Swiss technology firm ABB has opened an R&D centre in the Netherlands to explore the seamless connection between electric vehicles, charging stations, charging networks and the grid.

The e-mobility innovation lab will house 120 specialists. Designed to spur further innovations in e-mobility, the $10m, 3600m² facility is based on the Delft University of Technology campus, and will drive ABB’s future portfolio development, as well as R&D projects for EVs. In 2020 the university was ranked among the top 15 engineering and technology universities in the world.

This adds to ABB’s investment of $30m into a global centre of excellence and production site for EV charging infrastructure, due to open next year in Italy.

“Innovation is in our blood,” said Frank Muehlon, head of ABB’s business for e-mobility infrastructure. “ABB has led the way in EV charging and is proud to have played a key role in driving adoption rates of electric vehicles across the world. That is why we wanted to locate our e-mobility innovation lab in Delft, in the heart of the university campus, where we are surrounded by the brightest tech talents and start-ups in the Netherlands.”

The complex, which will house up to 120 specialists, marks the return of ABB’s EV charging business to the home of its conception. The students who founded Epyon – the EV charging start-up acquired by ABB in 2011 – were former students from Delft University of Technology.

“Within ABB Electrification, we invest approximately $400m per annum into R&D to ensure we remain at the forefront of technological leadership and set the standard when it comes to sustainable mobility,” said Muehlon. “As part of this investment, we are focused on pushing the boundaries of e-mobility, predominantly in the areas of charging, storage and digitalisation. The new lab will allow us to strengthen our collaboration with EV manufacturers to drive further performance and progress across the sector.”

Ensuring the seamless connection between vehicles, charging stations, charging networks and the grid, together with the software that supports them is a focus for ABB. The laboratory has been fitted with the latest technology to ensure that ABB chargers are compatible with all types of vehicle. Simulators have been built exactly for this purpose, with 95 per cent of all tests to be conducted with a digital copy of vehicles.

To test how vehicles perform in very hot or cold weather, ABB has developed environmental testing rooms, where developments will be subjected to extreme conditions, including temperatures from -40 to +100˚C and high humidity. The atrium is large enough for manufacturers to drive their cars, buses or lorries into the warm and controlled environment to conduct testing, which will help advance charging for the rapidly growing electric heavy-vehicle segment.

As part of the firm’s commitment to support a low-carbon society, it was vital not only to create a building that can advance progress in sustainable mobility, but also to create a facility that will reduce its environmental impact.

For heating and cooling, the complex will be connected to the university’s geothermal heating and cooling plant. The roof will house solar panels, with solar inverters to convert DC harvested from the sun into AC, which, together with ABB’s building management system for climate and light control and battery storage, will allow testing energy to be fed back into the grid.

Last month, ABB announced it would increase R&D and digital spend to about five per cent of revenues per year. This approach creates value for customers and drives a higher quality of revenues for the company, focusing on high-growth segments including e-mobility. Across the group, ABB has around 7000 employees in R&D with 60 per cent of them focused on developing software and digital innovations.

ABB entered the EV-charging market in 2010, and has sold more than 17,000 ABB DC fast chargers across 80 countries. It partners with the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, which is about to enter its fourth season. From season nine, in 2022-23, ABB will become official charging supplier to the championship.

With a history stretching back more than 130 years, ABB has around110,000 employees in more than 100 countries.