New Charging Standard Coming from ZigBee and SAE

For the past two years, we've all witness the electric vehicle world explode into existence, nearly out of the blue. Now, two major car makers are selling EVs, countless smaller ones are doing the same, while the companies which provide charging solutions seem to be blooming.

The speed with which it all happened took pretty much everyone by surprise. Only recently, efforts have begun being made to provide the required standards and rules this new industry will operate by (groups like CHAdeMO struggle to come up with standards for about a year or so).

This week, a new group announced it would be joining the race to develop the principles of this brave new world. ZigBee, a company which specializes in wireless solutions for use in energy management, revealed it had partnered with SAE International to jointly develop the ZigBee Smart Energy standard.

According to ZigBee, the Smart Energy version 2.0 will allow electric vehicles drivers real-time information about transportation energy use, charging costs, utility incentives, as well as control functions to manage the charging process.

"Adding ZigBee Smart Energy to PEVs will give automakers and utilities a common language to manage the charging, storage and use of energy in PEVs," said Richard Scholer, SAE Hybrid Vehicle Communications Task Force Committee chairman.

"SAE International's formidable task is to help coordinate the urgent efforts of many different companies, industries and disciplines. It realizes the faster standards appear, the sooner electric-powered vehicles can gain consumer acceptance as a new and reliable mode of transportation."