MOROCCO – Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy launched the first 100% Moroccan-made smart charging station for electric cars.
Elalamy presented the project as a new and innovative Moroccan technology, part of the electronic innovations that are starting to have an important place in the automotive sector.
The “iSmart” project is also part of Morocco’s long committed engagement in the automotive sector and its responsibility to maintain the development of the sector that is moving “totally, gradually, slowly, but surely towards renewable energy,” said Elalamy. Therefore, electronic innovations in the sector are a priority, he added.
The minister showcased the new technology in the presence of the director-general of the Solar Energy and Renewable Energies Research Institute (IRESEN), Badr Ikken, at the ministry’s headquarters in Rabat.
Bader Ikken stated that assembly of the certified iSmart project will take place in Benguerir. It is slated to produce 5,000 smart-charging stations per year by 2022, with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector.
The electric car charging station is the first of its kind that Morocco’s innovators and manufacturers developed and produced 100% locally. Automotive manufacturers of the Green Energy Park requested the project’s development. Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and IRESEN jointly established the Green Energy Park research platform.
According to Ikken, the iSmart charging station will have many advanced settings including a CO2 capture that provides information about pollution in specific regions. It can also connect to 4G and display information and advertising. The project engineers have also developed a platform that will allow the monitoring and management of the stations in each city.
Elalamy and Ikken also showcased the smart station’s futuristic and sleek black and gray color, as well as how the charging function works. A cable connects the electric car to the smart station and it can charge a compact size vehicle in 30 minutes.
This year, Morocco also took the opportunity to consider adopting Rachid Yazami’s invention of new battery technology for charging electric cars. The invention is far more efficient than Vivo Energy Maroc’s rapid charging station for electric cars, which charges the car’s battery only 80% in one hour compared to Yazami’s battery that can charge the vehicle in less than 20 minutes.
Morocco also decided to use an adapted version of the “225 Citroen Ami” electric car specifically for Barid Al-Maghrib’s mail-parcel distribution network across Morocco. Moroccan postal service and international car manufacturer PSA Group signed an agreement to develop the 100% electric car in October.
Morocco’s continual involvement in the automotive sector with innovative projects can lead the country to be a leader in the automotive and green energy field.
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