Switch

Developers assemble! 🗣 As a company of developers we appreciate a good API, and we work hard to keep the Switch API highly available, easy to use, and well documented. This can unlock a vast array of use cases and eliminate the need to maintain a variety of protocol implementations and charger testing in-house. Charli Charging has done just that using the Switch API and in our latest case study we delve into the project. A US based EV charging network and turnkey charge point operator, Charli Charging built their flagship product using the unique flexibility and extensibility of the Switch API to offer novel features for their customers. Read on here: https://lnkd.in/e9a_5KjF CEO Marc Mültin, CFO Enrique Marin and our friends at Charli Charging will be at MOVE: Mobility Re-imagined in Austin, Texas tomorrow! If you'd like to learn more about the project or how Switch can help your business just reach out or head to booth S1. #MakeTheSwitch #API #eMobility #OCPP #OCPI

MIGRATING EV CHARGING NETWORKS #Migrating a network of EV chargers from one Charging Station Management System (#CSMS) to another is often considered complex and costly. Some of the cost factors and pain points include: ▶️ 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Migration of #historical #data, such as charging sessions, station statuses, message logs, roaming transactions etc. can involve significant effort. This process requires custom #data #mapping, transformation, and integration, which can be expensive. At Switch, we‘re offering a #bespoke #migration #service and leverage our automated data migration tool to keep efforts to a minimum while ensuring data integrity. ▶️ 𝗦𝗜𝗠 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Some CSMS providers lock their customers in by providing #SIM cards that are configured to work only with their private #APNs (Access Point Name, secure gateway between a cellular network and the Internet) - with little incentive to help their customers move away. The only option is then sending out a qualified engineer to replace the SIM card, which can easily cost a few hundred €/$. Best if you have several chargers per site to minimise the per-charger-cost and ideally you can time this with the regular service maintenance intervals. A solution going forward are the #security #profiles 2 (server-side TLS) and 3 (#mutual #TLS - both charger and CSMS authenticate each other with digital certificates) of OCPP 2.0.1, which are also available with OCPP 1.6's #security #extensions. This replaces the need for expensive APNs and VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and avoids #vendor #lock-ins. ▶️ 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 & 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: During the migration, stations might be temporarily unavailable, leading to a loss of revenue and potential customer dissatisfaction. However, properly orchestrated and planned (e.g. using the #mandatory #service #intervals for a migration), these downtimes can be reduced to a minimum. ▶️ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 & 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗦𝗠𝗦: Staff will require #retraining to manage and operate the new system. This may also extend to customer support teams who will need to understand new processes for handling customer inquiries. Choosing a CSMS that has been designed with the most #intuitive #user #experience in mind (like the Switch #Platform) can reduce the learning curve to an absolute minimum. ▶️ 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Informing customers about a new login, new app functionality, or different processes for managing accounts and stations involves marketing, communication campaigns, and possibly additional support. Again, an extremely intuitive user interface helps to minimise the friction. And then there are #ERP and #CRM integrations that can complicate the picture further. What's your experience with migrating EV charging networks? What major pain points do you see and which best practices can you recommend?

Switch is coming to Texas! 🇺🇸 Both our CEO Marc Mültin and CFO Enrique Marin will be attending MOVE: Mobility Re-imagined in #Austin #Texas next week September 24-25. Our partners Charli Charging will also be there demonstrating their ground breaking turnkey EV charging app and network built on the Switch API - head to their booth to see it in action! If you're an EV charging network or fleet manager and want to know more about the Switch software suite and how we support operators in the US - reach out to Marc, Enrique, or to [email protected]. #MakeTheSwitch #MOVEAmerica2024 #MoveAmerica #emobility

PLUG & CHARGE VS AUTOCHARGE I was just listening to the Out of Spec Studios podcast episode "What Plug And Charge And Autocharge Mean For The Ideal EV Charging Experience" (https://lnkd.in/ekP3SJ-8), hosted by Francie S, interviewing Merge Electric Fleet Solutions CEO Glen Stancil. Here are the most important key takeaways: ▶️ Tesla Supercharger network with the #NACS option offers Plug & Charge (#PnC). ▶️ #Autocharge is simple and accessible, just requires reading the EV's MAC address. But it's not digitally secure as the MAC address can be #spoofed in theory (requires man-in-the-middle attack), although not as easy as spoofing an RFID card. Therefore not really safe to use for public charging. ▶️ Autocharge identifies a vehicle (although not unique, see #rolling #MAC #addresses for VW cars) not the entity that’s responsible for payment of the charging process. There's no central clearing house, so you need to register your EV at each charging network anew. ▶️ Autocharge is considered a bandaid and stopgap until the digitally secure (#TLS, X.509-based #PKI, digital #signatures) and more user-convenient #PnC becomes ubiquitous (with the help of e.g. Hubject (Arne Schlowak)) ▶️ Every car #OEM is on its path to PnC, may take til model year 2026/27 but we‘ll get there. ▶️ PnC is more #reliable and has a higher success rate than #app and #RFID and credit card authorisations. ▶️ #Multi-#contract handling is important. Right now most OEMs control the installation of the PnC #Contract #Certificate, but e.g. BMW Group the user to choose which contract certificate (and therefore #MSP) to choose. This will have to become standard among car OEMs for a true breakthrough of PnC. ▶️ Autocharge is good for e.g. #fleets, i.e. behind the fence applications without payment where only vehicle identification is relevant. However, PnC could become relevant for fleets if they open up for #depot #sharing. ▶️ Neither Autocharge nor PnC allow identification of vehicle make, model and year. For that we'd have to introduce a new value-added service for #ISO15118 (a task for CharIN e.V. in my opinion Claas Bracklo). ▶️ For now Plug & Charge has the momentum of the industry, but other forms of authorisation and payment are imaginable in the future, e.g. one-time ephemeral #PCI tokens via e.g. #Apple Pay/Apple Car Play or #Google Pay/Android Auto (in collab with #Mastercard and #Visa). But automakers have to want to do that, not likely anytime soon. ▶️ Most chargers, even Level 2, do support PnC HW-side (#PLC modem), they just may not have the right software installed yet. What do you think about Plug & Charge and Autocharge, and what are your plans to bring Plug & Charge to market? If you want to learn everything there is to know about Plug & Charge, then head over to my #whitepaper. It contains all my knowledge (as co-author and implementor of ISO 15118) on this topic: https://lnkd.in/eKAFntkA

