London: Canada is investing $2.4 million in s2e Technologies to test the world’s first integrated, automated electric vehicle (EV) parking system.
It offers residents fully automated pick-up and parking within their community for autonomous and electric vehicles. It will also test capabilities at a smaller scale to see if Canadian communities can support the technology.
This innovative parking tower, situated in London’s West 5 community, will function as an automated valet service for community-shared electric vehicles. The driverless vehicles will be dispatched to a resident’s doorstep when prompted, reducing the need for car ownership within the community. The control system will demonstrate the integration of a number of innovative charging technologies and will address the lack of high-density EV charging in parking-restricted urban environments.
This investment, through Natural Resources Canada’s Green Infrastructure Program, is key to building Canada’s clean growth economy, helping accelerate the deployment and market entry of next-generation clean energy infrastructure, including Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstrations, said a statement.
s2e Technologies, based in St. Jacobs, Ontario, develops economically and ecologically beneficial clean energy solutions for Canadians and strives to tackle climate change head-on. With operations around the world, its technological advancements in energy solutions aim to build resilient, sustainable communities through specialized energy transformation offerings.
“At s2e, we’ve been looking at the issue of climate change for a generation now. We have a team here who is demonstrating — every day — the kind of leadership required to make some very profound changes in the way we live, our relationship with our vehicles, with the planet and with one another…Each step we take in building smart communities, and imagining smart mobility, brings us closer to the kind of sustainable development that will better the environment and give our children a brighter future,” said Milfred Hammerbacher, Founder and CEO, s2e Technologies
“We know that we are at the cusp of a revolutionary change in mobility: the way we get around in our daily lives. That means a radical re-think of our relationship with our vehicles and a stepping away from the idea that every home will have a large garage, with multiple vehicles. At s2e, we are already envisioning smart communities with car shares, electric and autonomous vehicles, and centralized parking and EV charging,” said Ady Vyas, Vice-President, Energy and Mobility Solutions, s2e Technologies.
“We’re exploring everything from standard Level 2 charging, to wireless charging to V2G, to automatic charging connection and then integrating these various technologies into high-density parking — because we believe that this is what the future looks like. The funding announced today for the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration (EVID) project will allow us to develop the world’s first electric vehicle automated parking facility: so we can demonstrate that this kind of future is not just possible but just around the corner.”