While front-runners in EV adoption, such as Norway, show high adoption rates, worldwide, the EV revolution is still in its early-adopter phase with global EV sales  comprising 15.8% of the market in 2023. Accordingly, while early experiments with bidirectional charging date back to 2007, it’s still in its infancy.

Bidirectional charging enables various use cases collectively known as V2X (vehicle to everything). Let’s break those down and see their practical applications.

V2H – Vehicle to Home: Powering your home with your car 

There are two ways you can benefit fromV2H. One is during power outages in which the battery in your EV could power your home for up to three days. The other way is to use your car on a more regular basis simply to reduce your electricity bills. If you draw power from your car instead of from the grid when prices are at their peak, your electricity costs will go down. If we now add solar panels to the roof of your home, think of charging up on a sunny day for free, and then using that energy stored in your EV in the evening.

V2H – Vehicle to Home

V2B – Vehicle to Building: Scaling up V2H

If we scale up the notion of V2H, we can see multiple EVs parked in an apartment or office building and providing power through their batteries. Once again, the EVs are either providing emergency power during an outage or reducing the building’s electricity costs. Once you get past the simple case of V2H, you need a smart EV charging management platform as a charge point management system (CPMS) to control and optimize the flow of energy.

V2B – Vehicle to Building

V2G – Vehicle to Grid: Powering and balancing the grid

Scaling up even further brings us to the most important use case of bidirectional charging,V2G – Vehicle to Grid. Through ISO 15118, the industry standard enabling V2G, an EV communicates the amount of energy available in its battery to the power utility operating the grid through the charging station to which it is connected. In turn, the charging station must also support ISO 15118 for the chain of communication to be complete. Using smart energy management, an EV charging management platform that supports ISO 15118 can utilize multiple EVs charging up at several homes and/or buildings to help balance the grid through granular control over the bi-directional energy flow. At times of peak demand, energy can be drawn from vehicles that can spare it to supplement the grid’s capacity, and replaced when demand on the grid recedes.

V2G offers benefits all around. For utilities, it’s an effective way to balance the grid without making significant investments in infrastructure. Consumers and businesses not only benefit from a backup system to handle power outages, but also from potential revenue and/or savings created by offering up energy from their EVs to the utilities. This is especially true of fleets as they move forward in their electrification journey. In a  recent study, McKinsey estimates that an EV school bus can generate up to $16,000 annually from using V2G to supplement the grid.  While there are many parameters at play that determine the economic feasibility of V2G, it shows that the monetary incentive is there, and that V2G is yet another driver towards fleet electrification.

V2G – Vehicle to Grid

Driving V2G adoption

Currently, only a few vehicle models support bi-directional charging, and many of those that do are limited to V2H/V2B or V2L. Nevertheless giants like Tesla have stated that all its models will support bi-directional charging by 2025 (it remains to be seen to what extent that includes V2G), and additional automotive giants like BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai and others are conducting a variety of projects around V2G.

But it’s not enough to have vehicles that support V2G. Charger manufacturers need to get on board and produce more models that support this promising technology, and utilities must also make adjustments to be able to utilize this capability and offer it to their customers. Further study of EV charging behavior is also needed so utilities can plan the rollout and operation of V2G. They need to cooperate with network providers to formulate the right business models that will compensate drivers for the use of thire EV batteries, while maintaining a solid business case for both the utility and the operator. Dozens of projects are currently under way globally that will surely provide insights on how to utilize V2G. And finally, policy makers and regulators must set the environment and govern the standards that will enable and promote the widespread adoption of V2G.

V2L – Vehicle to Load, and V2V – Vehicle to Vehicle

There’s no reason that your car’s battery can’t be a power source for pretty much anything that you want while you’re on the go. Using a special adapter that plugs into the vehicle’s charging port you can generate enough energy to power your coffee machine when you’re out camping, and if you’re inclined, you could even do your laundry (although you’d also need to connect to a water source). An average washing machine draws between 0.4 – 1.4 kW, while an EV battery can supply up to 3.6 kW for V2L applications.

V2L – Vehicle to Load

V2V is a form of V2L, but it also requires a special adapter. Note that supporting V2L does not implicitly imply support for V2V. With a power capacity of up to 9.6 kW, one vehicle can give another enough energy for about 30 miles of travel in an hour of V2V charging.

V2V – Vehicle to Vehicle

Benefits in every direction

Bidirectional charging is a no-brainer. As a real win-win proposition, it offers benefits for everyone involved. First and foremost, EV drivers can get paid for letting their batteries be used by the power utilities to supplement and help balance the grid. This will help offset their energy costs for EV charging. Then, of course, during the next blackout, the electrical system should automatically switch to discharging the EV to keep the lights on at home.

Power utilities can reap huge benefits from V2G. As EV adoption continues to rise, EVs can become a significant source of power. Through smart energy management platforms that apply fine-grained control over the charging and discharging of EV batteries, those vehicles connected to EV chargers become a virtual power plant (VPP) that bolsters grid power and balances supply vs. demand. These advanced capabilities can postpone or eliminate the need for massive infrastructure updates that could cost billions of dollars.

With V2G, fleets get another boost along their electrification journey. Income generated from supplementing the grid will lower their energy costs to reduce the TCO of their EV fleet. And the network operators running the software that orchestrates the charging and discharging of vehicles will share in the revenue generated from V2G for all of these use cases.

Finally, we will all benefit from an additional and more effective use of green energy, lowering carbon emissions and making the air cleaner for future generations.

The post Bidirectional EV Charging – The Promise of V2X appeared first on Driivz.

Aligned with Driivz’s mission to accelerate the EV industry’s dynamic and continuous transformation, Jessen’s deep market knowledge and value-add approach position him to drive innovation and solidify Driivz’s presence in North America’s expanding electrification landscape.

Read more information here.

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The Driivz solution for Kople includes integrated software modules for EV charge point and network operations, EV charging billing, and for future use, smart energy management. Driver self-service tools include a white-label mobile app offering real-time charger location and availability, charger reservations, support for multiple payment options and faster issue reporting. Kople will use the Driivz InSite module to provide management, reporting and driver support tools to its business customers.

