A pioneering solution for e-mobility: NRW Minister for Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur meets the inventors of H-BRS and ZERA

According to the Federal Network Agency, there are just under 200,000 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging points across Germany, a quarter of which are suitable for fast charging. All commercially used charging stations must be recalibrated after eight years of operation to ensure they function correctly. For the functional testing, H-BRS in collaboration with ZERA, has developed several new methods that offer a number of advantages over current solutions: at the highest level of integration, they enable the entire charging curve to be run through and energy to be fed back into the grid. Thanks to the use of power electronics, the new solutions are also portable in a small box. As this ‘patented solution’ (patent number DE 10 2023 211 443) also demonstrates how collaboration between a University of Applied Sciences (HAW) and a medium-sized enterprise can rapidly lead to an innovation for sustainable transformation, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Mona Neubaur, visited the project in Königswinter today as part of her NRW Innovation Tour 2026.

Neubaur: The future takes shape where people put ideas into practice

“The future takes shape where people turn ideas into reality – and that is exactly what we are seeing here in the Rhineland and Bergisches Land. Strong medium-sized companies, innovative start-ups and committed universities work closely together here to develop solutions to the challenges of our time. We want to strengthen and further connect this local innovative power – because it is an important foundation for a strong and sustainable North Rhine-Westphalia,” says Mona Neubaur, Deputy Minister-President and Minister for Economic Affairs.

With the new processes, power flows

The practical technical challenge in this case is the on-site recalibration of charging points for electric vehicles. Professor Marco Jung, who holds a professorship in electromobility and electrical infrastructure at H-BRS with a focus on power electronics, explained the project to the minister. At commercially used charging points, every kilowatt-hour of electricity supplied is recorded for billing purposes; this is no different from a domestic electricity meter. And this meter must be checked regularly in accordance with calibration regulations. So far, there is no truly suitable solution on the market. Ideas range from connecting a grill to using a large battery that has to be transported to the charging stations by lorry. Checking the charging curve is therefore not only very cumbersome, but also only possible on an ad hoc basis. The so-called planned ‘phantom test’ does allow for a meter check in the field, but does not enable the charging point’s functionality to be verified.

The situation is different with the new methods developed by H-BRS and ZERA, as power actually flows. This enables a genuine functional test of the charging point and meter under reproducible conditions – using a compact, mobile unit consisting solely of electronic components at the highest level of integration. “In principle, our invention allows the entire charging curve to be tested,” says Jung. In one variant of the process, the energy released can be converted into heat via an adjustable load and dissipated; in another variant, it can be fed back into the electricity grid. H-BRS and ZERA have now patented the new process. This was strongly supported by the innovation2business.nrw network. This network comprises 27 universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, together with the service provider PROvendis, with the aim of advancing the transfer of knowledge and technology to industry and society. The network is funded by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairs.