridDuck mentions that “we have been working with I-ON Communications on an exciting air conditioning project in Thailand. We have also been running a small trial with GenGame. Great to see this shaping up to be something much bigger”.

Gachon University: The Smart Green Home Research Centre at Gachon University in Korea is at the forefront of research into smart grids, smart homes and renewable energy sources.
Under its director, Professor Sung-Yong Son, the centre has been conducting research into diverse topics such as; peer to peer energy trading, the interplay between energy storage and wind, wireless environmental sensors, household Professor Sung-Yong Son demand response, consumer electronics as a service (CEaaS), household energy storage, smart grid test beds, efficient scheduling of EV charging, the virtual power plant model, wind power forecasting, EV charging with frequency regulation etc. http://www.gachon.ac.kr/english/
I-ON Communications is a proven smart grid solution provider for Demand Response, Micro Grid, Virtual Power Plant, Transactive Energy and recently listed on the US Stock market. Its business markets are not only S. Korea but also countries such as the UK, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the USA, with various customers and partners.
https://www.i-on.net/eng/lams/
Korea EV Service (KEVS) is an EV Charging Infrastructure company founded in July 2014. KEVS has been installing more than 500 EV chargers in the Jeju Self-Governing Province and is currently developing a brand new line up of EV chargers. KEVS is located in Jeju City, South Korea. http://koreaevs.com/index
GenGame Ltd is a technology company that delivers consumer engagement services to energy utilities. GenGame leverage data, behavioural science and gamification to create white labelled mobile applications optimised for utilities' business priorities - from customer acquisition and retention, to delivering on energy efficiency and demand response programmes. GenGame are working with a number of utilities in the UK. https://www.gengame.co.uk/
GridDuck has created a low-cost wireless energy automation solution that acts as a bridge for business owners to connect with their appliances. GridDuck’s solution comprises a dashboard, an API and a portfolio of wireless relays and sensors. It enables consumption analysis, control and automation for energy efficiency and energy flexibility schemes, such as time of use tariffs, local consumption balancing and demand response. https://gridduck.com/

Gregor Hoefter
GridDuck
Unit G. 06, Belgravia Workshops
Marlborough Road
London N19 4NF

This release was published on openPR.