Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has registered a new patent after its R&D Centre’s researchers developed an universal smart system for electric vehicle charging stations. The system can charge all kinds of electric vehicles, whether they use AC or DC, with a single cable and plug

The charging station’s design is to be as user-friendly as possible. It simplifies the charging process and makes it as easy as possible for drivers of electric vehicles to charge their cars. Drivers do not need to bring their own cables. Instead, the charging station is a one-stop point for all types of electric vehicle, as it automatically adapts the plug and the charging to the vehicle’s requirements. The R&D Centre is currently building a prototype for further study.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, expressed his pride in this scientific achievement, which adds to DEWA’s record of achievements and excellence. “DEWA works to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to accelerate the shift towards a green economy and make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. As a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation, DEWA works to harness innovation and creativity to encourage the use of sustainable transport and increase the number of government electronic and hybrid vehicles. This reduces carbon emissions in ground transport, which is the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in Dubai. The new patent registered by DEWA will provide a seamless and innovative experience that is consumer- and environment-friendly. It will also raise DEWA’s position as a pioneering world-class utility. This is the second patent registered by the Centre, which His Highness launched last March. There are currently four more patents underway,” said Al Tayer.

“The R&D Centre adopts an approach that focuses on improving DEWA’s services to customers by developing the latest sustainable technologies and solutions for energy and water as well as conducting researches to maintain DEWA’s global leadership. We strive to enrich the scientific community locally and globally. To achieve this, we develop talents and provide an interactive and positive environment to help researchers innovate and create as well as submitting more scientific journals and innovations,” said Dr. Saif Almheiri, Vice President of Research & Development at DEWA.

“The universal electric vehicle charger idea centred on a research project on human-centric electric vehicle charging stations. The project aims to find innovative solutions to challenges faced by customers during the traditional charging process in stations with standard, fast and non-straightforward services,” said Dr Edwin Rodriguez-Ubinas, Senior researcher at DEWA R&D Centre and co-inventor.

Hamad Mohamed Albeshr, a researcher in smart grids integration at the R&D Centre, explained the benefits of the auto-adaptive system. “To charge electric vehicles, the Electric Vehicle Green Charger subscribers scan a special card issued by DEWA, connect the cable to the charger, and then to the vehicle to start charging. The new system includes an optical identification system, a camera, a microprocessor unit, and an AI programme that can recognise the vehicle plate number and identify the appropriate type of plug for the vehicle through the stored database and give the order to the system to activate the required charging system. This entire process takes place without any external interference, and during an easy process where all what the customer has to do is to pull the cable and connect it to the vehicle,” said Al Bishr.

“Our researches focused on integrating all of these charging methods, creating a single cable and plug compliant with all the methods. Additionally, the process has been automated,” said Dr Endika Bilbao Muruaga, senior researcher at DEWA R&D Centre and co-inventor.

DEWA’s R&D Centre has published 65 scientific papers in clean energy. The R&D Centre’s studies highlight four major operational areas: electricity generation from solar energy, integration of smart grids, energy efficiency, and water.

DEWA has installed more than 270 Green Charger stations across Dubai. Private electric vehicle owners, who are registered in the Green Charger services, can charge their vehicles for free until the end of 31 December 2021. This applies only to public charging stations and not domestic ones. Commercial vehicles for organisations, companies, governmental and semi-governmental organisations can charge their vehicles for 29 fils/kWh.