Cables, who needs them? Meredot is a Latvia-based start-up that’s developed electric fuelling stations to charge e-scooters wirelessly. Its Wireless Charger is composed of a ground pad, a receiver, and cloud-based software management system.
The idea came to Roman Bysko back in 2017, whilst he was working at a company developing smart home systems for hotels and hospitals.
“We could automate almost anything except for the power socket, which hasn’t been upgraded in the 150 years since it was patented,” he tells Auto Futures.
Bysko, Meredot’s CEO, realised he could reinvent it, and change the way power is transmitted from power sockets to devices.
“I found like-minded people – engineers and scientists – who shared my vision. Together we wanted to prove that wireless charging is not only possible, but that it can also be faster, more efficient and convenient than cable charging,” he explains.
Meredot was born, and the team soon realised it should focus on creating wireless chargers based on this technology. Following its first funding round, they took just six months to move from lab prototype to delivering a commercial product.
“The ground pad is a physical pad made of special materials that can be placed either over or below the ground and can double as a regular road, sidewalk, or indoor space. It transforms power into magnetic energy, and transmits it wirelessly and over-the-air to a vehicle once it is parked over the pad.”
The charging process starts automatically, even if the positioning is not precise. The rider has no need to unfold cables, plug them in or out, or search for plugs compatible with local sockets.
As it does not have any overground hardware, it lets the cityscape stay unchanged and is protected from vandalism. It is also designed to work in harsh weather.
Pilot programmes are underway with partners in Israel (City Zone) and Italy (Z Move).
“We discovered that the Israeli municipal regulations are aimed at creating a barrier-free environment for disabled persons. Any street objects have to be either at the ground level or a certain size. Even if an object is just 1 inch above the ground, its developers are obliged to reshape it to fulfill this requirement. Since our Wireless Charger is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible and placed at the ground level, we fit these regulations from the beginning.”
“In Italy, however, more emphasis is put on vandalism protection. Municipalities require developers to install locks or other means of protection. But again, since the main feature of our Wireless Charger is eliminating any hardware prone to vandalism, we fulfilled this requirement,” he says.
The company’s Wireless Charger is compatible with all micro-mobility types and popular brands such as Bird and Lime, so riders have no need to search for vehicle or brand-specific chargers.
“Meredot Wireless Chargers can make micro-mobility as a means of transport more comfortable and appealing to end consumers.”
Meredot’s Cloud Management System increases the efficiency of electric charging stations in cities, as it allows operators to monitor the charging processes in real time.
“Every time a rider charges their scooter, the station sends information on scooter type, operator name, vehicle ID, and current battery level to the server. Then the server checks the vehicle ID in its own database and gives permission for charging. When a battery is full or a scooter has been taken off by the next rider, the station automatically stops power transmission and reports it to the server. This way, it’s possible to know how much energy has been sent to the scooter battery, and control the charging process,” says Bysko.
“Every scooter operator has their own workspace where they can monitor the availability of spots in charging stations, their popularity, and location. The processed data drawn from the server enables them to identify the locations where scooters are more popular, thus helping to identify where it’s necessary to install additional stations and scooters,” he adds.
Meredot can help eliminate the need for micro-mobility operators to buy more spare batteries for vehicles to swap. This can potentially reduce the demand for batteries and decrease the carbon emissions generated by battery production, delivery, and utilisation.
“The adoption of Meredot Wireless Chargers can make micro-mobility as a means of transport more comfortable and appealing to end consumers. We hope it will change the citizens’ transportation habits and attitudes and encourage them to choose electric micro mobility over traditional cars.”
Regular wired charging platforms can serve four e-scooters simultaneously, whereas Meredot wireless charging platform can serve eight vehicles at a time.
New Transport Sharing Models
Meredot recently showed off its charging technology at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. It now has plans to expand the range of applications.
“We are reaching out to fleet operators worldwide, as well as talking to micro-mobility OEMs. We are also working on adapting the technology to serve EVs, e-bikes and other transport categories that require electric charging.”
Finally, we asked Bysko for his predictions on what urban mobility trends will dominate by the end of the decade. He believes that infrastructure changes in big cities, combined with the growing climate change awareness, will help citizens change their transportation habits.
“By 2030, they will likely prefer micro-mobility – bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters and electric motorcycles – for close-distance travel of up to 5km. Since a lot of workplaces will adhere to remote or hybrid work and citizens will be able to spend more time in their neighbourhoods, walking will become popular again,” he says.
“Citizens will share micro-mobility transport, as well as buy their own vehicles that better suit their unique needs and preferences. For trips to longer distances, they will likely combine these means of transport with the public ones, such as the subway or buses, which will probably have become electric as well by the time. This will encourage the emergence of new transport sharing models and operators.”
“For long-distance trips, such as from downtown to suburbs, citizens will likely still prefer cars for their comfort and durability. Whether the majority of them will be electric or not will depend on the availability of charging infrastructure,” concludes Bysko.
Keyword: Time to Ditch the Cables? Charging up E-scooters Wirelessly – Meredot CEO Roman Bysko