What is Smart EV Charging

What is Smart EV Charging? 

Electric vehicles are the future and that future is here. The incredible pace at which EVs are being adopted in Australia also presents some unique challenges with some interesting solutions. 

Electricity is the fuel used by electric vehicles. While petrol and diesel have roughly similar prices everywhere, electricity prices fluctuate based on the time of the day. For instance, it is a well-known fact that electricity is much cheaper at night due to lower demand.

With the increase in the number of electric vehicles, the demand for electricity will soar and there is a need for a solution that optimises energy consumption to prevent overloading of the power grid and to allow charging of electric vehicles at minimum cost. This solution is smart EV charging. 

This blog post will explore the concept of smart EV charging, its benefits, its features and related topics.

What Is Smart EV Charging?

Smart EV charging is an intelligent charging system designed around optimisation of energy consumption when charging electric vehicles. The difference between a smart charging system and a regular charging system is that it involves a data connection between the charging operator and the charging device. 

The brain of this system is software that continuously monitors energy usage to ensure maximum efficiency. The goal here is to create a symbiotic relationship with the power grid to avoid putting too much burden on the power grid due to electric vehicle charging.

How Do Smart EV Charging Stations Work?

Let’s first understand the components involved in charging an electric vehicle. There is the electric vehicle, the charging station and the power grid. 

Smart technology analyses real-time data when an EV is being charged to ensure optimum charging efficiency without putting an undue burden on the grid.

It allows management of charging stations based on various parameters including the number of vehicles being charged concurrently, total electricity consumption, electricity capacity of the local area and other such things to ensure a sustainable energy system.

Benefits of Smart Charging

There are several advantages of investing in smart charging solutions, especially with the expected increase in the number of electric vehicles on the road. Here are a few benefits for all the parties involved in charging electric vehicles:

  • It is a future-proof solution
  • It saves money by charging cars when the electricity prices are the cheapest
  • It allows faster and safer charging
  • It allows charging station owners to manage their system accurately and remotely
  • It prevents undue burden on the local power grid
  • It allows hands-free operation of a charging station for the owners
  • It helps in stabilising the grid
  • It allows network operators to maintain several charging stations with one central hub

What is Smart EV Charging

Different Charging Consumer Segments

All electric vehicle owners are not expected to behave in a similar manner when it comes to choosing chargers for their electric vehicles. There are different consumer segments and they are likely to choose charging stations based on certain factors.

The 4 main charging consumer segments may be categorised on the basis of:

  • Convenience
  • Price
  • Loyalty
  • Quality

The convenience segment refers to the group of consumers who are willing to pay a premium for charging stations that help them save time. The price-conscious consumers are those who don’t mind spending extra time if they are able to find a charger that costs lower. 

There are also loyal consumers who will stick to a particular retailer if they are able to earn points. The fourth group of consumers is quality-conscious consumers who are ready to spend extra time or money on green power.

Smart Charging Features

Here’s a list of some smart starting features that make it worth the investment:

  • Dynamic load management
  • Efficient power-sharing
  • Efficient power boost
  • Energy management

Smart charging allows dynamic management of load. The system is capable of automatically distributing the available power among various electric vehicles as well as for other nearby devices when everything is being used simultaneously. This helps in protecting the local grid which means you can install chargers without the need to upgrade local energy infrastructure.

It also allows efficient power-sharing which means the available power is automatically divided between vehicles being charged simultaneously without any need for manual attention/management.

There are 19 million vehicles on the roads in Australia and if every vehicle is replaced by an electric vehicle, it could go a long way in creating an efficient power backup. That’s only possible with a smart EV charging system. It may seem like a far-fetched concept but is likely to become a reality with bidirectional charging in many upcoming EV models.

Final Thoughts

Overall, electric vehicles are a boon for the environment on top of being cheaper to run and maintain. Having said that, they are also going to increase the demand for electricity immensely which will require new load management solutions. 

One such solution is a smart EV charging station or network which allows proper load management without the need for expensive local energy infrastructure upgrades.

Buy Electric Vehicle Chargers At GET Electric

Australians are increasingly buying electric vehicles and that opens up an opportunity for businesses looking to provide fast chargers for consumers. GET Electric is the premier supplier of reliable electric vehicle chargers in Australia. We offer a wide range of charging solutions with various monetisation options for commercial use.

Please call us today on 1800 GET NOW to learn more about our EV charging and infrastructure solutions or leave an enquiry and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Develop EV Charging Infrastructure 

How to Develop EV Charging Infrastructure 

Australia currently boasts around 3,000 public charging points for electric vehicles. Less than 500 of these are DC superchargers and the rest are standard AC chargers. The federal government as well as respective state governments have promised to invest hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years to develop EV charging infrastructure.

