New AI Tool calculates EV dwell time at charging stations
Scheidt & Bachmann Energy Retail Solutions, a specialist in fuel station and energy solutions, has introduced SIQMA FlowMax.AI, an AI-powered tool for electric vehicle (EV) drivers. According to the Mönchengladbach-based company, this tool ‘predicts the availability, utilisation, and price transparency of charging stations in real time’. Designed to benefit both EV drivers and charging station operators, it provides drivers with a quick overview of charging station availability while informing them about expected occupancy durations. This transparency also enhances efficiency and customer loyalty at charging stations, as Scheidt & Bachmann explains.“Anyone who has tried to charge their electric vehicle knows the problem: if the charging station is occupied, the EV experience can quickly turn into an odyssey searching for an available one,” the company states. “While drivers at conventional fuel stations can reliably estimate waiting times and costs, there is often uncertainty at EV charging stations.” The Mönchengladbach-based company aims to address this uncertainty using AI algorithms but acknowledges the challenge: “Unlike refuelling, which takes just a few minutes, EV drivers spend significantly more time at charging stations. Whether someone charges only up to 80 percent or fills the battery completely, or whether they shop nearby or wait in a café: human behaviour is difficult to predict.”However, in collaboration with technology consulting firm Slalom Germany, Scheidt & Bachmann claims to have developed an AI algorithm that can reliably predict when a charging point will be available again within the first five minutes of a charging session. The solution combines data from open interfaces with additional parameters such as location, day of the week, time, weather, and nearby amenities. Furthermore, ‘direct data pipelines continuously feed new information into the calculation model, which constantly optimises itself’, as the developers explain.Users can access this information in various ways, such as via an API for third-party integrations (e.g., in smartphone or car apps) or through a connection to a large digital outdoor screen (which Scheidt & Bachmann offers as “SIQMA Sign”) to display the data directly at the charging park.“Electromobility will significantly transform the entire market within a few years. With SIQMA FlowMax.AI, we aim to make electromobility as predictable as conventional refuelling. Our goal is to drive the sustainable mobility transition forward and continue offering our customers new solutions,” says Jörg M. Heilingbrunner, CEO of Scheidt & Bachmann Energy Retail Solutions.In addition to the location and availability of charging points, the system also displays information on prices, local offers, and advertising opportunities. The solution is already in use and can be purchased either as a complete package with the aforementioned outdoor screen SIQMA Sign or as a standalone interface solution for integration into existing platforms, the company states.“Projects like this demonstrate how AI innovation can solve concrete infrastructure problems and transform entire industries. We supported Scheidt & Bachmann in establishing a future-oriented business model using data and artificial intelligence that creates real added value for end customers,” says Dr. Stephan Theis, Managing Director of Business Development at Slalom Germany.Scheidt & Bachmann Energy Retail Solutions GmbH is part of the 150-year-old Scheidt & Bachmann Group – a family-owned company with around 3,500 employees worldwide and a network of 30 subsidiaries. In addition to its energy retail business, the Mönchengladbach-based group is also active in signalling technology, fare management, and parking.presse.slalom.com (in German), scheidt-bachmann.de
