Sponsors
Popular Articles
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is working hard to create a green profile ahead of its grand opening. KAUST recently initiated a Segway sharing program to facilitate on-campus travel by instructors, students and staff. The university inserted dedicated parking space throughout the campus for hybrid and electric vehicles. KAUST students and faculty will use shared bicycles and shuttle buses to travel around campus. KAUST is taking its approach to sustainable transportation to the next level with an EV sharing program facilitated by Elektromotive.
The university agreed last week to acquire 150 Elektrobay charging stations from Great Britain’s Elektromotive. KAUST plans to lease or purchase 150 electric vehicles in the near future to facilitate off-campus travel for the university community. The Elektrobay charging stations ordered by KAUST will be delivered and installed by September.
The Elektrobay charging station allows KAUST to track electrical demand, individual usage and other metrics by the minute. Each station is accessible only by registered users with access keys used to initiate the charging sequence. The Elektrobay’s active display screen features information like vehicle registration, charging time and charge status useful to drivers, utilities and university operators. KAUST, Elektromotive and its utility partners will be fully informed of every kilowatt-hour used thanks to each station’s connection to a central server.
KAUST’s Elektrobay project faces several challenges from the start. The university has acknowledged that special techniques will be used to install Elektrobay stations to accommodate the concrete layer running only inches below the campus surface. The extreme heat of Saudi Arabian summers will put Elektrobay technology to the climate test. The final limitation on the KAUST/Elektrobay is that the EV market is still in its infant stages, which could delay the EV sharing program into the future.
The KAUST/Elektromotive partnership looks like it will surpass these obstacles. KAUST is funded by a $10 billion endowment by the school’s namesake, which will be sufficient to lease first-generation EVs while easily paying for operational expenses. Elektromotive already has 160 Elektrobay stations running in Great Britain and dozens of stations sprinkled throughout Europe. KAUST’s academic focus is on scientific research including electrical engineering, computer science and mechanical engineering. These programs will spur graduate students to create new drive systems, vehicle designs and infrastructure to push KAUST’s EV program beyond its initial goals. The installation of 150 Elektrobay stations in the heart of Middle Eastern oil country shows that the EV revolution is heading the right direction.