Read more information here.

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While federal funding aims to install 500,000 chargers by 2030, some estimates show a need for 1.2 million chargers by the end of the decade. This gap presents opportunities for new players to enter the EV charging market. This post will look at a few EV Charging industry trends in 2024; three industries adjacent to EV charging that have recognized the potential and getting into the game. You may be surprised to find out though, that it’s not necessarily direct revenue from EV charging that is tickling their bottom lines.

Cumulative demand for chargers in 2030 in the U.S. (Source: McKinsey)

EV Charging Industry Trends 2024 Will Include New Players Getting into the Game

Charge where you park

Ten years ago, when you wanted to refuel your car, you drove to a gas station. There was no other option. With the emergence of EVs, all that has changed. Many businesses that have a parking lot want to tap into the huge potential of the EV charging market. Think of shopping malls, convenience stores, restaurants, office buildings – anywhere you’d leave your car for an extended period. But they’re not looking at cash for kilowatts. It’s the dwell time that’s ringing up the cash register in their ears. When charging up an EV, people spend an average of 23 minutes at a location compared to 5 minutes when pumping gas. Now, there’s an opportunity. Think of packaged goods, food service, and even a café-like experience connected to EV charging to generate the bulk of the profits.

There are two approaches businesses can take. One is to partner with an established EV charging service provider to set up the EV charging operation. This presents advantages like lowering the costs, quick time-to-market, and benefiting from the provider’s expertise. Another option is to become that EV charging service provider lock, stock, and barrel. This approach might be better suited to large corporations that have resources for such a venture. Walmart is a great example, and the retail giant has announced plans to expand its network of nearly 1300 fast charging stations by adding thousands more at its 5000 plus Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.

Evolution of gas stations

Oil and gas companies are another example of deep-pocketed corporations, and they too are ramping up their EV charging game, taking advantage of their already-present gas stations. One example is Shell, a company that is using Driivz EV Charging and Energy Management platform to accelerate its deployment of charging locations across Europe. Since Shell’s purchase of Ubitricity in 2021, it has effectively become the largest EV charging network operator in the UK. Similarly, BP is the 3^rd largest (as bp pulse) following the purchase of ChargeMaster in 2018.

Total UK charging points by operator (30 September 2023) Source: Energy Monitor

Here too, these business giants are leveraging on that magic dwell time and investing in sprucing up the convenience stores attached to gas stations to entice people with additional goods and services.

Batteries on wheels, charging included

Intuitively, automotive OEMs and EV charging go together. It just makes sense. Buy an EV, and the home charger gets bundled in with the car. But automakers are taking it a step further and forging partnerships to increase their public EV charging stake. This has been Tesla’s model from the get-go, and since you can’t argue with success, others now want in. For example, GM has partnered with EVgo (also using Driivz to power it’s public network of fast EV charging stations) to install thousands of chargers across Pilot and Flying J travel centers across North America.

Not only is GM leveraging the 24/7 amenities offered at the travel centers, but they’re also benefiting from EVgo’s vast experience as one of the largest fast-charging networks in the US, to deliver a seamless charging experience to their drivers. Putting the driver at the center, GM has built EV charging into its apps and will leverage its drivers’ attention to offer exclusive benefits such as reserving chargers and offering discounts for EV charging.

Another example is the Ionna EV charging network, launched by a consortium of seven automotive powerhouses (BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis). Ionna is trying to give Tesla a run for its money with a mission to deploy 30,000 fast charging stations by 2030 to “make EV charging accessible, reliable, and incredible convenient” as written in their mission statement.

Naturally, the Ionna network will be integrated into each of the OEMs’ EV charging apps. In a separate initiative, Mercedes-Benz is building 400 charging plazas across North America. In line with the brand’s premium status, the sparkling plazas are designed to emanate luxury. While the charging plazas will be open to everyone, Mercedes-Benz drivers will get preferential treatment with enhanced capabilities like reserving chargers. It’s all about customer centricity to foster brand loyalty.

EV charging is not just about kilowatts

While EV charging infrastructure may continue to play catch-up with EV adoption in 2024, it will eventually win. It’s hard to say exactly when, but in the not-too-distant future, EV charging will be as accessible as pumping gas is today. Delivering kilowatts may be the underlying driving force, but these new EV charging network operators are looking at other benefits they hope to gain:

• Monetization, but not directly from kilowatts. They are looking at the dwell time as the window of opportunity to provide EV drivers with an experience (food, products, services, leisure) they’re willing to pay for.
• Brand reputation for being seen as “clean and green “
• Increased customer loyalty fostered by putting drivers at the center and rewarding them for staying with the brand
• New insights into customer behavior around the EV charging experience

When looking at EV Charging industry Trends 2024, let’s see that they all deliver on their promise to deploy all those charging stations. When those targets are met, then range anxiety will truly be a thing of the past.

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The $5.4 billion in NEVI funding is allocated at the state level, with all 50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participating, usually through an RFP process. Specifically, states are looking for proposals from charge point operators (CPOs), eMobility service providers (ESMPs), property owners, truck and travel stops, businesses like convenience stores, hotels, shopping centers, and other entities.

Teaming is encouraged! That includes partnering with an EV charging and energy management platform provider that can help your project meet NEVI technical and operational requirements as well as any other state requirements.

