By deepening IoT integration into both EVs and public stations, operators can strengthen their case against gasoline refuelling. By Stewart Burnett
For electric cars (EVs) to be successful, they must be convenient and intuitive to use. While the home charging experience allows many drivers to begin the day with a full charge, not all prospective buyers will have access to off-street parking. At the same time, it is sometimes simply necessary to use public charging—for example, on road trips or in high-intensity use cases like ride hailing.
As such, the public charging experience must be as seamless as possible. Internet of things (IoT) promises to enhance charging by making it smarter, more efficient, and feature rich. For drivers, this can mean anything from handling contactless payments through the infotainment system to providing continuous updates on charger availability in the local area. For operators, this means maximising uptime and increasing the visibility of their largely unmanned network.
Ryan Deloney, Chief Executive of IoT platform OptConnect, tells Automotive World that having deep IoT integration across all consumer touch points around charging is often underrated in enabling EVs. “Put simply, it provides a far better experience for the driver. At the same time, it might force charging operators to become more competitive on features.”
Seamless charging
IoT adoption is nothing new in EV charging—indeed, it is crucial for connecting individual chargers to the wider network and handling payments—but its importance is set to grow in the coming years. Deloney states that OptConnect has played a key role in facilitating the initial rollout of IoT in charging infrastructure. “Think of a charger as a sort of pseudo-kiosk. It’s a device placed somewhere that’s unattended but has customers regularly interacting with it. This is actually very hard to do at scale, but we focus on ensuring the user experience is as easy as possible for our consumers.”
The gasoline refuelling experience, he continues, has “essentially been perfected” over the last century, and the EV charging experience often compares unfavourably. Some aspects of charging that might be perceived negatively, such as long waiting times, will not be resolved overnight. As such, it is incumbent upon automakers and charging operators to collaborate on making the current experience as seamless as possible. On the one hand, this means ensuring consumer touchpoints like the charging dock and payment system are reliable, but it also means building out a robust security infrastructure to prevent malicious actors from exploiting unmanned stations.
To this end, OptConnect provides a range of router products aimed at enabling secure and fast IoT connectivity within EV chargers. In addition to providing the base connected functionalities through a 4G signal, it allows operators to monitor their devices remotely, gain continuous access to real-time data and analytics, track their data usage, and boost efficiency using a multi-tenant system. Operators are granted the opportunity to monitor their own stations or allow OptConnect to handle the back end.
Having full insight into and control over a large number of disparate, unmanned locations enables operators both to manage their network and strike the proper balance between customer experience and operational efficiency. “Downtime is a revenue killer, and so you need to be able to continuously monitor and communicate with that location,” says Deloney. “We are the internet that sits in between the operator and the location, and connectivity is the magic that makes the entire network function seamlessly.”
Feature richness
Beyond core functionalities, Deloney believes that automakers can still do more to harness the potential of IoT around the charging experience. One method is to enable payment through the infotainment system, preventing the need for drivers to navigate an array of on-site QR codes and apps run by individual charging operators. Julian Skidmore, Senior Firmware Engineer at charging consultancy Versinetic, previously told Automotive World that a unified approach to taking payment would substantially improve consumer sentiment towards charging. The present status quo has left users “mired in a sea of charging apps”.
While Skidmore proposed a unified app for all charging operators, Deloney sees no reason automakers could not leverage the IoT to bring a unified payment system into the vehicle itself using near-field communication. Some automakers with their own proprietary charging networks—such as Tesla—have already implemented this, albeit without the universal functionality. “I think you’ll see more automakers and charging operators pivot towards this in the near future. As a feature, it’s currently underutilised and underdeveloped.”
Better integration of charging networks into the vehicle’s infotainment system and backend servers can then unlock a range of possibilities intended to enrich and streamline the charging experience. “By connecting the vehicle to a universal grid network through the IoT, you’re going to gain access to a ton of up-to-date information that can help drivers make better decisions,” says Deloney. This can range from charger uptime and demand at specific locations to pricing. Regarding the latter, he highlights instances where drivers pull up to an off-grid network to charge only to face peak hour rates unexpectedly. A ‘walled garden’ approach to charging networks would make this more difficult: “If you’re driving a Tesla, for example, you’re not seeing all the other non-Supercharger locations that become available as charging access expands.”
Nobody has had the luxury of sitting back and considering how we can use these technologies to perfect the experience
This could subsequently be integrated into a cloud-based generative AI voice assistant, which prompts the driver when their EV’s state of charge is running low and advises them on the best available charging stations that befit their needs. If the driver were to highlight that they are hungry, for example, the assistant can refine its options to those with a nearby restaurant. Having selected a station, the on-board mapping system could plot a route for the driver or autonomous vehicle to follow.
Ultimately, the reality of quickly expanding charging infrastructure has made it more challenging for automakers and charging operators to slow down and more thoroughly consider how to leverage IoT fully. “Nobody has had the luxury of sitting back and considering how we can use these technologies to perfect the experience,” Deloney concludes. “We’re building the wings on this thing as we’re flying.” By fully capitalising on IoT opportunities, however, the industry could not only help make charging a more secure and reliable experience but also one that wields tangible advantages compared to traditional refuelling.
