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June 14, 2024
When it comes to running an electric vehicle fleet, your charging infrastructure is the lifeline that keeps everything operating smoothly and on-time.
For fleet managers, charger problems or blackouts can lead to headaches like delays, extra costs, and unhappy stakeholders.
With EVs becoming more popular across the globe, charger reliability is going to be a major concern going forward. Fleets need to avoid downtime at all costs.
A recent Bloomberg report showed that EV adoption is skyrocketing globally. Sales leapt from 10.5 million in 2022 to around 27 million predicted by 2026. EVs are expected to make up 30% of new passenger vehicle sales by 2026, up from 14% in 2022.
The acceleration in EV adoption is mostly down to growing environmental awareness. Climate change and pressure to cut carbon footprints are steering the world toward green transportation.
Smart charging can help on both fronts - reliability and sustainability.
In this guide, we'll look at some of the common EV charger challenges and how AI-powered smart charging software helps fleets overcome them.
Robust charging is essential for long-distance travel and reliable day-to-day operation. This is especially true for fleets that need to keep services going throughout the day or night – e.g. logistics, buses, and commercial services.
With dependable charging infrastructure in place, fleets can avoid or limit the impact of the following issues:
Most importantly, solid EV charging infrastructure enables fleets to provide consistency and on-time performance. These are key selling points for most logistics and commercial service providers.
EV charger downtime can originate from a variety of sources.
One of the biggest issues facing the EV industry is poor maintenance. A recent study from the University of California found that 27.5% of 657 DC fast chargers in the San Francisco Bay area were out of order at the time of the study.
If the above stat is anything to go by, then it suggests three things:
Let’s look at an example.
Imagine you arrive at your logistics depot on a Monday morning and find that one of your primary chargers isn’t working. Vehicles are queued up, causing dispatch delays. Without charging management software, the troubleshooting process might look like this:
Despite doing all these checks, the root cause remains a mystery. It's only after you call out a technician who performs a deep diagnostic test, that a minor fault in the internal circuitry is identified as the problem.
By this time, your operations have been delayed by four hours, causing annoyed drivers, disgruntled customers, and revenue losses.
It’s pretty obvious that this isn’t the most efficient way to run charger diagnostics and rectify problems.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to this problem that helps you to maintain charger uptime – AI-powered smart charging management software.
Advanced smart charging management systems powered by AI, such as Ampcontrol, offer a number of key benefits:
Let’s return to the logistics depot example.
This time, instead of spending hours trying to diagnose the problem, the depot has a smart charging software system in place. In this instance, the software detects unusual temperature fluctuations in the charger's circuitry. This suggests an internal fault which can be taken care of before causing a full-blown failure.
The system can notice patterns that historically led to failures, like parts wearing down and degradation. Instead of part failure and machine downtime, you get an advance alert to replace parts preemptively, saving time and money.
Even without early detection, diagnostic tools accelerate issue resolution once they occur. Chargers can be remotely assessed and even rebooted – no technician required. This drastically cuts downtime and speeds up repairs.
One of the main things to look for in an AI-driven smart charging software system is how well it integrates with your EV charging infrastructure.
For instance, Ampcontrol connects directly with OCPP charge points, vehicle telematics, energy meters, and utility signals. This integrative approach enables you to gather, store, and analyze a wide range of data and run diagnostics remotely.
Additionally, by syncing with vehicle scheduling systems, the software can predict when vehicles require charging. The software can also help to dynamically manage the load, ensuring that power is distributed optimally among active charging sessions.
Smart charging software can also integrate with solar and metering systems to further reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, as well as responding to utility events and potentially generating extra revenue through vehicle-to-grid initiatives.
Ampcontrol also boasts a 99.995% uptime and 24/7 support, which further help to minimize charging disruptions.
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at what AI-powered smart charging software does, how it works, and the positive effects on EV charger downtime.