Picture a successful NEVI project proposal

At a high level, here’s what a NEVI-qualifying project looks like:

Infrastructure

• The site is within a mile of a state-designated interstate exit ramp, no more than 50 miles from another charging station
• It can charge at least four vehicles simultaneously at a continuous charging rate of 150kW each
• Each charging port has a CCS-compliant charging connector (additional connectors like NACS are allowed as well)
• Power at the site must be at least 600kW and can include onsite solar arrays and energy storage
• The chargers are publicly available 24×7, meet requirements for 97% uptime, and provide a way for drivers to report problems or get help

Payment

• Charging stations provide secure payment methods accessible to people with disabilities or limited English proficiency
• Options include at minimum a contactless payment via major credit and debit cards and a toll-free telephone or SMS option for initiating and paying for a charging session
• No membership is required for use

Security and privacy

• The site includes physical security for drivers and strategies to prevent tampering or illegal surveillance
• Robust cybersecurity strategies protect driver personal and payment data, network and charger access, data transmission, and software updates

Interoperability, network connectivity, and standards support

• Charger-to-EV Communication. Chargers conform to ISO 15118-2, -3, and -20 are Plug and Charge capable
• Charger-to-Charger-Network Communication. Chargers conform to OCPP 2.0.1, connect securely with a charging network, and can receive and implement software updates. The charging network supports remote monitoring, diagnostics, control, and change management.
• Charging-Network-to-Charging-Network Communication. The charging network supports OCPI 2.2.1 for communications with other charging networks.
• Charging-Network-to-Grid Communication. The charging network communicates securely with utilities, energy providers, and local energy management systems.

Operations and data sharing

• Chargers display real-time pricing for charging before a session starts
• Data about the chargers, their location, pricing, and real-time status are shared with third parties at no charge so that the information is available to drivers through apps and websites
• Data about chargers, sessions, energy use, payment methods, and uptime are provided quarterly to appropriate agencies

Start your NEVI EV Charging Journey with the Right Platform Partner

Becoming a part of the NEVI-funded drive to build a coast-to-coast and border-to-border high-speed EV charging network, takes a strong commitment to the business. Accepting NEVI funds means committing to meeting the program’s industry-leading requirements for operational excellence, industry standards support, and maintenance for at least five years. It also demands that you provide a great driver experience.

Your selection of an EV charging and energy management software platform will play a significant role in your NEVI compliance and your ability to grow. Not only is Driivz NEVI-ready out of the box, our massively scalable cloud-based platform also provides industry-leading capabilities for managing your chargers and network remotely, processing payments and working with partners, optimizing energy consumption, and increasing driver satisfaction and loyalty.

Consider Francis Energy, the fourth-largest owner and operator of fast-charging stations in the U.S. Powered by Driivz for rapid expansion, Francis Energy has successfully secured NEVI grants to build charging stations along highway corridors in Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, and Alabama.

Additional public funding available for EV charging infrastructure projects

The NEVI Program is not your only option for government funding. There are literally billions upon billions of additional dollars available from federal, state, and local government agencies and utility programs for funding or financing EV charging infrastructure projects. They can help you grow an EV charging business in locations other than the federal Alternative Fuel Corridor or help meet your obligation to fund 20% of a NEVI project’s costs.

Conclusion

It’s exciting to see progress toward building a robust EV charging network along 79,000 miles of U.S. highway, but there much greater opportunities remaining for CPOs, EMSPs, and existing highway-located businesses and destinations. Driivz can help your organization develop a robust, compliant, and future-proof proposal to capture NEVI and other program funding for building EV charging infrastructure. Contact us today to learn how the Driivz platform can help your company qualify for funding grants.

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Like any complex technology ecosystem, EV charging needs to be managed to make it efficient, cost-effective and reliable. This makes the topic of managed EV charging important to all stakeholders, from the utilities that generate electricity through all the EV fleet, building, and public charging operators that deliver it to the vehicles to the drivers.

What is Managed EV Charging vs Unmanaged EV Charging?

Unmanaged EV charging is when charge points connect to the grid without any connection to management software. When EVs are plugged into unmanaged chargers, the charging session begins immediately and electricity flows to the vehicle at the maximum rate at which it can be drawn from the grid.

Drivers using home or public unmanaged charging devices can charge at any time it’s convenient for them. For many, this means charging in the late afternoon after work, when demand for power is greatest and prices are highest. This can lead to high costs for drivers, penalties for a public charging operator if plugged-in EVs cause a spike in demand, and unmanaged demand that strains local grid infrastructure.

Managed EV charging encompasses a range of approaches to balancing driver preferences, vehicle energy requirements, and charging costs with site energy capacity, overall energy demand, and the risk of utility infrastructure loads. Overall, the goal of managed charging is to prevent or delay costly upgrades to the distribution grid by avoiding local grid overloading and simultaneously ensuring that EV owners have access to reliable and efficient charging.

Utility-driven managed EV charging

On the utility side of the meter, the most basic approach to managed charging and the easiest to implement is for utilities to shape demand away from peak periods through Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing incentives and customer education. Utilities can get greater benefits, however, with more advanced managed charging approaches such as event-based demand-response programs, which require customers to dynamically adjust their EV charging based on near real-time events affecting the grid.

In addition to these passive approaches to managed EV charging, utilities are experimenting with actively managing customers’ home EV chargers in order to control when EVs are charged and at what speed, based on available power and TOU pricing.

Operator-driven managed EV charging

On the consumption side of the meter, managed EV charging is handled by a cloud-based EV charging management software. This software enables charge point operators (CPOs), electric mobility service providers (EMSP), EV fleet managers, and commercial and industrial building owners to continuously monitor, manage, and adjust energy consumption to reduce operating costs, optimize the charging process, and ensure that vehicles will be fully charged when drivers need them.

This active approach to managed EV charging automatically adjusts the power drawn from the grid using advanced algorithms and demand-side response based on:

• Dynamic demand from plugged-in EVs
• Dynamic grid and renewable energy supplies
• Dynamic electricity costs
• Onsite energy from solar generation or battery storage
• Preconfigured policies
• Vehicle owners’ needs

Managed EV charging requires network connectivity (WiFi, cellular, or hard-wired) between the cloud software and the individual EV chargers located at one or multiple sites. The intelligence and automation behind managed charging come from the centralized software platform. The chargers themselves must be capable of two-way communications with the cloud and with the EV, plus have the ability to respond to commands issued by the software.

