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OCPP or Modbus?
I still get excited about birthdays. Mine was the other day. I like the silly bits the most – funny hats and off-key singing. So last week when a friend asked, “What’s your favorite dessert?” I knew that she wanted a single answer so that she could make a sweet treat for my big day, …
Modbus Supports the Rapidly Changing World of EVSE
When something is still an industry standard 43 years after its introduction, that’s a pretty strong statement about its quality, utility, and effectiveness. Meet Modbus, the little engine that could and can and still does. Modbus is a communication protocol, and while it was introduced 43 years ago, it’s still the standard in the world …
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What is OCPP?
The world of EV charging has always been ripe for innovation and new, creative ideas. New types of chargers with expanded capabilities seem to be appearing every other day. It’s a big wide charger world out there waiting with open arms to embrace all chargers. But with innovation comes problems. In an EV charging world …
EVauto® Selects Lynxspring Technology for New Electric Vehicle Charging Control Solution
LEE’S SUMMIT, MO. – April 28, 2022 – Lynxspring, Inc. (www.lynxspring.com), a premier developer and provider of open software and hardware platforms, solutions, and services for smarter buildings, equipment control, and device-to-enterprise integration, announced today that EVauto® has selected Lynxspring’s JENEsys® and JENEsys Edge® controllers, powered by the Niagara Framework®, for their new Electric Vehicle …
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When Open Means Closed
OCPP is a communication standard for connecting electric vehicle chargers to a charge management system. The “O” in the acronym actually stands for “Open,” but that message hasn’t gotten through to a number of charger manufacturers who have closed these open standards. I’m not being repetitive; the title is a request to all charger manufacturers …
Lower EV Charging Costs
Electric vehicles require you to change the way you think about reducing energy costs. Let me explain. Facility managers try to reduce energy costs by reducing energy consumption. They buy more efficient equipment and install energy management systems, all in the name of reducing consumption. When you use less energy, you spend less on energy. …
Niagara EV Charging Flexibility
The one universal truth of EV fleet charging, learned over 12 years of working with EV fleets, is that every fleet and charging facility is different. Differences in vehicles, chargers, environmental conditions, utility tariffs, and vehicle usage all contribute to these unique needs, not to mention the physical differences in each EV charging depot location. …
From Russia with . . .
It appears that a key impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be soaring energy costs. For many corporations, fuel price increases will put extreme pressure on profits. For consumers, the spike in gas prices will squeeze their wallets. Everyone from the boardroom to the shop floor will feel the impact. Gas prices touch everybody …
EV Fleet Charging Can Be Paradise
In EV Fleet Paradise, there are abundant chargers, enough for every vehicle. Electricity rates are low and stay low, regardless of the time of day. There is ample time to fully charge every vehicle in your fleet. And every charger is identical, making repair and maintenance uniform and routine. In this world, EV fleet charging …
Think Globally, Control Locally
Sticker shock is never a good thing, but it’s something that almost every electric vehicle fleet operator has experienced. The shock usually comes when the electricity bill for the first month of EV fleet operation arrives. The concern fleet managers feel in the pit of their stomachs is followed by despair. Then panic sets in. …
Does Smart Charging Require Telematics?
Telematic Systems Telematics is the technology of sending, receiving, and storing information using telecommunication devices with the objective of controlling remote objects. In English for all the non-engineers out there: a vehicle telematic system combines a cellular device installed in your vehicle that tracks location and operating information with back-end systems that analyze that data …
Fleet EV Demand Response
If you have spent any time in the south, you know Waffle House. The 24/7 chain has a loyal following. They also have a unique way of dealing with their popularity. When customer counts begin to exceed a restaurant’s capacity, Waffle House doesn’t enlarge that restaurant. Instead, they build another one. Across the street. Or …
Two Approaches to Smart EV Fleet Charging
Our experience working with a variety of electric vehicle fleets and Fleet Managers for more than 10 years has shown us that there are two fundamental rules of EV charging. These two rules apply regardless of the size of the fleet, the type of business, the type of electric vehicles in the fleet, or the …
Flexibility is Key
In Field of Dreams, James Earl Jones famously states that the one constant in America though all the years, is baseball. In the world of electric vehicle fleets, the one constant is change. The demands on your EV fleet change daily, if not hourly. Production changes, rush orders, urgent requests, driver availability, customer requests, weather …
The 3 Pillars of EV Fleet Smart Charging
Working with customers that deployed some of the earliest electric vehicle fleets and operated the first EV fleet depots was like a trip back in time to the wild west. The only rule was that there were no rules. Everybody did what they thought best, and no two fleet operators had the same idea of …
Emotions around V2G
I’m trying to understand the emotions around V2G (aka bi-directional charging). That’s not a typo. I wonder how would bi-directional charging make vehicle operators feel. Will cost savings override range anxiety? As an engineer, this question takes me into an area where I’m not well versed, but as an entrepreneur focused on EV Smart Charge …
Smart Charging for Fleet Managers
The move towards fleet electrification has led to a search for effective software solutions to enable Smart Charging for Fleet Managers. There are a large number of entrants creating charge management systems that offer tools intended only to save energy, but not to simplify the fleet manager’s job. Many of these systems rely on telematics …
Very Smart EV Fleet Charging
What is a “Smart” EV Fleet charging control system? While that seems like a simple question, the definition of “smart” varies depending who’s asking. To an energy manager a “smart” system is one that charges vehicles at the lowest cost. To a fleet operator, a “smart” Fleet Charge Control System ensures that all vehicles are …
Cloud versus Local
Fleet Adaptive Load Management systems that include an OCPP local controller deliver superior EV Fleet Charge Contro over cellular connected cloud platforms.
Smart Charge Control and Utility Tariffs
LED lighting and more efficient cooling systems have caused Electric Utilities to experience a drop in the sales growth of their core product: electricity. Therefore, utility companies are looking to grow their market share in the transportation sector. That said, EV customers are quickly learning that the cost for electrical energy can vary based on …