IoT For Electric Vehicle Monitoring & Management

Akshara Srivastava
7 min readMay 30, 2022

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As the level of air pollution continually rises and the degradation of the environment increases, the entire world is searching for different ways to tackle this problem. One of the best ways to control air pollution is to reduce vehicular pollution. Electric vehicles (EVs) are a ground-breaking step taken in this direction. And the use of IoT can help companies to get various insights about Electric Vehicles and help them to improve customers’ experience.

Electric vehicles are hi-tech machines that collect a lot of data to deliver optimum performance to the users. IoT plays a vital role in monitoring performance parameters, including speed monitoring, acceleration, mileage, battery management, charging, fault alert, and service maintenance system.-

In this article, we explore ‌the aspects of an IoT for electric vehicle monitoring & management system.

Benefits of IoT in Monitoring & Management

Let’s take a look at some key features of IoT in electric vehicle monitoring & management system, and the different ways in which they increase the overall performance of electric vehicles:

IoT in Battery Management System

Battery Management System (BMS) is mainly used to monitor and control the process of the battery. The BMS helps to monitor the charging and discharging cycle of the battery and ensure the battery's health and also minimize the risk of damage by confirming that enhanced energy is being delivered to power the electric vehicle.

In the Battery Management System (BMS), the monitoring circuit monitors the key parameters of the battery. This will include the voltage, current, temperature, and temperature during charging and discharging of the battery. It also evaluates the key parameters of the battery such as the power, State of Charge (SoC), and State of Health (SoH) and enables healthy life of the battery based on the measurement. Internet of Things. (IoT) plays a vital role in monitoring and controlling the battery lifecycle as it enables the remote data logging facility for battery parameters, conditions, etc.

IoT in Safe and Smart Driving

By using IoT, we can monitor the real-time data of the vehicles and their key components. It provides users with a bunch of information offered by the technology, making the users find it more reliable.

IoT devices embedded in Electric Vehicles can provide users with the following information:

  • It helps in monitoring the driver’s performance and the key parameters like the speed of the vehicle, acceleration, and temperature, and provides real-time tips to ensure better performance.
  • We can prevent the theft of vehicles through real-time tracking, geo-fencing, and immobilization. Thus, IoT provides better safety and security and reduces the dependency on insurance.
  • IoT will monitor the performance data of the vehicle based on which EV and battery manufacturing companies can improve their products. The data provided by IoT includes a range for each charge, battery life cycle, utilization of a vehicle, performance differences based on geography, weather conditions, age, and change in range for each charge over a certain period of time.

Theft Proofing

The current prices of Electric Vehicles are more expensive than the normal petrol or diesel engine-based vehicles. Two Wheelers are more prone to theft, as the cost of a battery is expensive, and IoT could help in more effective tracking. The cost of the battery alone is 40% of the total cost of EVs. So, it is very necessary to protect them from theft. Electric Vehicles are also used by on-demand Aps Companies for food delivery, cargo delivery, bike-sharing, hyper-local delivery, etc. In such situations, IoT can be used to track down the real-time location of EVs in case they are stolen. These IoT devices can also raise an alarm and notify the owner about the theft.

Fall Down / Crash Detection

Most IoT devices have built-in accelerometers which can monitor the acceleration and angle of the vehicle. So, if there is a sudden change in acceleration and angle of the vehicle can be detected easily by IoT, and it notifies the owner about a fall down or crash. This can also be very useful to inform about severe accidents.

Ease of Leasing Batteries

The performance and location tracking of batteries are one of the most important features for battery swapping and leasing companies. The swapping of batteries can be easily tracked and monitored from the swapping stations. To track or monitor the batteries IoT can play a major role and also prevent the theft and loss of the battery.

Fault Alert and Predictive Maintenance System

An electric vehicle, being a high-tech machine, is bound to experience technical faults. Using IoT Fault alert systems alerts vehicle drivers regarding the faults or glitches and gives them enough time to act and address them.