In addition to managing power use across all chargers at a location, including adjusting the distribution of energy and charging speed to meet available energy supply, EV charging management software can perform a range of functions related to charger availability and reliability

Managed charging also encompasses Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology or Vehicle-to-X (homes, buildings, or anything with large capacity storage batteries), also known as bi-directional charging. The idea behind V2G is to reduce power demand by sending the energy stored in EV batteries back to the grid to meet peak electricity needs. Similarly, V2X can send stored energy to homes and buildings to reduce draw on the grid, lower costs, and keep appliances or facilities running in the event of an outage.

The Difference Between Smart Charging and Managed Charging

“Smart charging” and “managed charging” are often used interchangeably, but in fact these terms refer to different sets of capabilities. Smart charging refers to the level of technology in the charger hardware itself. WiFi connectivity to a smart charger enables an application to passively “see” information such as the cost of electricity, the amount of energy being used, and the vehicle’s state of charge.

However, smart charging does not provide the ability to manage the charging device or the charging session other than basic on/off functionality. Any scheduling or balancing is performed manually and is limited to setting the time when charging will start or stopping individual charging sessions.

The Benefits of Managed EV Charging

To future-proof investments in EV charging infrastructure, fleets, building owners, and public charging network operators should look for software platforms that can deliver the benefits of managed EV charging:

• Operational excellence achieved through 24×7 charger monitoring and management, self-healing, remote problem resolution, and other capabilities for network stability and availability
• Energy optimization and reduced energy costs
• Increased efficiency with automation, visual management tools, and systems integrations
• Reduced need for costly site electricity service upgrades
• Better EV charging experience for EV owners and fleet drivers

Companies navigating this rapidly evolving landscape can implement all of the managed EV charging capabilities discussed here with the Driivz cloud-based, modular platform. Driivz has a proven track record for enabling large global networks to deliver highly reliable EV charging services and a seamless driver experience while scaling rapidly to capture growth opportunities.

To learn how Driivz can help your company thrive in today’s EV charging marketplace, reach out to one of our experts at contactus@driivz.com.

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This is an update to our post from May 2021 where we selected the top 11 EV groups in the EV and sustainability industries. At that time, we listed the groups according to the number of members they had. This time around, we’re listing them by their relative growth. While comparing groups that address a wide range of topics to more focused groups may not be apples to apples, it’s still interesting to see which groups have gained more interest over the last 20 months or so. We’ll also add 4 groups to the list to give you even more opportunities to share your vision of the EV future and be part of a greater community of EV professionals.

eMobility

Membership: 11,509. Growth: 156%

This group is a meeting place for both professional and amateur eMobility enthusiasts who want to discuss trends, products, solutions, and more. In terms of growth, this group was an outlier, showing tremendously growing interest in EVs and related technologies and mimicking the exponential growth in EV adoption.

EV Infrastructure Forum

Membership: 7,159. Growth: 65%

The members of this forum focus on public EV charging infrastructure, utility metering, smart grids, EV charging hardware and software platforms. They also discuss lessons learned and share details about incentives, grants, and rebates. It shouldn’t be surprising that this enormous growth in interest EV infrastructure is second only to the growth in eMobility.

Electric and Autonomous Vehicles and Infrastructure; Mobility Services of the (Near) Future

Membership: 31,348. Growth: 59%

The group focuses on the future of eMobility and its impact on the automotive industry, energy infrastructure, and society as a whole. The discussions include the convergence of electrification and autonomy, consumer attitudes and preferences, and the commoditization of vehicles in vehicles-as-a-service.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle for Commercial and Fleet Vehicles

Membership: 10,758. Growth: 47%

The purpose of this group is to share the latest hybrid and plug-in hybrid (HEV and PHEV) vehicle technology and news geared for commercial and fleet vehicles. The membership and growth numbers show that hybrid vehicles are still interesting, and fleet electrification is definitely happening.

Energy Flexibility  –  Storage, Electric Vehicles & Demand Response

Membership: 10,659. Growth: 40%

Taking an integrated approach to variable renewable energy issues, the group discusses energy storage, EV demand response, inter connecting transformers (ICT), and grid reinforcement. Stakeholders participating in the group include leaders in utilities, renewables, energy storage, electric vehicles, environmental groups, aggregators, and large electricity users as well as policy makers, regulators, and renewable energy plant operators.

Sustainability Professionals

Membership: 346,790. Growth: 37%

Considering that Sustainability Professionals was, and still is the largest group, it covers a wide range of industries, and has shown impressive growth. The group covers – energy, water, waste, recycling, green building, etc. The focus is on sustainability and environmental issues and there are insightful discussions around eMobility.

Electric Car Charging Infrastructure in Cities

Membership: 4,333. Growth: 36%

Membership in this group covers a range of players, including municipalities, electricity suppliers, and electricity network companies.

Smart Grid Professionals – Energy efficiency, Smart meters, Demand Management, Electric Vehicles

Membership: 16,841. Growth: 35%

UtilityDive, one of the utility industry’s leading publications, manages the group. Demand management, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency are among the topics covered, all of which relate to smart EV charging and energy management.

Advanced Electric Vehicles (AEVs)

Membership: 10,636. Growth: 32%

The group’s focus is broad, covering not only electric vehicle technologies but also investment and employment opportunities.

Sustainable Energy Development

Membership: 17,231. Growth: 29%

This group’s emphasis is on the advancement of sustainable, renewable, and green energy solutions. Discussions range from the latest research to policy development and advocacy.

The Next Mobility & Energy: Automotive, Transportation, Energy, Innovation

Membership: 22,805. Growth: 4%

The group discusses a variety of topics related to autonomous and connected vehicles, including micromobility, fast charge, eMobility, and more. While it’s still one of the largest groups in the list, it has not grown much over the years.

And if those 11 groups aren’t enough to keep you busy, here are four more you can look at:

Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Membership: 232,389

The sheer volume of this group indicates how important this topic is. Membership is public and targets sustainability leaders and professionals.

IEEE Transportation Electrification

Membership: 7,857

This group discusses the technologies, organizations, and projects involved in electrification of all modes of transport, and also delves into enabling technologies such as batteries and energy storage.

