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 ready when needed. To an accountant, a “smart” system sends timely usage reports detailing EV charging electrical costs. To a vehicle manufacturer, a “smart” system is one where charging algorithms follow their recommendations. To a multi-site EV fleet manager, a “smart” system provides aggregated power control and reporting across multiple locations using a variety of chargers and vehicles. EVauto® delivers “smarts” for each of these users -- all in one system.
In a series of posts, I will describe how our patent pending EVauto® algorithms meet a variety of user needs to deliver Very Smart EV Fleet Charging. Today we will focus on the needs of an energy manager responsible for minimizing the cost of EV charging.
EVauto® For the Energy Manager
A customer’s cost for electricity can vary tremendously depending on utility, location and tariff. For example, a site where the utility offers low kWh rates but high demand charges requires a significantly different control strategy compared to one with Time Of Use (“TOU”) rates and no demand charges. EVauto®’s flexible control settings allow energy managers to deploy the optimal strategy for each site.
Here’s a list of some of the features included with every instance of EVauto®.
- The kW schedule allows an energy manager to set the maximum power for any time period. This can be to minimize peaks, shift charging to off-peak rates or a combination of both.
- EVauto® can monitor a facility’s main meter to recognize power spikes in real time. If a spike occurs, the system’s EV peak load management tools can be deployed to automatically reduce charge intensity to avoid costly demand charges. The energy manager simply enters a set point for facility maximum demand, and if demand exceeds that set point, EVauto® automatically lowers EV charge power.
Automatically shift charging to avoid demand peaks. - EVauto® includes advanced automatic demand response to allow users to profit through participation in automatic (OpenADR) or manual demand response programs. The DR tool-set isn’t simply a bolt-on addition to EVauto®. Instead the EV demand response functions work in conjunction with the adaptive EV demand management tools to provide fast, easy to configure DR. Each charger can be individually programed to respond to DR requests. Authorized users retain override control for low level requests so that if operational needs require charging during a DR event, managers can quickly re-enable the system.
- EVauto®’s reporting tools deliver meaningful reports that detail the total and per charger usage. Both through graphical and tabular reports, Energy Managers can track metered usage. On demand exports allow detailed analysis using excel or any meter data analysis system.
Lowest Cost EV Fleet Charging
EVauto® gives energy managers the tools they need to shape charging to profit from electrical cost savings. Our team can help you to analyze available tariffs at your location and create a charge strategy to ensure that you fleet is charged at the lowest cost and ready when you need them. We designed EVauto® to pay for itself at every site through energy cost savings, but there are other features that also reduce EV fleet costs. In my next post, we’ll describe the alerting functions and features that make EVauto® most effective tool for the EV fleet manager.