Overview
The Caruso project provides tools for private car sharing. For the new project 'E-Caruso' we are focusing on optimizing these tools for car sharing with electric vehicles. The communication between the on-board-diagnostics of the vehicle with the Caruso system is essential.
With it the user can be provided with additional feedback about energy efficiency and especially battery state. These tools will be tested with 20 car sharing groups and their feedback will eventually lead to improvements and optimizations of the Caruso system.
The boom of electric vehicles makes car sharing more attractive. The high costs of these vehicles make a good utilization ratio even more appealing. Because of their limited range EVs are not all-purpose but in combination with public transport electric vehicles their strengths become apparent.
Classic car sharing faces big obstacles for integrating EVs. Experience gained wih the Caruso project indicates that our type of car sharing is well suited for electric vehicles. The flexibility of our project and the high commitment of the users make electric car sharing possible.
Especially the awareness for car sharing is well established in the group of EV users. The Caruso Tools will be extended with the special needs of EV carsharing in mind. New on board units will be developed which are capable of reading battery status, monitoring recharge of battery and unlocking the vehicle via mobile phone. Unlocking the vehicle via mobile phone is interesting for intermodal trips. The vehicle can be passed to the user without exchange of a physical key or chip card. The on board unit is capable of monitoring
driving behaviour and giving feedback to the user (eco-driving). Smartphone application will be developed to further support car sharing. 20 car sharing groups with electric vehicles will be set up to test and develop E-Caruso. These users play a pivotal role in developing a practical solution.