Renewable Energy and Cleantech Innovations (Innovation in Sustainability)

Membership: 7,057

Are floating wind and solar installations the future of renewable energy? These are the types of questions that this group discusses and attempts to answer. If the future of transportation, mobility, and energy is what keeps you up at night, this group is definitely for you.

Fleet electrification (EVs, EV charging, grid integration, autonomous driving) 

Membership: 5,036

With fleet electrification being one of the key drivers to EV adoption, this might be a good group to follow. It’s all about charging and refueling infrastructure for fleets, and also covers autonomous vehicles and driving.

To summarize, participating in any one of these LinkedIn groups connects you to people with the same goal – bringing the possibilities of electric vehicles, renewables, smart energy management, and more into fruition. We’re all working together in the quest to not only revitalize the planet and build a greener world but to create new enterprises, relationships, and commercial success.

The post 15 Top LinkedIn Groups to Strengthen Your Connections in the Electric Mobility Community appeared first on Driivz.

EV charging flow

While there are variations in how an EV charging session is conducted (for example, how the charging session is initiated – whether by tapping a credit card at a payment terminal, or by swiping a button on an app), the following sequence summarizes the main steps. We’ll consider an AC charging session over a CCS connection for our example. Each of these steps is governed by industry standards without which every EV would be limited to a handful of compatible chargers; not a commercially viable situation.

A typical EV charging sequence

For a charging sequence to proceed according to a set protocol, the EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, i.e., the charging station) must be able to communicate with the vehicle once it’s connected. Since CCS is an extension of Type 1/Type 2, basic communication is done using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) through the connector’s Control Pilot (CP) pin as specified in IEC 61851-1.

1. Connect vehicle

The session is initiated when the driver plugs the cable into the vehicle. IEC 61851-1 describes 6 states that an EV can be in during a charging cycle.

*If ventilation is required, the EVSE will only supply charging power if the area is ventilated (i.e., outdoors)

Initially, the vehicle is not connected, in state A – Standby. The voltage detected at the CP is a steady 12V signal. When the driver connects the cable, the EVSE drops the voltage at the CP to 9V to indicate a good connection and we are in state B. The EVSE changes the signal at the CP to a PWM signal alternating between -12V and +12V. The duty cycle of the pulse notifies the vehicle of the maximum current available for charging. For example, a 10% duty cycle indicates 6A are available, while 96% duty cycle indicates 65A are available. In some vehicles, different components communicate with each other over a Local Internet Network (LIN), and the EVSE communicates with the vehicle over a Single Wire Controller Area Network (SWCAN). In these cases, the duty cycle on the CP is between 3 – 7%, and the additional communication capabilities enable the vehicle to provide the EV with information such as State of Charge (SOC and State of Health (SOH). A DC charging session enables an even greater range of options since the connection is directly to the vehicle’s BUS.

The vast majority of failed EV charging sessions today happen because of an issue that arises in this step causing either charger or the vehicle to reject the charging session. For example, a vehicle may reject a charger because of a bad connection caused by a grounding problem with the cable. On the flip side, a problem with firmware can cause a charger to refuse a connection. Connecting and reconnecting the vehicle can often fix the issue. Many such issues generate error codes which the CPMS managing the chargers can capture. Based on these error codes, advanced CPMSs can run self-healing algorithms that resolve different issues remotely and automatically, often, without requiring any down-time of the charger, averting failed charging sessions in the future. There can also be issues, especially in roaming scenarios, or in areas of poor cellular coverage, that experience as much as a 2-minute lag a step in the communications protocols causing a session to time out.

2. Remote start

After the driver connects the cable, he swipes the arrow on the app to start charging. Note that the driver has logged into the app with a username and password and is, therefore, considered authenticated.

The app sends a remote start request to the associated CPMS providing parameters such as the charger id, the connector id and the user’s id.

3. Authorize user

When the user registered for the EV charging service, he provided payment information which the CPMS approved with the corresponding payment gateway. While the CPMS does not store the user’s credit card data, it does store an identification token provided by the payment gateway in the driver’s account. When the app sends the remote start request with the driver’s identifier, the CPMS extracts the corresponding payment token and sends an authorization request to the payment gateway. If the user has the required minimum credit available defined by the CPMS, the payment gateway authorizes the user.

4. Start charge

This is where OCPP kicks in. Once the user has been authorized, the CPMS sends an OCPP StartTransaction request to the corresponding charger which responds to the CPMS with a confirmation. The charger then drops the CP voltage to 6V to indicate to the vehicle that it is ready for charging (state C or D depending on whether the vehicle has indicated it requires ventilated charging or not)

5. Charging

Once the charger has indicated to the EV that it is ready for charging, and the amount of current available, the EV starts to draw energy. During the charging process, the charger sends periodic meter readings to the CPMS over OCPP indicating the amount of energy delivered to the vehicle. At the same time, the charger may receive requests by the CPMS to increase or decrease the available current for charging. Such requests may originate from the grid as a means to reduce consumption, or as a load balancing maneuver initiated by the CPMS. In turn. the charger notifies the vehicle by changing the duty cycle of the PWM signals on the CP, and the vehicle will change its energy consumption accordingly.

6. Remote stop

When the user is ready, he will swipe the app to stop charging. This sends a remote stop request to the CPMS.

7. Stop charging

Upon receiving the remote stop request, the CPMS sends a StopTransaction request to the charger over OCPP with the user’s ID. Recognizing that the user is the same one that started the charging session, the charger responds to the CPMS with a final meter reading and stops delivering energy to the vehicle, which is now in state B. The CPMS can now add up the accumulated meter readings for the charging session, access the payment gateway to take payment and issue the driver with an invoice (which the driver can access through his account with the service provider).

At this point, the vehicle is back in State B, meaning that it is connected to the charger, ready to start another charging sessions, but the connector is not locked and can be removed by the driver who can now move on to his next destination. Naturally, when the connector is removed, the CP line goes back to 12V.

