The Door to Sharing EV Charging Data Is Now Open

Industry players agree that understanding the interaction between plug-in EVs (PEVs) and the grid is critical to growing the PEV market. Utilities are interested in the analysis of charging behaviors and their impact on the daily load cycles so that they can plan for the additional load. In the US, with the exception of government-funded enterprises such as the EV Project, charging data collected by utilities, automakers, and charging service providers (CSPs) has remained proprietary to their organizations.

Electrify America Leading the Way

However, in the foreseeable future, investments by the likely largest funder of EV charging infrastructure in the US will spur greater openness by CSPs on charging data. Electrify America, the Volkswagen (VW) company that was created to comply with the terms of the diesel settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, has been selecting CSPs that support open standards to enable the sharing of charging data.

On January 23, Electrify America, which will spend $2 billion over 10 years on charging infrastructure, awarded a contract to Greenlots to be the operating platform for an upcoming network of high power DC fast chargers. According to the press release, “Greenlots’ technology will enable Electrify America to effectively build, operate, and manage its high power charging network by providing real-time charger health status, utilization data, dynamic pricing capabilities, and predictive analytics.” In addition, Greenlots’ CEO Brett Hauser said that the company’s SKY platform will roll up data from all of the charging hardware, regardless of the vendor.

Installing Chargers

In December 2017, Electrify America announced that it would install 2,800 Level 2 chargers in workplace and residential locations in 17 of the biggest metropolitan areas across the US. For the project, which also includes multifamily and designated low income and disadvantaged community areas, Electrify America selected Greenlots, EV Connect, and SemaConnect as its CSP partners.

Both Greenlots and SemaConnect are participants in the Alliance for Transportation Electrification, a group that launched in November 2017 to promote open standards, help shape state policies and rate structures, and facilitate expansion of EV infrastructure. The open standard that the group supports is the open charge point protocol (OCPP), an international standard with origins in Europe that is gaining momentum in the US. OCPP is supported by Greenlots, EV Connect, and many of the largest global CSPs, as well as BMW.

Observing Results and Driving Adoption

By selecting vendors focused on storing and sharing data in a standard format, Electrify America will be able to see what is happening across its network, regardless of which vendor’s equipment is being used or which CSP is managing the equipment. For example, it will be able to track patterns of how electricity consumption from PEVs is influenced by weather, how the hourly load impact differs by region, or how charger utilization in different geographies can inform future investments in charging infrastructure.

While not all EV CSPs have embraced the notion of standardizing and sharing data, the size of Electrify America’s investment will likely encourage greater adoption of this notion from charging companies looking to get in on the action of VW’s substantial investments. The next formidable hurdle is for automotive manufacturers to also embrace open charging data. It is an encouraging step that Britta Gross of GM is among the participants in the Alliance for Transportation Electrification. Industry observers will be watching to see who joins this movement next.