GridSmartr Announced As Winner Of 2019 Automobility LA Hackathon

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Grid Stabilization and Money Saving Incentives Combine to Create Winning Concept

Hackathon Challenge Focused on Smart Solutions to Map, Model and Maximize the EV Experience

Prize Pool of $20,000 Awarded

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Nov 19, 2019, 22:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LA Auto Show's AutoMobility LA^TM today announced the winner of its signature annual hackathon, presented by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and HERE Technologies, and co-sponsored by SiriusXM Connected Vehicle Services Inc. (a subsidiary of SiriusXM Holdings Inc.).

The winning team, GridSmartr, was selected after two intense days of competition, securing the grand prize of $10,000 after impressing judges with an innovative solution to two critical EV adoption factors – infrastructure stability and consumer adoption incentives. The GridSmartr tool finds the optimal time to charge electric vehicles, as well as providing incentives to consumers by earning points if they allow their vehicles to draw less energy while the grid is overloaded.

The winners were announced and awarded at AutoMobility LA on Tuesday, November 19 as part of the show's four packed days of trade and press programming and included a series of runner up and category winners.

"Competitions like the hackathon are not only vital to AutoMobility LA, but to the future of the automotive and technology industries," said Terri Toennies, President of the LA Auto Show and AutoMobility LA. "AutoMobility LA draws in such a high caliber of talent and passion and it's an honor to provide a platform that births innovative solutions to the mobility challenges our industry is facing. Congratulations to GridSmartr and all the participants of our hackathon on their achievements this year."

Over the course of two days, hackathon participants were challenged to develop enabling software and architectures to support an electric charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and long-haul, electric trucks as they travel along the 1,300 miles of Interstate 5 from Mexico to Canada. Using data from the City of Los Angeles, the Connected Vehicle Reference Architecture (CVRA 2.0) from AWS, as well as the data from HERE Location Services and SiriusXM Connected Vehicle Services, participants were challenged to create solutions to support four key areas:

Smart-charging journey planning, including integrated payments
Battery performance, analytics and calculating range based on location context and driving style
Improving the in-vehicle experience (e.g. in-vehicle voice technology like Alexa Auto)
Use of vehicle and HERE location data and SiriusXM Connected Vehicle Services drive, location and crash incident data to create models for maximizing vehicle usage and safety

Team ReRoute Takes Second Place Prize of $5,000
The objective of ReRoute's product is to reduce air pollution and encourage the use of electric vehicles through an eco-friendly routing framework. The tool incentivizes drivers to take eco-friendly routes and rewards them with tokens that can be redeemed in appropriate ways such as reserving an EV charge station.

Category Winners Impress Judges
'Impact' Category Winner
Team Wheels proposed using historical data to predict inefficiencies in battery utilization, creating a smart routing app for electric vehicle, long haul truck drivers. Drivers are able to find the optimal driving routes using an Alexa device, by taking into account hard brake acceleration fuel efficiency, crash data, as well as driver behavior.

'Innovation' Category Winner
Team King of the Road created an app that scores roads for electric vehicle efficiency based on historical data. They created a product that gamifies the driving experience with drivers incentivized to get the best score to positively influence their driving behavior.

'Technical Execution' Category Winner
Team Atom produced an app utilizing Alexa in the car, with a goal to reduce the anxiety EV drivers face when looking for chargers. Directions can be obtained via Alexa and will calculate distance versus EV range.

This year's AutoMobility LA Hackathon competition was evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges comprised of the following:

John Jasper, Senior Vice President of Connected Vehicle Services at SiriusXM
Jay Kim, Assistant General Manager at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation
Nils Kunces, Senior Account Manager of Automotive Sales at HERE Technologies
Dean Phillips, Worldwide Technical Leader for Automotive and Manufacturing at AWS
Chris Wenneman, Director of Alexa Auto at Amazon

To learn more about AutoMobility LA and the LA Auto Show, please visit: AutoMobilityLA.com or LAAutoShow.com.

About the Los Angeles Auto Show and AutoMobility LA
Founded in 1907, the Los Angeles Auto Show (LA Auto Show®) is the first major North American auto show of the season annually. In 2016, the show's Press & Trade Days merged with the Connected Car Expo (CCE) to become AutoMobility LA™, the industry's first trade show converging the technology and automotive sectors to launch new products and technologies and to discuss the most pressing issues surrounding the future of transportation and mobility. AutoMobility LA 2019 will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center Nov. 18-21, with manufacturer vehicle debuts intermixed. LA Auto Show 2019 will be open to the public Nov. 22-Dec 1. AutoMobility LA is where the new auto industry gets business done, unveils groundbreaking new products, and makes strategic announcements in front of media and industry professionals from around the globe. LA Auto Show is endorsed by the Greater LA New Car Dealer Association and is owned and operated by ANSA Productions. To receive the latest show news and information, follow the LA Auto Show on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and sign up for alerts at http://www.laautoshow.com/. For more information about AutoMobility LA, please visit http://www.automobilityla.com/ and follow AutoMobility LA on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.