In practice, this is still a simplified view of the process. For example, the different PWM signals over the CP are not always precise and must remain within specified levels of tolerance. Any deviation from those levels can prevent the vehicle from moving to the right state in the sequence and cause an error. There may be glitches in the cellular network that hinder correct communication between the charging app and the CPMS, or between the CPMS and the EVSE. There can even be mechanical malfunctions in the mechanism that locks the connector to the vehicle. Let’s also remember that an EVSE is a complex piece of apparatus that can malfunction in any number of places. There are thousands of vendors manufacturing thousands of charger models, each of which may have its quirks. In many cases, the CPMS can remotely and automatically detect and fix malfunctions in chargers using self-healing algorithms (all communicated to the charger over OCPP). And yet, the industry is still at a level of maturity in which most of us have experienced failed attempts to charge. At least now, you have some idea of why that sometimes happens.

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But electrification also presents some new challenges for fleet operators. Consider this scenario.

A company has a fleet of electric LCVs (vans), which may be in and out of the depot several times a day according to their delivery schedule. Each van may need to be charged before it goes out on its next route, but the company does not always have enough chargers available on-site to charge all the vans that need it. How does the fleet manager decide which van to charge first, and for how long?

Driivz Insite Energy Planning charges the right EVs so all EVs can get charged

Prioritizing vans manually for charging is doable in a small family business that has just a few vans. A local branch of a nationwide delivery organization that has dozens of vans, several type 2 chargers on site, and one ultrafast DC charger for cases when a “quick fix” is urgently needed (unexpected eventualities do happen in fleets) is a different story altogether. Without energy management, just connecting vans to chargers as they come into the depot will very quickly blow a fuse somewhere. Fleet depots don’t usually have the electrical capacity to charge several vans at once. And prioritizing vans for charging is error-prone and will end up causing delays which may affect the company’s reputation and ultimately, the bottom line. Driivz Insite manages both those issues.

Using peak shaving, Driivz’s SmartChain Energy Management ensures that the energy allocated to EV charging does not exceed the site’s capacity. And then, with real-time dynamic load balancing, Insite distributes the available energy between all the EVs actively charging. But how much of that available energy does each EV get?

This is where the planning comes in because the fleet manager can upload a vehicle’s schedule ahead of time. Driivz Insite’s Energy Planning runs an algorithm that considers a fleet’s business needs, and prioritizes an EV for charging according to:

• When it’s expected to arrive at the depot
• When it needs to leave for its next route
• How much energy the EV needs to complete its next route

As chargers are allocated to the different EVs, Insite also registers a reservation for the charger to make sure another driver doesn’t “cut in.”

Here’s a typical energy plan:

For each vehicle in the plan, the lines indicate when a charger has been reserved. The color indicates the extent of compliance with the request for energy that the fleet manager has uploaded. To remain within the site’s electrical capacity, not all vehicles are likely to get all the energy they request right away. The Energy Planning algorithm ensures that the energy available for charging is distributed to the EVs in an optimal manner. For example, a vehicle that only has an hour to charge before its next route may get more energy allocated than a vehicle that has three hours to charge. The color coding reflects compliance of the calculated energy plan in relation to the energy requested:

A fleet manager can set up an energy plan as far in advance as wanted as long as the EVs schedule is known. And to adjust for any surprises on the ground, an energy planning schedule can be updated and the algorithm recalculates and reallocates energy according to the new requirements.

Planning pays off

For most things in life, if you have a plan, you’re more likely to get a better outcome. Energy planning is no different.

Streamline fleet operations around EV charging

EV charging need not be a burden on the fleet manager. Insite’s energy planning optimizes and prioritizes on-site EV charging according to the fleet’s business needs ensuring that EVs always leave the depot with enough charge to complete the route to the greatest extent possible.

Support fleet electrification

With energy for on-site EV charging being managed and optimized, more EVs can be charged simultaneously using existing site capacity – up to six times as many EVs. This means that a fleet can ramp up its electrification efforts and get more EVs on board.

Reduce TCO

With EV charging optimized by energy planning, fleet EVs will be less likely to need a boost at public charging stations. Since public charging is more expensive than charging at the depot, the fleet’s overall EV charging expenses will be lower. Reduced public charging also has an added bonus in that there will be fewer delays while an EV is on its route. And since energy management means the fleet operator can charge more EVs using without expensive upgrades of the electrical infrastructure, there’s another significant cost saving. And remember those expensive ultra-fast chargers that a fleet manager may want to install for those times when an EV needs a quick on-site boost? With optimized energy planning, there will be less of a need for those if at all. There’s another reduction in costs.

Conclusion

Managing enterprise fleets is complex, and the ongoing need for electrification is adding another degree of complexity. Two pillars of effective fleet management are operational efficiency and reduction in costs, and a whole industry has been built around helping fleets reach those goals. Those same pillars also apply to electrification, and they will become even more important as fleets become fully electric. Fortunately, platforms like Driivz Insite with smart energy management that enables energy planning are there to help keep those pillars standing as the world’s transportation in general, and fleets in particular go electric.

The post Keeping EV Fleets Charged is a Matter of Energy Planning appeared first on Driivz.

CONTENTS

• What is EV Smart Charging?
• What is Smart Energy Management for EV Charging?
• How Does Smart EV Charging Work?
• How Does Smart Energy Management for EV Charging Work? 
• How Does Smart Energy Management Help Overcome Grid Limitations?
• What Do EV Drivers Want from Smart Charging?
• Advantages of Smart Energy Management for Fleets
• Smart EV Charging in Commercial and Industrial Buildings
• What is the Flexibility Market for Energy?
• Smart EV Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)
• The Challenges of V2G
• What are the Benefits of Smart EV Charging?
• Why Driivz for Smart EV Charging and Smart Energy Management?

What is EV Smart Charging?

Smart electric vehicle (EV) charging uses intelligence and connectivity to manage when and how an EV plugged into a smart charger will receive power for charging based on the cost of electricity, its availability, and the driver’s needs. EV smart charging lets operators monitor, manage, and adjust energy consumption. It requires a data connection between the EV and the smart charger, and a data connection between the charger, the charge point operator’s cloud-based EV charging management platform and the grid.

