Overview
Afcon Electric Mobility is a subsidiary of the Afcon Holdings Group, a leading Israeli solution provider in infrastructure, electromechanical systems, control and automation, and communication, and a Shlomo Group entity. The Shlomo Group, via its subsidiary Shlomo Motors (franchisee of BYD), is at the forefront of advancing sustainable public transportation in Israel. Today it provides and maintains a variety of green vehicles including electric buses, articulated buses, midi-buses, taxis and passenger cars.
Afcon Electric Mobility operates Israel’s largest EV charging network, with 250 public charging stations as well as residential, parking lot, fleet, municipal, and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) charging facilities. In this role, the company is supporting Israel’s transition to EVs and sustainable transportation. Today, the company serves more than 6,700 connected drivers, saving more than 25,000 KG of CO2.
Company Challenges
Established in 2017, Afcon Electric Mobility is one of the first charge point operators (CPOs) in Israel, and today it is the largest and most advanced. The company started with individual charging stations for private homes, a business that has grown to include authorization by most EV importers in Israel to establish private and shared residential charging stations.
At the same time, Afcon began building and operating what is today the largest and most comprehensive public charging network in Israel. The company also expanded its business to include designing, building, and operating slow and fast charging solutions for private and public parking lots, company-owned fleets of EVs, municipalities, buses, and MDUs.
It soon realized the need for a management system that could handle all of its chargers and charger types. Specifically, Afcon was looking for a unified solution that would ensure network stability and 24/7 charger availability. The solution also needed to provide billing capabilities, energy management, and support for EV drivers who need assistance with the charging experience.
“Power management and billing are both needed to support MDUs, which is a growing segment of our business, and power management is essential for our large charging sites. We have one with more than 50 chargers in one location, which presents real challenges,” said Ilan Dan, V.P Technologies and Business Development for Afcon Electric Mobility.
“Typically, MDU sites don’t have the needed power to support all the chargers if they are used at one time. Smart energy management would give us the capability of doing that. And MDUs need a way to bill residents for use of the charging stations, so we needed an industry-specific billing solution,” Mr. Dan continued.