Some of the standards that vehicles must comply with also apply to the growing number of bikes and scooters on the road, especially as these methods of transportation become increasingly electrified.
Consumers and cities want electric vehicles that can be charged universally and don’t require chargers specific to each make and model. Likewise for the cities that are looking to invest in micromobility docking and charging infrastructure; many hope to invest in a one-size-fits-all approach.
But with so many different devices on the roads, it’s challenging to get every micromobility provider and stakeholder on the same page, especially as it relates to charging componentry and battery management systems.
That’s what inspired the formation of SAE International’s Micromobility Battery Standards Committee.
Micromobility companies need to share some of the same components and follow similar guidelines so they can streamline and scale up manufacturing and drive costs down, and so cities can invest in the appropriate charging infrastructure that these devices need, said Kevin Moravick, chief technology officer at universal charging network provider Swiftmile.”If a city is going to invest in something with public funds, they want to know that it plays nice with everybody,” Moravick said.
The committee, which Moravick chairs, is looking to solve discrepancies among bike and scooter providers by finding interconnectivity between charging infrastructure and these vehicles, and establishing a universal system for their battery management.
“[Cities] have been very vocal to us that ‘we’re not investing in one infrastructure that supports only two of the companies operating in our city,’ ” Moravick told Automotive News. “That’s like having a gas station that not everybody can use — it’s just so impractical.”