Smart charging software accesses and stores vast amounts of data such as charging logs, activity, and fleet details. It then uses algorithms to analyze EV charging patterns and trends. This leads to valuable insights and recommended actions to optimize the charging process.
Built-in data analytics help to detect irregularities, anticipate charger errors, and identify under-utilization of charging sites. You can also set up alerts to let you know when issues arise by monitoring present operations, as well as alerting you to potential upcoming issues by analyzing historical data.
A manual and reactive approach to EV charging is far from optimal. There are too many demands for that kind of approach to work smoothly:
A reactive approach often relies on pre-set schedules or manual input. An AI-powered system, on the other hand, can be programmed to make instant proactive decisions.
Whether it's adjusting power distribution due to sudden grid changes or pausing a charging session due to detected faults, it can be configured to act immediately.
Being cloud-based, Ampcontrol’s system has the power to proactively analyze and respond to data in real-time and connect to any EV charger using OCPP to automatically control it.
For example, when the software detects potential charger faults or inconsistencies, it can swiftly pause or modify the charge session. This prevents potential damage and inefficiencies. Equally, if a drop in grid energy supply is detected, the system can prioritize certain charging sessions to make sure key vehicles keep running.
An advanced smart charging software system like Ampcontrol is constantly learning. As it monitors charger performance, evaluates charger errors, and keeps track of energy consumption patterns, it also applies machine learning to improve outcomes. The system is designed to automatically refine its algorithms and decision-making abilities.
For example, by understanding the typical energy consumption rates during specific hours, or recognizing patterns in vehicle schedules and their corresponding SoC (State of Charge), Ampcontrol’s software can preemptively adjust power distribution or allocate resources more effectively.
Over time, this iterative improvement approach translates to benefits like reduced energy costs, higher charger uptime, and minimized manual interventions on-site. This can be seen in the case of Revel, where Ampcontrol managed to reduce 45% of its energy costs and ensure a staggering 99.999% uptime.
Here is a brief rundown of the operational benefits and features that AI-powered smart charging software can bring to an EV fleet.
Instead of reacting to faults, AI anticipates them. It actively analyzes usage data and wear patterns to forecast when a component is likely to fail, prompting maintenance before a breakdown occurs.
AI assesses the current grid load, the number of vehicles currently charging, their battery statuses, and more. Then it dynamically allocates power to where it is needed most. This ensures that no charger is overworked and every vehicle gets an efficient charge – especially mission critical ones.
The software learns to understand user patterns, such as peak charging times or preferred charge levels. This analysis can be used to optimize power distribution or suggest improved charging schedules to users.
The software selects the greenest energy sources available at any given time, promoting eco-friendly charging and reducing carbon footprints.
AI anticipates high-demand periods in advance, allowing utilities to prepare resources and users to adjust to revised charging schedules.
Using AI, the software analyzes energy market trends to recommend cost-effective charging times, promoting sustainable consumption and helping users benefit from lower rates.
As well as choosing and implementing the right AI smart charging management software, there are other key steps you can take to ensure smooth charging operations.
The recent surge in global electric vehicle adoption underlines the importance of reliable charging infrastructure for fleet management.
Multiple factors, from hardware failures to human error, can lead to charger downtime. Charger failure has a knock-on effect on fleet operations, costs, and reputation.
AI-powered smart charging management software, such as Ampcontrol, uses advanced algorithms, real-time data, and machine learning to optimize charging. It can help to foresee problems and increase charger uptime by taking a proactive predictive maintenance approach.
As well as software, fleet managers need to select quality charging hardware, ensure robust network connectivity, implement regular maintenance programs, and provide proper training to avoid unnecessary EV charger downtime.
Are you ready to revolutionize your EV charging management and reduce downtime?
Experience the future of EV charging today – book an Ampcontrol demo.
Ampcontrol is a cloud-based software that seamlessly connects to charging networks, vehicles, fleet systems, and other software systems. No hardware needed, just a one-time integration.
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