For home charging, WiFi connects the smart charger to a mobile app and possibly to your energy provider. The smart charger connects to the EV, the home power supply, and possibly the grid. Drivers use the app to control the smart charger and determine when to charge the EV, avoiding peak usage times while ensuring the car is ready to drive at the right time.

What is Smart Energy Management for EV Charging?

Smart energy management adds another dimension to public, fleet, multifamily residential, and commercial EV smart charging. It optimizes energy consumption based on grid constraints, energy pricing, renewable energy availability, locally stored energy, preconfigured EV owner preferences, and driver needs. Smart energy management optimizes the charging infrastructure by efficiently delivering available power to EVs, shifting charging loads across chargers and energy sources to safely deliver electricity without interfering with the power needs of buildings, homes, or other power consumers.

How Does Smart EV Charging Work?

When an electric vehicle is charged using smart charging, the owner plugs in the charging cable and a communication session is established between the smart charger and the car. If the driver and car are registered with the EV charging provider, nothing else needs to happen. The smart EV charging platform recognizes the driver, initiates the session with the optimum energy utilization, monitors the battery charge in the vehicle, concludes the session when the vehicle is charged, and bills the driver based on their agreed-upon terms.

At the same time, a communications session is established between the charger, the other chargers and energy resources at the charging location (the infrastructure), the grid, and the charging operator’s smart EV charging and energy management platform. This centralized, cloud-based software platform manages the chargers themselves, the charging session, and the energy sources used.

How Does Smart Energy Management for EV Charging Work?

A charge point operator uses smart energy management module as part of the cloud-based software platform. The software determines the best time to charge and the best energy source to use for charging vehicles. It uses advanced algorithms and demand side response (DSR) to provide near real-time load balancing, dynamically distributing energy across multiple chargers at a fleet or public charging hub or a campus, helping prevent demand from exceeding grid capacity during peak usage times.

How Does Smart Energy Management Help Overcome Grid Limitations?

With the exponential growth of EVs and their power requirements for charging, it’s inevitable that charge point operators will have to deal with site-level limitations. Demand side response reduces energy demand during times of grid stress. The smart energy management system can integrate power from onsite renewable sources such as solar panels or onsite batteries to provide the necessary electricity to charge the vehicles while simultaneously reducing the charging capacity of individual charge points, lengthening the time to charge plugged-in cars while lowering the grid stress.

Smart energy management lets the charge point operator monitor, manage, and adjust energy consumption according to business requirements and priorities specified by the operator or driver. The level of power supplied to chargers and energy utilization are visually displayed and can be adjusted according to EV and site requirements as well as constraints. This can also avoid penalties levied by the utility for over-stressing the grid and requiring the utility to purchase expensive power from the general capacity market.

With smart energy management, you can also capture and store generation surplus during low-demand periods, distributing the stored energy to chargers or back to the grid to help meet peak demand. Together these capabilities can flatten the demand curve and help a location reduce maximum capacity and costs.

What do EV Drivers Want from Smart Charging?

Private and fleet EV drivers want to charge anywhere – at the driver’s home, including multi-dwelling units like apartments and condos, workplace, depot, on the road, at a retail host – at any time. They want chargers to be easy to find, always available, and simple to use. EV drivers require complete transparency, with real-time information about charger availability as well as clarity about peak and non-peak pricing. With smart EV charging drivers can save money and optimize the total cost of operating an EV.

The key for a seamless charging experience is an easy-to-use mobile application. It can locate smart chargers inside and outside of the fleet or commercial operators’ network, with real-time charger availability and roaming support information, identify nearby points of interest, support reserve-ahead capability, and offer route planning and navigation. EV charging apps can also track transactions, manage payment methods and provide detailed information on billing plans.

Advantages of Smart Energy Management for Fleets

Many organizations are already transitioning their fleets from gasoline or natural gas to electric vehicles because of national regulations and policies, tax benefits and subsidies, incentives, reduced TCO for corporate-owned or leased vehicles, avoidance of “pollution penalties,” employee convenience, and a corporate social responsibility policy to reduce carbon emissions.

Fleet operators, like commercial charge point operators, need a comprehensive back-end system for centralized control and management of charging. An advanced fleet charging management solution should include smart energy management with demand-side response capabilities.

An energy management solution will allow fleet managers to prioritize the charging schedule of their fleet based on vehicle tasks, vehicle state-of-charge (SoC), available energy levels and pricing. EV fleet managers would be able to manually configure charging priorities or use algorithm-based prioritization. Larger fleet operations are well suited to using local solar energy generation and local battery storage to supplement the grid for regular charging and support high-capacity rapid chargers for prioritized charging. When V2G becomes a reality, fleets are ideally positioned to generate new V2G revenue that can offset the cost of electrification.

Smart EV Charging in Commercial and Industrial Buildings

The growth in EV adoption is creating new business opportunities for commercial and industrial building owners who can meet EV driver needs for charging during the day while they are at work or visiting shopping malls, restaurants, and other commercial and industrial (C&I) destinations. The same holds true for residential multi-dwelling units (MDUs). Chargers can be a source of new revenue or a way to offer perks to customers, employees and tenants.

Owners can build, own and operate charge point infrastructure, lease space to a charge point operator, or acquire the infrastructure from an EV charging-as-a-service provider. Owners that build and operate their own infrastructure can use smart energy management to balance energy use between the chargers and the facility to help avoid costly grid connection upgrades. Owners can also use smart energy management to integrate charging and building infrastructure with onsite battery storage and renewables like solar panels. This lowers costs and maximizes local infrastructure and topology to support as many EVs as possible.

With all these capabilities, C&I buildings will be ready for carbon-neutral taxation because you will be able to demonstrate CO2 reduction. With carbon-neutral deadlines looming, it’s more important than ever for building owners to begin investigating the advantages of offering EV charging in Commercial and industrial buildings as part of their long-term environmental strategies.

What is the Flexibility Market for Energy?

