A University of Utah startup and local alum’s foundation are making it easier to charge EV vehicles on campus.
Two years ago, Grid Elevated, Leaders for Clean Air and the Kiessner Foundation donated software and hardware worth $500,000 for 100 charging stations that incorporate smart technology to ease strain on the electricity grid and encourage the use of electric vehicles. After 18 months of testing, the first 60 stations were installed across campus this summer. The next 40 will be put in place over the next few months.
Grid Elevated’s faculty, students and alumni have modernized EV charging stations by reimagining how station data could be captured and analyzed to improve efficiency while reducing pressure on aging power infrastructure. The app-based system pulls together parking administration and energy management in one platform.
“There was a lack of charging stations, and those that were here weren’t working properly all the time,” said Masood Parvania, founder of Grid Elevated and a professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Our goal was to create a scalable, reliable and abundant charging infrastructure on campus.”
IntelliCharge is a fully customizable, AI-powered, cloud-based system that connects EV charging stations, grid and facility operators, and EV drivers. The technology intelligently throttles charging across different vehicles and times, optimizing when cars charge based on grid demand and energy availability and prices. IntelliCharge operates on Grid Elevated’s MIDAAS (Multi-source Data Acquisition, Analytics, and Security) platform, which digitizes grid data to enable AI-powered optimization across the entire power system.
Parvania formed Grid Elevated in 2022. The startup now employees 11.
Since the new stations have come online, Commuter Services reports that drivers have charged their cars in 1,500 more sessions per month with 60 percent more commuters using the university’s EV parking permit discount. The result is a 400 percent increase in EV charging across campus. The additional chargers have reduced backups at existing stations: Station use has dropped from an average of 22 hours of charging per month to 6 hours—a 75 percent reduction. Parking managers expect charger use to increase as U commuters adapt to new and growing charging options.
The donors hope it’s a case of “If you build it, they will come.” Ideally, more charging stations will translate to more EVs on campus as university students, faculty and staff let go of “range anxiety,” drivers’ fear of getting too far away from charging stations.
Overall, the donation has tripled the number of charging stations on campus, from 34 to 92 this year. In addition to stations at the law school, Lassonde, Madsen Clinic and East Village Apartments, new stations have been installed at the central, northwest and Shoreline Ridge garages. New charging stations also have been added at the Epicenter, School of Medicine, Moran Eye Center, and U of U Health employee garage.
Once the full 100 charging stations are installed, Kiessner says, the U will become the top Utah location with the highest concentration of charging stations.
The University’s upgrades to EV charging complement efforts from the Utah Office of Energy Development and the Utah Department of Transportation. Utah has been working on a statewide electric vehicle charging plan since 2021 to “increase economic development, transportation choice, energy resiliency, and emergency route options.”
HB 259, adopted by state lawmakers in 2020, requires a statewide EV charging plan.
“The world of transportation is going to be electric. Ubiquitous deployment of charging technology will actually drive electric vehicle adoption,” said Hanko Kiessner, a graduate of the U and founder of the Kiessner Foundation. “This effort will ease peak production in the middle of the day. It makes sense that drivers will use electricity produced from renewable sources to recharge at work and at school, which ultimately balances the grid. Drivers don’t have to plug in at home, when the grid is at its tightest, between 5 and 8 p.m.”
“This is really a story of creating a cleaner world by using research and private funding,” Kiessner added. “This should be the coolest charging station deployment in the world.”
University leaders note the throughline of the entire project—from its inception in Parvania’s Utah Smart Energy Laboratory (U-Smart) to the startup space in Research Park, to installation in parking garages across campus.
“This project is a prime example of the university’s efforts to foster and enhance research that delivers societal impact,” said Jennifer Reed, Senior Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services.