I was saying the other year that Denmark is powered mostly by its wind farms, and that the energy generated by these wind farms is in excess. They want to build an electric car network that would operate across the country and that would use the excess energy and transport it to propel people from here to there, cheaply and in an environmentally friendly fashion.
Now, IBM has smelled this opportunity as profitable, and has joined a Danish research consortium that will develop the smart electric vehicle network infrastructure. Basically, the system will look like this: you have a car with a battery inside, that will take you – let’s say – 120 miles. After 120 miles, you pull over at a recharging station and exchange your depleted battery with a fully charged one.
Of course, all of this comes at a price, but considering that the electricity comes from a renewable resource, it is not expensive to produce it, and furthermore, the electric car’s probability to malfunction is much lower than that of a regular petrol-powered car, your chances to pay more are diminished seriously.
The EDISON (Electric Vehicles in a Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy and Open Networks) effort already includes Danish energy companies DONG and Oestkraft, along with the Technical University of Denmark, Siemens, software specialist Eurisco and the Danish Energy Association.
Tests will be made in the Danish island of Bornholm, where the consortium, along with IBM will study the impact of using the electric cars in real-life situations, on the overall energy consumption and people’s perception.