Our CEO Marc Mültin and CFO Enrique Marin will be attending IAA TRANSPORTATION in #Hannover next week. We're looking forward to meeting #fleet managers on the electrification journey and discussing how software can unlock opportunities and reduce costs. To hear more about Switch and our offering for fleets reach out to [email protected] or shoot a message to Marc or Enrique. #maketheswitch

Plugfest time! 🎉 Our CTO Patrick Roelke will be in #Stuttgart next week talking all things #OCPP and interoperability. Switch was proud to receive one of the worlds first OCPP 2.0.1 certifications for the Switch Platform last year. We believe 2.0.1 is just the start and we are delighted to see the first official testing event for OCPP 2.1 this year. See you there! #maketheswitch

This year's intercharge network conference 2024 was a blast. The Hubject team did again an amazing job hosting #EV #charging experts from across the globe. In the many conversations I had, one key theme became apparent: #Reliability and the high costs of managing an EV charging network from an #operations and #maintenance (O&M) perspective. I had several conversations with #HPC network operators like IONITY, Motor Fuel Group, bp pulse, Mer and others, and they all have the same issue in common: How to get more insights into the charger to better diagnose and predict faults and lower the O&M costs? Instead of sending the O&M team onsite to figure out what's wrong with the charger it would be much better to equip that team with deep insights about the state of the charger and its components so that the first diagnosis can happen remotely and the right spare parts can be ordered ahead of the onsite visit, reducing the cost by at least 50%. But to get these deep insights, charger #OEMs need to provide this data in the first place. Sure, some OEMs have their own backends to which they can give their #CPO customers access, but there are two issues with it: 1) The CPO needs to access this data via a standardised protocol like #OCPP 2.0.1, whose powerful #deviceModel and #monitoring feature can provide #sensor data from every single charger component. CPOs simply want to avoid having to log into the backends of several hardware OEMs, instead they prefer to have all that data nicely aggregated in one single platform, streamlined through OCPP 2.0.1 - scales better and lowers operational costs. 2) Oftentimes charger OEMs don't even know themselves what's going on in their own chargers. The communication controller that speaks OCPP is maybe not even talking to the controller that manages the power modules. What's the #temperature of each power module? What's their #fanspeed? What's the corresponding power output? How's the pressure in the #coolant circuit? What's the cooling liquid level? All of that is more often than not simply a black box, not just for the CPO but sometimes even for the charger OEMs themselves. Let's face it, this is not a sustainable modus operandi. This needs to change. And the first step into a better EV charging experience for both network operator and, in the end, EV driver is to make this data available through a standardised communication interface like #OCPP 2.0.1. Some HPC charger OEM's like Alpitronic, Ekoenergetyka, ABB E-mobility, Autel Energy and Iocharger have already embraced OCPP 2.0.1. The question is: how much of the available sensor data will they make accessible through OCPP 2.0.1? Switch has been certified for OCPP 2.0.1 in 2023 already and we're working intensively with the OEMs to make all sensor data available through the Switch #Platform. What's your experience as CPOs? More about the benefits of OCPP 2.0.1 in my free whitepaper "Time's Up. Say Goodbye to OCPP 1.6": https://lnkd.in/emYhTsWK

We're looking forward to the intercharge network conference 2024 hosted by our good friends at Hubject! Our dream team Marc Mültin, Enrique Marin, and Patrick Roelke will be on the ground in Berlin and embodying this years theme by "Charging Towards Reliability". Reach out if you're a charger network or fleet manager and would like to hear more about how Switch can support your network reliability, unlock certified Plug & Charge and OCPP 2.0.1 functionality, and lower your costs. See you there! #maketheswitch

The big day is here! Today we launch Switch Charge, our mobile app for drivers. Switch Charge lets drivers start and monitor their charging sessions without the need for a card and is integrated seamlessly into the Switch Platform. Switch Charge is available now for selected Switch Platform customers, if you’d like to become a customer reach out at [email protected].

Switch for UK Public Charge Point Regulation Compliance ⚡ As of 2023, new regulations have come into effect for public charge points in the UK, ensuring a smooth and positive experience for EV drivers. With these regulations in full swing, our very own Chad Meadowcroft explains how Switch is geared to support you through these changes. https://lnkd.in/en99Ti58