The Australian made, ChargeIQ, is an electric vehicle charger by DiUS Computing, has been given the “green light” to be a Victorian Electric Vehicle trial participant. ChargeIQ is the only electric vehicle charger used in the Victorian Department of Transport’s recent Demand Response Load Control Electric Vehicle Trial.
One of the key differences between ChargeIQ and other EV chargers, is that it is the only ZigBee certified electric vehicle charger with the ability to communicate with smart meters. This means ChargeIQ can take advantage of flexible pricing to deliver charge to the vehicle when electricity is the cheapest.
As part of the trial, which ran from June to December last year, participants of the trial used grid-friendly charging. With the electricity grid already being taxed during summer, some people have been concerned about the extra load that EV recharging will add to the grid. Basically this technology allows vehicles to be charged according to the needs of the electricity network provider and demands on the grid at any given time.
Primary school teacher Mr. Howard Elston, tested out the capabilities of ChargeIQ on a Mitsubishi iMiev loaned to him for the three months of the study. A ChargeIQ unit was installed in in his home in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. “It costs me about $2 to $2.50 per charge, and you get about 100 kilometres on a charge. It’s great because you simply plug it in and turn on the mode you want it to charge in,” Mr Elston said.
More information on The Demand Response Load Control Trial by the Victorian Government is due to be released in the coming weeks.
For more information, go to http://dius.com.au
