A newly patented Australian invention is set to revolutionise the way electric vehicles are charged by tapping into unused power in the grid. 

The patent, registered by Professor Geoffrey Chan, the chief technical officer at Australia company I-Charge, aims to solve the problem of ensuring that there’s enough charging capacity for EV owners to recharge without overwhelming the grid. 

The news will be announced today at a major renewable energy gathering, ’All Energy Australia’ in Melbourne. Professor Chan has alsojust been awarded the Gold Medal at the prestigious ‘BRICS Innovations Competition’ for the newly patented technology – Patent US-12119696B2.

“With this new technology we tap into underused power. We also prevent grid overloads which allows us to ensure we’re delivering reliable charging service for drivers,” Professor Chan said. 

“This patent enables dynamic charging adjustments based on real-time conditions. It’s especially useful in areas with limited space for infrastructure expansion – such as dense urban dwellings, public housing and shopping malls. 

“It works by checking the power consumption of your building minute by minute.  When some appliances in the buildings are switched off, the patented technology allocates the power originally taken by these appliances to charge EVs. It then takes back the power from EV charging when these appliances are switched back on.”

We’re delivering charging solutions where they weren’t previously possible.” 

As the number of EVs on Australian roads increases, we are constantly hearing horror stories about the grid being overloaded and there not being enough powers to run everyone’s home appliances and recharge cars at the same time.

As such, the idea of “unused power” in the grid seems radical, but Professor Chan explains that it is there, you just need to know how to tap into it, which is what his technology does.

“The confusion is caused by the subtle difference between ‘electric power’ in kiloWatts and ‘electric energy’ in kiloWatt Hours,” he explained.

“The grid is always capable to deliver more power to flow through it up to a certain limit, at least to its historical maximum. The capability to deliver more power at any instant is the ‘unused power’ of the grid.

“The ‘unused power’ is the difference between the historical peak power of any electrical equipment and the actual power that equipment is carrying at any moment.  Unused power also exists in most generators, except nuclear power plants,  because the generators seldom operate at 100 per cent capacity throughout the day.”

The patented design is implemented by software embedded in on-site hardware, and can control existing or new EV chargers to tap the unused power for charging.

I-Charge operates more than 1000 charging sites across Australia, North America, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia, and Managing Director Rosemary Tan says the patented technology will benefit customers worldwide. 

“We couldn’t be prouder of Professor Chan’s work securing patent approval and a major award win for this breakthrough technology, which promises to transform the efficiency and reliability of EV charging across the globe,”Ms Tan said. 

“At I-Charge we’re focused on creating intelligent, sustainable solutions that benefit EV drivers, operators and the environment alike. Professor Chan’s patented technology does exactly that.”