Part 2- Future-proofing EV Charging with the Right Management Platform

Posted By Driivz Team

June 13, 2021

The six key imperatives of an EV charging management platform

The EV charging market is growing rapidly, and eMobility providers want to take advantage of it. The right EV charging infrastructure will help. Therefore, we’ve created a thought leadership whitepaper that discusses the process of selecting an EV charging management software platform. This blog, the second in a series covering the highlights of the whitepaper, sheds light on the six key imperatives of EV charging management platform.

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An EV charging business, like any enterprise, is focused on achieving business agility, enhanced customer experience and, above all, improved profitability. To achieve these objectives, the ideal EV charging management platform will address six key imperatives and priorities that drive success.

Let’s examine them.

  1. Operational Excellence – Managing EV charging networks is complex. Chargers must operate properly and run efficiently whenever EV drivers need to charge; therefore, network supervision is a given. Charger issue visibility is key, with constant monitoring, tracking, and, once detected, quickly and completely investigated, and resolved – thus, the importance of self-healing capability in an EV charging management solution. Such an advantage enables you to be proactive, fixing issues automatically before drivers or operators even realize what’s happening or are impacted by it.
  1. Business Flexibility – In a world of change and disruption, system flexibility maximizes customer experience, optimizes monetization, and boosts ROI. That means an EV charging management platform must be able to:
  • Offer various billing and pricing options, for example: KWh, first hour free, second hour paid, penalties for peak charging, etc. and provide support for incentives.
  • Enable selection of the payment gateway that addresses business requirements from both the fee angle and the quality context.
  • Integrate with EV roaming platforms – like Hubject, GIREVE, and e-clearing.net, and/or support peer-to-peer roaming protocols such as OCPI – to enable EV drivers to roam.
  1. Customer Centricity – A customer focus is key for any EV charging management solution to strengthen satisfaction, boost retention, maximize brand loyalty, and minimize new client recruitment costs.

An ideal platform will ensure charger availability and stability; provide simple, intuitive, and empowering driver self-service tools for a seamless charging experience; and enable easy access to real-time insights, including charging history, charging behavior, transactions, and account information.

A comprehensive solution will also offer powerful tools for business users such as EV fleet managers, commercial building facility managers, MDUs, and other stakeholders within the EV ecosystem.

  1. Energy Optimization – Smart energy management directly addresses the challenge of optimizing grid efficiency and reducing pollution. An efficient EV charging and energy management platform will enable:
  • Management of EV impacts on the existing grid and balancing EV chargers’ power demands and buildings’ power consumption requirements/limitations
  • Flattening of energy demand curve – putting off or completely eliminating the need to replace electricity infrastructure and reducing costs
  • Optimized charging for the number/type of vehicles, types of drivers (e.g., VIP drivers), energy-related priorities
  • Management of energy needs on various levels, ranging from parking lot and campus level all the way to demand response.
  1. Proven at Any Scale – The ideal EV charging management platform lets you start small but keeps pace once you expand. Scalability is necessary when growing the eMobility business across regions or countries.
  1. Open and Future-proof – Current and future business needs may not coincide, so the EV charging management system will support both and won’t buckle when future requirements change.

Preventing vendor lock-in and reinforcing openness means the platform supports open protocols (OCPP, OCPI, etc.). With a modular platform, you can choose the right modules for your needs. If it’s customizable, that’s even better, so it can be adapted to evolving technical and business needs. 

What’s next?

Now that we’ve explored the challenges facing today’s EV charging industry – and covered the imperatives to look for in an EV charging management platform, it’s time to decide on an implementation approach by reading Part 3 of this series.  Stay tuned. Download the whitepaper now.

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Download our Whitepapers

The Decision Maker’s Guide To Selecting An EV Charging Management Platform

Building grid reliability and resilience for EV adoption

The Road to Successful Fleet Electrification

The Decision Maker’s Guide to Selecting an EV Charging Management Platform