IoT Accelerates the Development of the Electric Vehicle Market

We are living in the age of profound and pervasive technological transformations that are rapidly spreading across both enterprise and consumer product markets. The Internet of Things (IoT) and electric vehicles (EVs) are two examples of innovative cutting edge solutions marking the dawn of a new era of global tech development. Utilized in combination with each other, IoT and EVs can deliver a multitude of benefits, helping to minimize air pollution, optimize EV performance, reduce energy consumption, and achieve many other improvements that are part of the smart city of the future concept.

IoT and EV industries to show rapid growth over the course of the 2020s

Despite a significant drop in the number of new EV registrations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic turbulence (registration of all types of new electric vehicles during 2021 financial year dropped by 20% compared to 2020), the global electric vehicle market continues to evolve and will achieve a tremendous growth over the course of the current decade. Several recent studies use slightly different approaches to quantify the anticipated growth ahead but all point to an 18-26% CAGR:

•  According to a recent study by Allied Market Research, the EV market was valued at $163.01 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $1105 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 18.2% from 2021 to 2030.

• Based on this report by AMR, it was valued at $740.47 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $4,421.62 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19.67% from 2021 to 2030. 
• A study by Fortune Business Insights features lower market size estimations but follows the same growth trajectory, estimating it to grow from $478.36 billion in 2022 to $2,465.26 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 26.4% during the forecast period.

• According to a recent market research study by Custom Market Insights, the EV market was valued at USD 170 Billion in 2021, and USD 205.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $1105 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 23% from 2022 to 2030.

IoT applications in the EV industry 

Such a rapid growth of the global fleet of electric vehicles creates a number of needs and challenges, most of which can be solved with the implementation of IoT solutions:

• The need to implement and maintain an extensive network of charging stations for EVs.
• Battery management solutions to monitor and control the EV battery charging and discharging cycles and other processes.
• Vehicle speed, mileage, and acceleration monitoring.
• Safety, driving errors and fault alert tracking systems.
• Protection against theft.
• Preventive maintenance for vehicle components.
• Crash detection.

Benefits of IoT Integration for EV Management and Monitoring 

Let’s review the IoT solutions and technologies that can be implemented as part of electric vehicles and supporting equipment (charging stations, maintenance and repair stations) for the benefit of EV manufacturers, drivers, cities/communities and the environment.  

EV Charging Stations

The integration of IoT components into the EV charging stations allows to overcome a number of challenges and achieve multiple goals.

Here are a few examples:

• The integration of IoT-based telematics technology into EVs and EV charging stations enables collection of real-time data and automatic generation of various reports.
• IoT-powered charging applications allow drivers to easily locate nearby stations and schedule a time slot for charging.
• Implementation of IoT sensors would allow charging station operators to track their status and energy consumption remotely through a centralized system, quickly reacting when the station is disconnected or damaged.
• The collection of data through IoT sensors enables drivers to access real-time notifications with charging time estimations, information about cable position, weather conditions, etc.
• The stream of real-time data from charging stations and connected electric vehicles allows station operators to send targeted ads and promo materials to the owners of EVs.

EV Battery Management Systems

Battery management systems (BMSs) are another crucial element of the EV infrastructure that can be significantly improved and optimized with IoT components. BMSs are used to monitor and control various processes inside the EV battery, including charging, energy consumption and distribution of power from the battery across the vehicle equipment.

IoT circuits integrated inside an EV battery management system can serve a number of important processes:

• Real-time monitoring of all key battery parameters such as temperature, current, voltage, charge, etc.
• Continuous evaluation of the State of Charge (SoC) and the State of Health (SoH) of the battery with instant notifications when changing, maintenance or repair is required.
• Location tracking to prevent theft or loss of the battery.
• Exchange of data collected by integrated IoT sensors with battery swapping stations for predictive analytics, as well as with car leasing companies.

EV Maintenance and Fault Alert

IoT-based fault alert systems, retrieving and automatically analyzing data collected by sensors integrated throughout different parts of the electric vehicle, are able to quickly identify and in many cases predict technical glitches in the EV, notifying both the car owner and connected EV service centers.

The IoT data collected by EV sensors can be utilized for the following applications:

• Monitoring the wear and tear of EV parts.
• Maintenance of the car tires.
• Tracking of lubrication cycle of the engine and other parts.
• Monitoring the temperature and moisture conditions within the eV components.
• Scheduling preventive maintenance based on mileage traveled.

Safety Control and Detection of Driving Errors

Various safety controls, such as monitoring of driver’s performance, prevention of driving errors and protection against crashes, is one more application of IoT technologies in electric vehicles.

Using IoT sensors, EV manufacturers are able to establish the following safety features:

• Real-time monitoring of vehicle speed to make sure it doesn’t surpass the speed limit.
• Automated collection and analysis of the driver behavior information such as average speed, acceleration, etc. This data can be then used to provide the EV driver with tips and notifications, as well as to share it with insurance companies.
• Tracking of vehicle location and status in real time and sending notifications to tow truck service and police in the case of emergency.
• Sending the data collected by the in-built sensors to the EV manufacturer for the analysis and improvement of the car component quality and safety of the vehicle. 
• Detection of crashes and/or EV fall down with built-in IoT accelerometers.

Protection against theft

Finally, the IoT technologies can be a great solution to protect electric vehicles against theft. With real-time tracking and geo-fencing, it is possible to prevent not just the theft of the car itself but also its separate parts by integrating IoT sensors in equipment such as batteries, which are the most expensive parts of the EVs typically comprising around 40% of the total cost of an EV. Alarms and notifications can be sent to the vehicle owner and local authorities in the case of unauthorized access to the car or removal of its parts.

Summary

As you can see, IoT technologies have a tremendous potential to empower the already rapidly growing electric vehicle industry, improving virtually all aspects of EV manufacturing, monitoring and management. The integration of IoT can significantly boost the performance of charging stations, prolong the lifespan of EV equipment, protect drivers from accidents, ensure vehicle security and reduce the energy consumption.

That’s why we believe it is safe to predict that the demand for embedded systems in the EV industry will be on the rise at least for the next ten years or so. In this increasingly complex and competitive business environment, the importance of professional approach to IoT and embedded systems design starts to play an even more important role.

The Tauro Technologies’ team of electronics engineers and firmware designers has a proven track record of successfully designing custom hardware for various kinds of embedded systems and IoT products in multiple technology fields including control systems, battery management, and IoT devices. Drawing on the specific needs of our clients, we select and apply various engineering methods to electronic product development and manufacturing in order to achieve the desired result. Utilizing our in-house assembly and debug expertise, we are able to build and evaluate your prototypes before high-volume manufacturing, rapidly and cost-efficiently.

Interested to know more? Get in touch with us for details.