By using an IoT we can detect the charge cycle of the vehicle, kilometres travelled, the temperature of the battery, etc. and we can use this data for regular maintenance of the tires, lubrication cycle, battery life, and monitoring other wear and tear parts of the vehicles and replacing them on the time. This could help in averting the damage to the vehicle and also helps in increasing the life of the vehicle and its batteries. This will help in better customer experience as they will find it to be more reliable.

Disadvantages of IoT in Electric Vehicle Monitoring & Management

As we already saw the advantages of IoT in Electric Vehicle Monitoring & Management, now we must also address possible challenges:

Risk of Cyber Attack

Since we have added so many devices to the Internet and the use of a high amount of data sent over a network makes this data more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data thefts. Hackers may access the system and steal personal information and it can be misused. Therefore, the IoT devices connected to the EV and collecting the overall data should be strengthened and made more hackproof.

High Cost of Electric Vehicles

IoT systems used in Electric Vehicles are quite advanced and have high installation and running costs, so it makes the overall EV more expensive. In the near future, there is a possibility to reduce the overall costs by doing more R&D in this area.

Technical complexity

In the IoT System, the designing, developing, maintaining, and enabling the extensive technology is quite complicated thus the overall design of EVs becomes more complex and not easy to handle.

Connectivity and power dependence

IoT devices used in EVs have a dependency on the internet and continuous power to function and provide real-time data properly. When either goes down, so does the device and anything connected to it will also go down. So, it will also affect the overall performance of EVs.

Future Scope of IoT in Electric Vehicles

The future of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the EV industry is going to be brighter in the upcoming years. According to Netscribes Market Research Report, the global market size of the automotive IoT market will reach $106.32 billion by the end of 2023. Many governments around the globe are planning to replace the normal petrol or diesel engine-based vehicles with Electric Vehicles. But it is only possible when the global automobile industry follows all the standards.

Nowadays, people expect their Vehicles to be a whole software platform with easier control, low maintenance and running cost, and with functions like self-driving. Electric Vehicle manufacturers can use IoT technologies both for the development of the manufacturing process and for the improvement of the after-sales process.

Once IoT Technology becomes a global standard in Electric Vehicles, there are significant advantages, it will lead to reducing the cost of Battery, Safe & Secure Driving, Air Pollution Control, Easy Maintenance, Employment, Business Opportunities, and Reducing manufacturing costs, and many more. All in all, the future of IoT in the Electric Vehicle and the Automobile Industry seems very bright indeed!

Conclusion

As we all know, IoT has the ability to transform the entire EV industry and leads to a healthier environment. With IoT, Electric Vehicles have become more efficient and convenient for EV owners and service providers. They will get all the information about their vehicles within seconds like Maintenance Time, Nearby Charging Stations, Battery Status, Fault Alert, and many more. It will be a boon to the EV owners.

Undoubtedly, IoT helps the EV industry in reshaping its traditional way of manufacturing and maintenance process but due to its technical complexity and high cost, IoT Technology has not been generally adopted by the EV industry. Once IoT Technology becomes a global standard in the EV industry, its use cases are going to expand into the future.

If you look forward to developing and implementing IoT solutions for your business, there’s no better technology partner than us. We are one of the leading IoT Development Companies providing custom IoT solutions. We offer end to end IoT development services, from hardware integration, IoT Firmware Design, IoT app development, and IoT-enabled mobility services to custom IoT application development. We have a team of IoT Developers having extensive industry experience and excel in developing and deploying IoT solutions efficiently. We can provide you with world-class development services and help you take your business to the pinnacle. So, grab the opportunity and get a free consultation call from our IoT Experts.

We are one of the leading IoT Development companies providing custom IoT solutions. We offer end to end IoT development services, from hardware integration, IoT Firmware Design, IoT app development, and IoT-enabled mobility services to custom IoT application development.

We have a team of IoT Developers having extensive industry experience and excel in developing and deploying IoT solutions efficiently. We can provide you with world-class development services and help you take your business to the pinnacle. So, grab the opportunity and get a free consultation call from our IoT Experts.

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