ENGIE Vianeo, the electric vehicle (EV) charging business of France-based energy company ENGIE Group, has appointed international comms outfit BICS to connect around 50,000 charging stations to cellular-based IoT networks. It wants live monitoring data from its EV charging stations to make faster decisions about their operation, and to enable remote maintenance of them; the project starts in Belgium and rolls out to other European countries.
ENGIE launched ENGIE Vianeo last year in response to a European Union (EU) mandate to expand EV charging infrastructure across member states. The legislation put emphasis on new stations on highways. BICS, owned by Belgian operator Proximus, is to “upgrade” its EV charging footprint with IoT connectivity – to support “remote maintenance and troubleshooting, analytics on station activity, and remote software and firmware updates”.
Until now, its EV charging stations have used a ‘black box’ fitted to the stations to record data insights, which have required manual intervention to collect and process the data. The new solution means “real-time, remote data collection from the highway to the head office”, said BICS. ENGIE Vianeo will use BICS’ IoT SIMs and management portal, branded ‘SIM for Things’, with the new IoT hardware solution.
Cellular IoT connectivity will give drivers live information on a phone app about charger availability and charging status. BICS said: “Due to the typical locations of charging stations, in built-up metropolitan areas or remote highways, mobile connectivity (as opposed to fixed fibre) is a must.” The initial rollout is in Belgium; the scope will expand to France, Italy, and Spain, and elsewhere in Europe. Around 50,000 devices are expected to be deployed.
New EV (car) registrations reached nearly 3.2 million in 2023, increasing by almost 20 percent from 2022. ENGIE Vianeo wants 12,000 EV charge points in France by the end of 2025, it said; it expects to double the current number of stations in Belgium to exceed 3,000 in the same timeframe.
Clémence Fischer, managing director at the company, said: “Managing such a large, dispersed estate presents challenges, so alongside BICS, we’re investing in technology to give us complete visibility over our infrastructure. This will help us improve the prompt response of our services and keep stations maintained and running reliably, so they’re always ready and available when customers need them.”
Mikael Schachne, chief revenue officer for enterprises at BICS, said: “IoT … [enables] real-time visibility across operations, from management of moving parts within factories to devices distributed across the globe. Enabling EVs to access charging stations anywhere is essential as we look to achieve a more efficient and carbon-neutral mobility infrastructure. We are pleased to partner with ENGIE Vianeo to accelerate its rollout… across Europe.”
