Stuttgart, 19 January 2012 - Germany is on its way to an emission-free future. With the aim of making Germany a leading market for electromobility, the German federal government’s National Development Plan for Electromobility combines climate protection and industrial policy. Its target is to have one million electric vehicles on the country’s roads by 2020. However, achieving this will require greater customer acceptance. Improved user-friendliness is a vital condition for this acceptance, and has prompted six German companies to sign a memorandum of understanding.

Throughout Germany, driving electric vehicles is to be made far more convenient, thanks to a cross-industry, open data platform that will create an integrated charging infrastructure for mobility and vehicle providers. With this goal in mind, BMW Group, Bosch, Daimler, EnBW, RWE, and Siemens have agreed to form a joint venture by mid-2012. The six partners signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect in Stuttgart.

The companies’ common objective is to use cross-industry integration to drive forward the establishment of a nationwide, easy-to-use charging infrastructure and to facilitate the provision of supplementary services. In the future, drivers of electric vehicles will be able to recharge their vehicles quickly and simply, wherever they are, and without having to worry about which provider operates the nearest charging point. Such an infrastructure will also include standardized authentication processes at charging points and transparent billing by the individual contract partner.

At present, hardly any of the authentication and billing processes used by the market players offering a public charging network are compatible. In launching this initiative, the six companies aim to establish a software-based, open platform that will boost the further development of electromobility in Germany.

Apart from supporting diverse billing systems, the new platform focuses on networking access, charging, and service processes, as well as on adding new features to the range of products and services associated with electromobility. As far as possible, it aims to integrate stand-alone technical solutions. A uniform data-exchange standard is also being developed. This will form the basis of a standardized network that can supply the data required by utility companies, automakers, charging point operators, and providers of value-added services. For data protection purposes, the data will be provided in anonymous form. The purpose of the joint venture is to develop this platform and facilitate the involvement of a large number of further market players.

It is hoped that the open platform will allow providers from diverse electromobility-related industries and their customers to use a Germany-wide infrastructure system at a cost they can afford. This will create the conditions for new, user-oriented business models that promote rapid market penetration and a wider acceptance of electromobility.