The Universal Smart Energy Framework (USEF) extrapolates from the concept of consumer energy flexibility and applies it to the entire energy market, creating new players who can operate under a variety of business models. The USEF delivers a single common standard to ensure that smart energy products and implementations easily integrate to create a more sustainable, green energy market. Implementing USEF enables large-scale deployment of smart energy grids.

At its most basic level, power flexibility gives users more options about whether and when to use energy. Then, the “flexibility” is aggregated to critical mass, reducing grid stress and congestion, eliminating the need for expensive grid upgrades, and preventing utilities from having to buy power from other energy providers at high-demand prices. The flexibility aggregator – either the utility or a third party – uses AI and customer behavior analysis to determine what the expected flex demand will be for the next day to better plan for tomorrow’s power requirements. That flexibility can be monetized to reduce energy costs and improve capacity balancing.

Combining EV smart energy management with the flexibility market provides the electricity distribution system operator (DSO) more options for effective grid management. A comprehensive smart energy management system dynamically distributes energy to and from the grid, where real-time monitoring of campus power needs and vehicle requirements are balanced based on the energy priorities and states of charge.

Smart EV Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)

Consumers have been lowering their power demands for more than a decade by adding solar panels to their roofs. Two-way or bidirectional EV charging will reduce power demand even further, using EV batteries to power homes (vehicle-to-home, or V2H), buildings (vehicle-to-building, or V2B) or feed it back to the grid with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Implementation of V2G, still in its infancy, depends on smart EV charging software to direct two-way charging and smart energy management to sense and respond to signals from the grid and track the flow of energy for billing and payment.

While V2H provides individual consumers significant benefit, V2B and V2G have a greater impact on the grid overall, as the power will be used on a much larger scale. For example, businesses will be able to use the energy from EV fleets at rest to power a significant portion of their campuses. Not only will bidirectional EV charging address grid demand on a practical level, but it also has the power to exponentially increase the green benefits of EV adoption by further reducing the emissions caused by primary power generation.

Most vehicles remain stationary more than 95 percent of the time, so V2G leverages that inactivity, enabling a two-way energy exchange between vehicle and grid. The energy from the EV batteries is available to the electric grid to serve peak needs, with the vehicles recharging during non-peak hours. Using EVs as decentralized electric storage resources, or batteries on wheels, minimizes the need for capital investments in the grid to support ever-increasing demand, while lowering operating costs.

According to EPRI research, “V2G technology can provide $1 billion in annual grid benefits, given 5 million EVs in 2030 (aggressive EV forecast and a California goal) with half of those V2G-enabled.”

V2G creates further flexibility within the overall grid, providing alternative energy sources for a range of applications. While many energy companies are increasing their usage of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, those sources cannot consistently produce power 24/7 due to weather. The gaps can be supplemented with V2G-transmitted power, in which EVs can charge using solar or wind power during the day and return the excess energy to the grid during the evening peak hours.

The Challenges of V2G

V2G is still an emerging technology, and there are challenges to address before widespread adoption is possible. The long-term effect of V2G activities on the EV’s battery life is unknown, and EV owner concern about the impact is an inhibitor. Getting owner buy-in to the idea is another obstacle; people buy EVs to use for transportation, not to serve as grid assets. Utilities offering fiscal compensation for the “loan” of energy as well as reassurance that vehicles will be ready to drive when needed can help encourage participation. EV owners may also be concerned about the data gathered about their driving and charging habits and will need to be assured that personal privacy is protected.

While drivers will need to be reassured and persuaded to participate in the EV ecosystem, the other key players in the value chain are also critical to its future success. Vehicle and charger manufacturers need to provide hardware support for V2G. EV charging infrastructure operators need to adopt V2G standards like ISO 15118 protocol and invest in chargers with two-way transmission capabilities. Smart EV charging management software providers also need to support standards and enable operators to play the “broker” role in grid interactions.

What are the Benefits of Smart EV Charging?

EV smart charging provides significant benefits to the EV charging ecosystem as a whole – from the utility to individual EV drivers. It optimizes and stabilizes energy flow within a balanced grid while ensuring more reliable service and quality power.

Smart energy management enables a utility to optimize its infrastructure by efficiently distributing the available power between vehicles and other power consumers. Utilities can incentivize later-in-the-day charging, supplying energy via their solar power stores, and push late-night charging, when overall network demand is down.

Investing in smart EV charging brings long-term capital and operating benefits to businesses. For commercial or retail centers and parking garages, the site generates more customer traffic as well as revenue thanks to the charge points. Plus, businesses and building owners can save on energy costs. With EV smart charging, businesses offering charge points to their employees or customers can ensure that they maintain the critical balance between the facility and the EV charging power requirements to avoid peak pricing charges. Furthermore, smart charging enhances control over a building’s energy capacity, avoiding high demand charges.

This is even more important for fleets that use electric vehicles. Buses, vans, and trucks must have enough energy when they leave for their route. The vehicle schedule, state of charge, and energy costs are critical information for the planning algorithm to make sure that vehicles leave with enough charge.

For individual EV drivers, smart EV charging’s greatest incentive is cheaper, eco-friendly, and safer charging. EV owners with home-based renewable energy systems can further increase their benefits and lower costs by storing additional energy in their vehicles during the day and then discharging that energy at night for use within their homes.

Why Driivz for Smart EV Charging and Smart Energy Management?

Right now, two revolutions are happening simultaneously, in mobility and in energy. Driivz is bridging the gap between these two revolutions and facilitating their dialogue. Driivz smart EV charging and smart energy management technology and software are supporting EV market growth, driving the electrification of transportation and optimizing overall energy consumption.

Our dedication to producing advanced energy management tools means that EVs will be used to store energy, balancing the grid, lowering prices for end-users and reducing carbon emissions.

Driivz’s team of EV experts serves customers in more than 30 countries, including global industry players such as Shell, Volvo Group, EVgo, Centrica, Circle K, Recharge, St1, ElaadNL, ESB, Mer, Francis Energy, Ennet Corporation and eMobility Power. The Driivz platform currently manages tens of thousands of public chargers (hundreds of thousands in roaming) and hundreds of millions of events for millions of EV drivers in North America, Europe and APAC.

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