Ruf Automobile GmbH (Pfaffenhausen, Germany) is known for hand-made exclusive sports cars and refined high-end vehicles on the basis of Porsche vehicles. Ruf already has a car in its catalog that combines a Porsche body with an all-electrical Powertrain. In its booth at the Geneva Motor Show, the company displays its “eRuf Greenster” driven by a dual electric engine developed by Siemens. In contrast to existing electric cars, these motors can directly charge the 400V high-voltage battery, doing away with the costly electronic circuitry that typically controls the charging process.

Also in Geneva Siemens displays a concept for a charging station that can charge up several vehicles at the same time. It comprises of a central control station and several ‘satellites’. The interesting part is the control software – it collects, processes and transfers the data related to customer vehicles and charging process in a way that they can be used in commercial data processing systems.

Also focusing on the battery charging process is a concept shown by Siemens at the CeBIT IT trade fair in Hannover. Designed to interact with smart grids, it integrates power and communications functions in one system. Functionally, it closes the communication gap between power grid, internal power system of the car, traffic management systems and customer account data and payment process – an important building block for smart grids since it enables them to dispatch and control energy streams between grid and vehicles. The IT aspect at the exhibit is its connection to a SAP software system.