What does a charging and energy management system do?
Prevents load peaks
Load management proactively lowers expensive peak loads as well as the associated costs of grid connection and grid fees by intelligently balancing loads, temporally offsetting vehicles or charging them at lower capacities. Incorporating the cycle data, battery state of charge (SoC), energy requirements, desired pre-conditioning settings and other factors further allows fleet operators to precisely optimize the charging process for their operations. A charging management system is often required in situations where several buses charge on the same existing grid connection.
Cost-optimized energy use
Under some circumstances, there may be financial incentives to optimize the charging of a bus fleet beyond peak loads. This applies in places where the local utility offers a cheaper electricity rate at certain times of day or on sites that can generate their own electricity through resources, like solar, for a given time during the day. In these scenarios, fleet operators can save money by adjusting charging times.
Dynamic load management
Is there an especially tight margin on the available electrical power capacity for charging electric buses, or are there additional electrical consumers on site that require high capacities on a short-term basis? A dynamic load management system might be the solution, as it takes into account all the electricity consumers on site. For example, if a depot has a washing facility for vehicles, a dynamic load management system would reduce charging power during washing to not overload the power connection. A charging and energy management system combined with a smart meter can provide information about the power draw in real-time and ensure the overall load does not exceed the maximum connected load of the grid connection.
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring gives fleet owners and operators an overview of charging processes and costs, providing certainty and flexibility in load management. Unexpected changes in operating procedures can quickly be assessed and managed to maximize the availability of the electric buses. Monitoring can be integrated into a depot management system using interfaces so that all information is available in one place.
Benefits of a comprehensive charging system
By preventing fleets from charging at high-cost times and instead shift charging to lower-cost times, charging and energy management systems like The Mobility House’s ChargePilot® can reduce fleet operators’ bills by 30 to 50 percent annually. Plus, fleet operators feel peace-of-mind knowing their buses can stay charged for all scheduled routes. Interested in using ChargePilot® to optimize your fleet? Talk to The Mobility House about our interface for the depot management system or other fleet management systems by emailing: [email protected].
