Microsoft and Ford announced a partnership ahead of the New York International Auto Show that will see upcoming Ford electric vehicles leveraging Microsoft’s Hohm software, which monitors utility consumption in homes and makes recommendations on what users can do to save energy. Electric cars have the potential to not only become the more energy-intensive item in drivers’ homes, but also exert pressure on the electrical grid should they become popular. In order to make the process more efficient, Microsoft and Ford intend to use Hohm to provide information to both customers and utilities on the steps they can take to make electric cars less of a drain on utility resources.
Microsoft and Ford will partner on making the automaker’s electric cars more energy efficient, both companies said in a joint March 31 announcement ahead of the New York International Auto Show. Specifically, the Microsoft Hohm platform will be offered as a cloud-based energy-management tool for owners of Ford’s future electric cars, for example informing them of the most optimal time to plug in a vehicle for recharging.
The joint announcement took place in Ford’s area at the New York International Auto Show, slated to run in Manhattan’s voluminous Jacob Javits Center from April 2-11. Ford CEO Alan Mulally came onstage to suggest that the partnership with Microsoft was part of an initiative to make its customers’ interactions with the utility grid “more efficient,” especially considering the potential drain that thousands of new electrical cars could put on the system. Ford plans on using Hohm for electric vehicles starting sometime in 2011.
Mulally said that Ford intended to “electrify our platforms” over the next few years, with five new hybrid vehicles due on the market by 2012. He then unveiled the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, which will utilize the Microsoft-designed SmartGauge with Eco-Guide to give drivers long-term data on their fuel efficiency. Mulally claimed the vehicle, which will debut later in the year, is 50 percent more efficient than comparably sized luxury vehicles.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer then appeared on a giant screen, via video link from Redmond, to talk about the partnership. After suggesting that Hohm “allows customers to better understand energy usage” and save an “average of 10 percent” on their utility bills, Ballmer went on to say that the partnership would ultimately benefit two groups: utility companies, which could use data from Hohm to “better understand and manage” the energy demands from electric cars on the grip, and customers, who could use the software to receive information on how, when, and where to best charge their vehicle.
Hohm takes users’ inputs about their energy choices in order to make recommendations about how to adjust energy expenditures in order to save money. Hohm’s analytics for performing its calculations are licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy. An electric vehicle has the potential to become the largest energy-consuming element of a typical household; in that context, were Hohm to recommend habits such as plugging in the car late at night instead of during peak hours, users could save a good deal of money.
Ford is also examining the possibility of a smartphone app that would allow users to remotely view their electric car’s charge status.
Microsoft originally launched Hohm in July 2009, as part of a larger “green IT” initiative that also included the company’s Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX, which had been released that February. Code-named Niagara, after the birthplace of modern electricity and one of Nikola Tesla’s experiment sites, the platform is designed to run on any Web browser, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. From the beginning, Microsoft made a point of highlighting its partnerships with utility companies to allow their customers’ energy consumption information to be automatically uploaded to Hohm, with four such companies signed on at the outset.
Hohm asks users for their postal code and e-mail address, and then to fill out a home profile with questions such as, “What type of energy does your water heater use?” In return, Hohm offers a home-energy report with energy-savings recommendations (“Lower the temperature setting on your water heater”) alongside an estimated cost breakdown.
Along with Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX, designed to assist executives and IT administrators in monitoring energy costs, Microsoft’s green IT initiatives are directly competitive with Google’s PowerMeter software tool, which measures home energy consumption in near-real time via “smart” metering devices installed by a utility. As part of their own initiative, Google has partnered with power companies in California, Texas, Florida, India, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Kentucky, as well as Canada.
Source:http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Microsoft-Ford-Will-Apply-Hohm-Software-For-Electric-Cars-882736/
