October 3, 2013
Fujitsu Limited
RESC, Ltd.
Fujitsu and RESC Begin Collaboration to Build the Future of Electric Vehicles, Integrating ICT with Energy
A new concept for the future of electric vehicle systems, with consolidated cloud-based management of battery information
Tokyo, October 3, 2013 — Fujitsu Limited and venture start-up RESC, Ltd. today announced that they have agreed to collaborate in developing an infrastructure system that integrates the fields of ICT and energy to help bring about a new electric vehicle society.
Under this agreement, the portable cassette-type secondary batteries used in RESC's electric scooters and the charging lockers that recharge them will be managed and analyzed by Fujitsu's cloud service that employs location data, the Fujitsu Intelligent Society Solution SPATIOWL. This will make it possible to monitor travel-related information, such as road traffic and vehicle statistics. Information on when the scooter batteries need to be charged, when they need to be replaced, and information on the location of replacement batteries and charging lockers, which are spread out in a variety of locations will also be available.
Given the further growth in demand anticipated for electric scooters, Fujitsu and RESC seek to help bring about a society in which renewable energy is utilized by using ICT to allay concerns about battery charging and replacement. As a first step, by 2015, they plan to roll out electric scooters with these batteries to delivery companies, along with the infrastructure system described above, building the foundation for a society in which electric vehicles are ubiquitous. By 2020, the system will be available to the general public.
Figure 1: Goals for the collaboration
Global warming and the depletion of petroleum resources are spurring on a desire to increase the number of electric vehicles within our society to enable people to get around with zero CO2 emissions. There are, however, issues that still need to be resolved before that can happen, including the ability to monitor battery capacity and deterioration, and the construction of a supporting infrastructure.
By integrating ICT and energy fields, Fujitsu and RESC will build a new system that can manage and analyze batteries. By managing each battery as a separate unit, the system can keep track of its remaining charge, deterioration, and location, bringing the following benefits.
- Electric vehicle users will be able to use batteries that are in good condition.
- Personnel in charge of batteries can track the utilization of each one to manage resources efficiently.
- Battery usage by individual users can be ascertained, thereby allowing for multiple users to share more than one battery. This makes it possible to utilize the service based on proper operating costs in line with actual usage.
For Fujitsu, this collaboration is an opportunity to build the kind of battery-management platform that will be a necessary part of a society that embraces electric vehicles. In addition, Fujitsu aims to use scooters as sensors to collect various data, including on road conditions and batteries, developing new businesses that put big data to use, and plans to gather a wide-range of additional partners to expand alliances into related areas. As a new framework to realize these efforts, Fujitsu Limited established its FUJITSU Big Data Initiative, announced June 24, 2013, within which is structured a support program to assist venture companies. Fujitsu will work jointly with these partners, supporting commercialization and promotion of services.
Furthermore, to track battery deterioration and accurately forecast battery replacement, Fujitsu has developed a sophisticated deterioration-modeling engine in SPATIOWL, and plans to make further contributions to help move the energy sector forward, such as finding new applications for used batteries that still have remaining value.
Within the year, RESC plans to run verification tests of its electric vehicle system based on charging lockers and batteries that can be charged, replaced, and monitored anytime and anywhere, as part of a new concept in electric vehicles that uses renewable energy.
Cassette-style battery (left), "Charging locker" locker-style battery charging locker (right)
"Scarpina" two-wheeled electric scooter (left) and "Eco Carry" three-wheeled electric scooter (right), both compatible with the system.
Service Overview
1. Tracking of remaining charge in batteries and predicting when they need to be replaced
Scooter riders can connect their smartphones to the batteries via Bluetooth and use a Fujitsu-developed app on their smartphone to monitor the remaining charge on a battery and its remaining useful life. Battery data is sent via the Internet to a big-data center for storage and analysis, which will predict when a battery needs to be replaced and will automate the management and use of deteriorated batteries so that batteries needing maintenance are not used.
2. Manage locations for charging lockers and charging status in real time
Scooter riders can use their PCs or smartphones to look up, in real time and together with positioning information, the charging status data of individual batteries aggregated from charging lockers.
3. Predict distance current battery will be able to run, and search for and reserve battery replacement locations
Scooter riders can check the distance they can travel on their electric scooters based on predictions of remaining battery charge and when the battery needs to be replaced. They can also use their smartphones to search for battery replacement locations around that distance along their journey and reserve a battery replacement.
Figure 2: Service schematic
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.4 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.
About RESC, Ltd.
RESC's mission is to provide systems that use renewable, clean energy to help bring about an e-mobility society. Since being founded in 2009, its main lines of business have been the development and sales of an electric scooter that uses a proprietary cartridge-style lithium-ion battery, along with portable power systems and locker-style charging lockers. It is now in the planning stage for an e-mobility infrastructure service that integrates battery technology and ICT. For more information on RESC, see http://www.rescgroup.com/.
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