Smoothing the Way for EVs with Omnidian
Across the world, the automotive industry has committed to phasing out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in favor of electric vehicles. GM, for example, has promised that sales of all ICE vehicles will end by 2035. By 2040, Honda will stop producing ICE cars. And Ford is investing $50 billion in electric vehicles toward its goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050. EVs are now so commonplace that building owners, businesses and municipalities take care of their EV-owning employees, customers, and citizens by putting charging infrastructure in place.
But while the automotive industry may be heading toward an all-electric future, the road there is paved with difficulties. Charging must perform reliably and to specifications, and the problems with charging infrastructure can be complex. To begin, owners of EV chargers may not know when a charging station is functioning properly or needs maintenance. Beyond the charger itself, the chargers’ connections to the local electric grid may also fail to perform as intended.
Enter Omnidian. The Seattle company was founded in 2016 with a mission to protect and accelerate investments in clean energy, initially focused on the solar industry. Omnidian worked with solar experts to build the data science tools necessary to fix some of the industry’s most pressing performance challenges. The resulting proprietary technology uses machine learning to detect and diagnose issues with a system, often before a customer knows there’s an issue. Knowing the root cause of the problem early allows Omnidian to efficiently resolve it. When a service visit is needed, the company proactively coordinates service and confirms the customer’s system is performing to specifications.
Omnidian is now applying the same playbook to the EV industry. As Mark Liffmann, CEO for Omnidian, explains: “National Grid is focused on safe, reliable energy and transforming the nation to smarter, cleaner, more resilient energy solutions. At Omnidian, we’re proud to support that effort as we help National Grid expand the number of clean energy solutions for homeowners and businesses across the country.”
To that end, Omnidian and National Grid recently launched a pilot program to see if Omnidian could improve the performance of National Grid’s employee EV charging stations. In order to detect when the product was not performing, the company used the stations’ reporting capabilities to put together different alerts -- and ultimately, exposed issues that were artificially limiting the amount of power that the chargers dispensed.
Jake Kailey, lead facilities analyst in National Grid's New England business unit, details how Omnidian helped improve the utility’s EV charger performance: “Just through asking questions about what we care about, how these things work, Omnidian was able to come up with several alerts and metrics that I really hadn't imagined. We were able to uncover even more diagnostic and performance information about these chargers than I thought possible and in much greater detail than available from the manufacturer.”
Daniel White, Director of Business Development at National Grid Partners, called the collaboration “a classic ‘win-win’ as we help both Omnidian and National Grid drive success.” The National Grid Partners' business development team plays a key role introducing National Grid business units to startups with the potential to help solve pressing challenges – like enabling worry-free EV adoption. Having dependable charging technology available to EV drivers at businesses, schools, and city parks is a crucial step toward building an emissions-free world.