However, one of the biggest roadblocks to the wider adoption of electric vehicles is the lack of public charging points and continuous investment in charging infrastructure is necessary to increase the pace of EV adoption. The good news is that most people want to cut down emissions through the broader adoption of electric vehicles so this will be a worthwhile investment by the government.

What Is EV Charging Infrastructure?

EV charging infrastructure refers to the widespread and convenient availability of public charging points for the charging of electric vehicles. Adequate charging infrastructure is necessary to tackle range anxiety and boost EV adoption.

It’s the same story being repeated when petrol-powered cars were introduced to replace the horse and cart. Once the people realised the benefits of petrol-powered cars, there was rapid development in petrol and fuel infrastructure which, in turn, gave a boost to ICE vehicle sales.

EV Charging Terminologies You Should Know

There are some key terminologies in the EV charging industry you should know. These include:

Station location: As the name implies, this is the location with one or multiple charging points. It could be a parking garage or a parking lot in a shopping mall and similar locations.

EVSE Port: This stands for electric vehicle supply equipment port which allows charging of only a single vehicle at a time even when multiple connectors are connected to the equipment. This is also known by various other names such as a charging post.

Connector: This is the line connecting the vehicle to the charging post. An EVSE port may have a variety of connector types but can only charge only a single vehicle at a given time.

Develop EV Charging Infrastructure 

Different Charging Consumer Segments

When it comes to EV charging consumers, they may be divided into 4 broad categories along the lines of traditional fuel segments. These 4 segments of consumers are:

  • Focus on convenience
  • Focus on price
  • Focus on loyalty
  • Focus on quality

Consumers focused on convenience are likely to be those who are starved for time. They don’t mind paying for high charging speeds. They are the ones who will go to the most convenient location that offers the fastest charging time and they may not use reservation apps aggressively. Businesses that target these consumers should focus on building extra capacity for maximising the availability of extremely fast chargers. This is the group of consumers that is likely to demand faster than the Level 3 charging option and are willing to pay a premium for charging speed.

Consumers that are focused on price will most likely prefer Level 3 stations that may not be located conveniently. This is the group of consumers that won’t mind waiting for some time and they would also prefer making reservations through mobile apps. This category of consumers may include tourists or out-of-town visitors who prefer visiting restaurants or malls or amusement parks while leaving their car for charging. 

Loyalty programs are a huge hit with consumers and they are also likely to gain some share in the EV charging market. The extent of the loyalty segment in this market may not be as big as most of the charging is likely to happen at home but it is estimated that they will form anywhere from 10 to 20% of the total market. 

The last category of consumers is more quality-focused. They will differentiate between different EV charging brands similar to different brands of traditional fuels. It’s going to be difficult to differentiate EV charging products on something other than the speed of charging. One of the ways to differentiate could be the use of green power derived from renewable sources and charging a premium for green power.

How to Develop EV Charging Infrastructure

It is expected that most consumers will do a significant part of charging at home but wider adoption of electric vehicles is only possible when there is a significant investment in developing EV charging infrastructure.

The EV charging infrastructure is always going to be a partnership between the government and private businesses. The federal government and respective state governments in Australia have announced an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in co-funding public fast and ultra-fast charging stations. 

These charging stations will be designed to have several charging posts and are likely to be operated by charging point operators. Some state governments have also announced EV fast charging grants for operators. The governments are also planning to partner with charging point operators for building chargers on their sites.

Final Thoughts

The world is changing and consumers are more aware of the impact of climate change. This is why more consumers are buying electric vehicles. Australia has made a slow start but the adoption of electric vehicles is increasing at a fast pace.

Governments at both federal and state levels are incentivising the development of charging infrastructure through grants and partnerships. It also presents an opportunity for enterprising businesses as providing charging points at a business site is likely to be an attractive differentiator with the growing number of electric vehicles on the road.

Smart business owners are already investing in electric vehicle charging points to get ahead of the competition by providing convenient locations to charge electric vehicles. It will go a long way in attracting increasingly environmentally-conscious consumers to their businesses.

Buy Electric Vehicle Chargers at GET Electric

GET Electric is one of the premier suppliers of electric vehicle charging solutions in Australia. We offer a wide range of charging solutions. Our commercial electric vehicle chargers are monitored by our custom backend platform. 

Each charger is connected to a gateway solution which means you only need to provide the space for the charger and we will manage the charging unit operation along with billing and maintenance.

Please call us today on 1800 GET NOW to learn more about our EV charging and infrastructure solutions or leave an enquiry and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.