USER-CHI aims at unlocking the massive potential of electromobility in Europe. This will be achieved by (1) integrating different innovative charging technologies with a holistic perspective, (2) putting the user at the centre and empowering it, (3) exploiting the synergies between electromobility and the process of greening and smartification of the grid which is taking place to achieve the energy transition in Europe, (4) integrating the technological tools, business models and regulatory measures which will transform the elements cited above into an actual, working ecosystem which improves the user experience of EV drivers beyond the current levels of ICE vehicles drivers, whilst at the same time makes financially attractive for the relevant private and public actors the large scale deployment of Europe’s required user centric charging infrastructure. USER-CHI will boost a large-scale e-mobility market take up in Europe, by means of developing integrated smart solutions, novel business models and new regulatory framework conditions, which will be demonstrated and validated in 5 urban areas all along the European territory: Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain), Rome (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), and Turku (Finland). These 5 sites act as connecting nodes of the key Mediterranean and Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN-T corridors, while their different sizes, complementary contexts and e-mobility maturity level offer a holistic view of e-mobility in Europe, facilitating the scalability and replicability of the demonstrated solutions. Since large scale replication and transferability of USER-CHI results is one of the cornerstones of the project, a replication city has been included in each of the TEN-T corridors involved in the project: Murcia (Spain) in Mediterranean corridor and Florence (Italy) in Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor. This, together with the involvement of EUROCITIES will maximise the project impact even after its completion.

The number of battery-powered electric vehicles is expected to be at 30-40 million by 2030 in the EU. This strong increase of electric vehicles is a big challenge for the energy system in Europe, but at the same time a chance to use V1G/V2G/V2X-technologies. As vehicles are mainly parking, they can be used as energy storage in order to increase grid stability. The overall project objective is to optimize the entire charging chain - from energy provision to the end user - to create a clear benefit for all stakeholders. Therefore, a ubiquitous on-demand charging solution based on an optimized charging network considering human, technical and economic factors along the entire charging chain shall be developed. The investigation of the user behavior as well as the analysis of the energy system and grid will form the basis from a research side, to predict the future behavior of EV owners and fleet operators as well as possible shortcomings in the electric grid and energy system. The development of advanced charging technologies and control mechanisms as well as advanced charging and sector coupling concepts, will form the basis for the virtual and real evalulations/demonstrations conducted in 4 different European countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal). In parallel a smart charging simulation environment (digital twin of the charging chain with a holistic simulation environment with multilevel component models and representative information flow between all agents) will be built up. This digital twin will incorporate the results of the demonstration actions and enable an upscaling to show the impact of these technologies. To ensure the interoperability and the optimization along this charging chain, the consortium comprises all relevant partners/stakeholders (energy providers, grid operators, charge point operator, EV equipment providers as well a vehicle manufacturer).