Proven and Trusted Charge Management
As the most proven and trusted charge management system (CMS) worldwide, with more than 2500 fleet charging sites under management, ChargePilot® is designed and tested to deliver reliable, flexible, and cost-efficient charging. The fundamental architecture of the system is a hybrid software plus hardware combination that ensures responsive and reliable charging operations.
With its pioneering and proven hybrid architecture, ChargePilot delivers the convenience of a remote control monitoring software system with the resilience and responsiveness of equipment in the depot. The local control provided by the ChargePilot controller component is critical to Automated Load Management (ALM) and other advanced CMS functions. On-site local control is a fundamental element of the current draft of the forthcoming UL 3141 certification for power control systems, and is integral to the treatment of load management in the coming 2026 National Electrical Code.
The Superiority of ChargePilot’s® Local Optimization
Simply adding a controller to a cloud-based CMS does not provide a sufficient level of optimization and resilience for reliable fleet charging operations in most cases. ChargePilot® is the only CMS on the market that optimizes charging locally on the edge computing device at the charging site, thereby providing the highest level of confidence that optimized charging can continue uninterrupted. Local optimization minimizes potential points of failure and ensures the continuity of charging optimization, meaning that fleet operators are getting the most out of their charging equipment, even in the event of network failure to the cloud. By having the optimization algorithms working locally, ChargePilot® also maximizes the speed and responsiveness of charging management, providing instantaneous reactivity when conditions on site change such as new vehicles plugging in. This sets ChargePilot® apart from all competition and allows us to do the most advanced charging system integrations in the most robust and reliable configurations, such as ALM, site-integrated load management, microgrids, backup generator integrations, etc.
Comparison with Other CMS Solutions
Other CMS providers have recently added local controllers, but none on the market today have the level of local optimization within ChargePilot®, which has used this fundamental hybrid architecture since 2017. Other CMS controllers may serve as OCPP relays, but if the cloud connection fails, these systems will have no ability to adjust charging according to dynamic real time site conditions, likely relying on fallback values to set charging output, meaning that charging optimization (or re-optimization) cannot happen. This leads to underutilized charging assets and could result in compromised vehicle operations.
ChargePilot’s® local optimization means that the algorithms that control real-time smart charging, factoring for utility rates, meter values, and main connection capacity, happens on the device, not in the cloud. This means that optimization is resilient, and also more responsive. Because charging optimization doesn’t rely on data traffic to the cloud and back, it can make adjustments to real-time site conditions within seconds, reducing failures and maximizing cost optimizations.
ChargePilot® Wireless Option
As the world’s industry leader in fleet charging CMS, we developed the hybrid architecture of ChargePilot® to provide the best possible charging experience to fleet operators with the most demanding operational expectations. Now, we are proud to offer the ChargePilot® Wireless option. ChargePilot® Wireless provides the full convenience of a remote interface and most of the resilience benefits of local optimization, minus the installation complexity of hardwiring the controller to each charging station.
We will always continue to recommend ethernet or fiberoptic cabling for connections to each charger, maximizing resilience and responsiveness. But some customers who don’t have critical operations needing fully resilient systems will be able to accept a CMS configuration that is more easily implemented. ChargePilot® Wireless has been developed as a response to customer requests for sites with installation obstacles, who would still like to access the benefits of the world leading fleet charging CMS with local optimization. To learn more, contact our team today.