The research project "unIT-e² - Reallabor für verNETZte E-Mobilität" is investigating how electromobility can be optimally integrated into the power grid in four field trials.
To address the complex issue from all sides simultaneously, 29 partners from the automotive and energy industries, the IT and charging infrastructure, and academia are participating in the collaborative project. The emphasis is on the user-friendliness, large-scale implementation of bidirectional charging concepts. The three-year project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The project will provide holistic solutions for the further expansion of electromobility. There exists a budget of 60 million euros which is only available for the realization of field trials in the urban areas of Munich and Düsseldorf as well as rural field trials in eastern Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and northern Hesse.

The unIT-e² project brings together all partners involved in the mobility transformation and creates a cross-sector exchange and research platform at the interface of the automotive and research platforms. 

Subproject of the University of Kassel: behavioral and legal economic analyses

Project objective:

The project "unIT-e² - Real Labs for Networked E-Mobility" addresses the many challenges necessary for the widespread use of e-mobility as a building block of the energy transition. With unIT-e², real laboratories are created that offer a neutral framework for stakeholders with sometimes competing interests. Therein, solutions can be jointly developed under scientific supervision without postponing the individual entrepreneurial goals. One objective is to demonstrate interoperable solutions for holistically optimised integration into the energy system. In addition to the technical and IT developments that form the basis for the mass application of electric mobility (e-mobility), user acceptance is of outstanding importance. In this context, the development of individual preferences and the design of legal framework conditions play a decisive role. The sub-project "Behavioural and legal-economic analyses" at the University of Kassel aims to research user behaviour in the context of e-mobility use in general and charging behaviour in particular. The research focuses on incentive systems to influence the charging behaviour. With a combination of conceptual design, field experiments, and representative empirical studies, comprehensive and at the same time practical results are generated, which are relevant as a basis for the design of tariffs and products of the practice partners, but also for the further development of the current legal framework.

Objective in detail:

• Behavioural economic studies of charging behaviour, especially in the context of the interaction of user preferences with the requirements of the electricity grid
• Microeconomic and behavioural analysis of the incentive effects of different contract and tariff designs ("behavioural law and economics")
• Analysis of adoption barriers in the different phases of the adoption process and identification of measures to reduce barriers
• Development of different tariff and contract designs and comparison of these concerning legal admissibility, incentive effects and benefits for companies and households.

Project partners: Bayernwerk Netz GmbH, BMW AG, Consolinno Energy GmbH, EAM Netz GmbH, EEBUS Initiative e.V., EWE GO GmbH, EWE NETZ GmbH, FfE e.V., FfE GmbH, Flavia IT Management GmbH, Ford Werke GmbH, Fraunhofer SIT, Kostal Industrie Elektrik GmbH, Lechwerke AG, Mercedes Benz AG, Power Plus Communications AG, Regionalmanagement Nordhessen GmbH, RWTH Aachen, Schneider Electric GmbH, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf AG Stadtwerke München GmbH, Stiftung Umweltenergierecht, TenneT TSO GmbH, The Mobility House GmbH, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universität Kassel, Universität Passau, Viessmann Climate Solutions SE, Volkswagen AG Group Innovation