Of course you can do that. But if the battery charging is not metered separately, you cannot benefit from separat pricing mechanisms or the opportunities of different energy types (e.g. renewable resources). If the power consumer (in this case the battery) cannot be identified, this also has adverse effects on smart grid integration. For example, separate pricing mechanisms for excess wind energy production cannot be used.

And if you are living in an appartment or shared house, everyone would have to pay for electric vehicles recharging in their garage, as the energy charged would be metered and billed via the house meter rather than via a separate meter of the user.

Mobile Metering allows for smart recharging of your electric vehicles  any place it is parked for a longer period of time. For example, you can then tank up on electricity at work.

In an ideal case, the amount of charging stations should thus equal the number of parking spaces. We are assuming that there should be some three to five charging stations available for each EV, to ensure comfortable recharging and frequent grid connections of the vehicles. Only then can vehicles be integrated into the power grid. This in turn means that fluctuating energy production from renewable resources can be counterbalanced by smart charging processes.

To be able to recharge your EV anywhere, at least four charging points have to be available per EV - ideally the number of charging points should equal the number of parking spots.

Installing the necessary metering and communications technology in wall boxes or charging towers, including the necessary safety measures, is expensive. And the processing of data causes considerable running costs - for every single meter. That would be much too expensive. The Mobile Metering concept fits the meter insinde the car, which means that there is just one meter per vehicle (not per charging point). That reduces both the cost of installation and running expenses. The investments for a comprehensive roll-out of charging points and metering technology are reduced and power delivery and services can be offered in a comfortable and cost effective way: many charging points at lowest cost.

Instead of installing a meter anywhere the vehicle parks, the vehicle is taking a meter anywhere it goes. That saves costs of installing and operating three out of four meters.

In general, Mobile Metering technology offers the comfortable service of paying by bill at the end of the month - just like you pay for your mobile phone, for example. We are currently exploring cash or credit card options, for example for car parks.

Yes, of course! In these cases, belated data transfer will ensure secure metering and billing.

Authentification of each power user and secure data communications are key to protect our users from manipulation. We are employing cutting edge digital signature technologies and additional encoding to ensure our customers' safety.

Considering the number of network operators, data communications via the electric grid would be both complicated and costly. Using existing mobile communications networks is much more cost effective.

Mobile Metering is not a mutually exclusive concept - all options are preserved. Our customers will be able to recharge their vehicles at ubitricity system sockets and other charging points alike, and all functions (charging, metering, smart grid integration) remain operable. Of course, you could also exchange the battery.

But if you consider your daily driving, most of it can probably be covered by slow charging processes if the times when your car is parked (for instance at work, or during a shopping spree) can be used efficiently.

Tanking up in fast charging stations or exchanging the battery is no longer necessary with a densely knit charging network. For EV users, this translates into more comfortable driving, reduced efforts for recharging processes (no extra tours to the "petrol station") and higher fliexibility - ultimately, they will be less dependent on further infrastructure developments. Moreover, low charging currents and timely recharging, e.g. at work, extends the life of your battery.

Considering that the necessary metering technology is very light and that electric vehicles operate very efficiently, the additional weight of the meter is negligible.

According to the plans of the German government, one million electric vehicles will be roaming German streets by 2020. Even if these were all to enter the grid today, the current capacities of the electric network would be sufficient to accomodate the additional energy demand. Thus, noone has to worry about blackouts or power shortages in the near future. And as the number of electric vehicles will increase slowly rather than abruptly, network operators will have no trouble adjusting capacities to meet these challenges.

Crude oil is a finite ressource which means that the reserves stored underground will one day be exhausted. As economic growth has so far been powered by crude oil, global demand has increased steadily over the past 60 years. This means in turn, that remaining reserves will be depleted at an even faster rate. The term 'peak oil' refers to the global maximum capacity of oil production - once peak oil has been reached, oil production will decrease. Numerous researchers are working on predictions with regard to the exact time when oil production will peak, however, as there are no undisputed estimations on the absolute amounts of oil stored in the earth and the predictions regarding global demand are influenced by diverse variables, noone can tell when we will have reached the peak. Some researchers belive, for example, that it has already passed. In the latest World Energy Outlook (2010), the International Energy Agency estimates that global oil production will not peak prior to 2035. However, there is strong consensus that global oil markets will be subject to heavy price fluctuations in the future, and that the overall trend will be a steady price increase for crude oil. And this is something you will feel at the gas station - long before 2035.

No. No vehicle runs with zero emissions today, not even electric vehicles. This is due to the fact, that neither vehicles nor power generators have a balance of zero emissions in a life cycle analysis. However, the generation of electricity from renewable resources reduces greenhouse gas emissions considerably, which means that driving an EV on renewable energy brings your emissions down close to zero. This is why it is so important that electric vehicles are powered by renewable energies - only then can we be sure that emissions are not merely shifted from the tailpipe to the chimneys of power stations. In addition to the reduction of greenhouse gas and particulate matter, electric driving also brings down noise and heat emissions. Thus, driving on renewable energies reduces overall emissions in your direct neighbourhood considerably, and is an imporant contribution to global climate change mitigation.

The term "well-to-wheel" sums up the overall analysis of all environmental effects of fuel production - from the oil well all the way to the wheel of your car. Few adverse effects on the environment (like for example greenhouse gas emissions) in fuel production, delivery and usage thus translate into a good "wel-to-wheel" score. With regard to electric vehicles, this specifically refers to shifted emissions: if an electric vehicle is powered by coal fired electricity, the well-to-wheel score in temrs of greenhousegas emissions is actually worse than the score of modern diesel technologies! Emissions must be reduced while dricing (at the wheel) and in the generation of electricity in the power plant (the future "oil well"). This is best achieved by driving on renewably sourced electricity.

No, electric power is no free give away. But driving on electricity is much cheaper than driving on conventional fuels! A gas fired combustion engine consuming 7 l/100km costs you some 9€ for these 100 kilometers today. An electric car using 20kWh on the same distance only costs you some 3€. And in the future, this balance will further shift in favour of electric vehicles. Increasing global demand for crude oil and diminishing supplies will translate into higher gas prices in the long run. If you are driving an EV, this does not affect you.

True, as you drive on electricity stored in your vehicles battery, the EV consumes energy which it charges from the grid. However, EVs can be integrated into the network as 'smart consumers' if they are equipped with modern technology and if a dense network of charging points ensures frequent grid connections.

 Electric vehicles can then store additional energy generated during production peaks, or reenter a part of the energy stored inside them into the grid if demand exceeds production. These services are also called "Vehicle to Grid" or V2G services.