From charging management for e-cars to controlling wind turbines and power grids: IAV is working flat out on solutions for the energy transition. And to do so, it draws on its technical expertise from four decades of vehicle development.

In 2009, IAV undertook a model test in inductive charging and showed how vehicles can be supplied with electricity safely, reliably and conveniently in the future. Thanks to induction, charging works completely contactless via a changing magnetic field that generates electricity with metal. The car can thus be charged while parked and while driving.

In 2012, IAV invented the Energy Container for decentralized energy supply. It can be used as a mobile charging station for e-vehicles. Two years later, IAV and other experts develop an e-vehicle that sets new standards in terms of efficiency and safety. “Visio M” is the name of the project from which the “Open Hybrid Lab Factory” research factory emerges. IAV is working on the lightweight construction technologies of the future to make vehicles even more economical and climate-friendly.

A fundamental overhaul of the wind turbine control and regulation architecture still in use in 2017 – that was the approach taken in the “eco4wind” research project, in which IAV collaborated with universities in Magdeburg, Freiburg, Bochum and Senvion GmbH for two years.

“The project partners want to use the latest research findings from several specialist areas of control and automation technology to bring the operational management of wind turbines up to the state of the art,” as Dr. Axel Schild, the person responsible for the project at IAV, explained.

The eco4wind approach is based on innovative real-time operation management based on nonlinear model predictive control, which is intended to enable a completely new and intelligent way of planning and controlling operating dynamics.

The next major project started in 2019 with IAV Optera. IAV was aware early on that without the energy turnaround, there would be no transportation turnaround. So a team of engineer:ers researched technologies and services with the goal of stabilizing the energy sector. The result is an AI-supported method that can be used to automatically plan distribution networks and determine optimal expansion scenarios.