Photo: BMW
Last weekend, the BMW Technology Center in Mountain View, California, was the host of an interesting event, dubbed Hackathlon. The purpose of this gathering was to share ideas regarding electro-mobility and sustainability.
The event was sponsored by DriveNow and ChargePoint and offered a total of $3,000 (€2,300) in prize money for the best apps presented. The winning software is meant to help electric-car users communicate to one another on an anonymous basis, in order to use charging stations efficiently.
Charging an electric vehicle can take a long time (even up to an entire workday) and that can be troublesome for some users. The winning app allows users to communicate with each other in order to convene on charging station usage and maximize their utilization.
For example: One car is parked at a charging station; the other arrives at the station and needs ten minutes’ worth of electricity to reach its destination. The driver of the second vehicle can use the app on his or her mobile phone to contact the driver of the first car quickly and anonymously to request permission to charge the vehicle for a short time – naturally, with the assurance that the first car will be plugged in again afterwards.
Charging an electric vehicle can take a long time (even up to an entire workday) and that can be troublesome for some users. The winning app allows users to communicate with each other in order to convene on charging station usage and maximize their utilization.
For example: One car is parked at a charging station; the other arrives at the station and needs ten minutes’ worth of electricity to reach its destination. The driver of the second vehicle can use the app on his or her mobile phone to contact the driver of the first car quickly and anonymously to request permission to charge the vehicle for a short time – naturally, with the assurance that the first car will be plugged in again afterwards.
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