Five technologies to fast-track EV charging infrastructure

As the North American Council for Freight Efficiency put it, we’re in the “messy middle” between legacy internal combustion-dominant transport and an EV-centric future. Private fleet owners and operators, nudged by government rules and corporate environmental, sustainability, and governance (ESG) targets, aim to swap filling up with diesel for charging up with electrons. That means deploying EV charging infrastructure (technically, electric vehicle supply equipment, or EVSE) at a torrid pace.

There will be business benefits, including lower long-term fuel and maintenance costs, progress toward carbon-reduction goals, and improved brand image. But in the meantime, the “messy middle” comes with hurdles: vehicle pricing, charging-infrastructure costs, and utility interconnection delays being three big ones.

Fortunately, five technologies can help address those hurdles, and they’re advancing rapidly. They tackle charging infrastructure utilization directly and vehicle pricing and interconnection delays indirectly, as we’ll see.

1. GIS
Geographic information systems are essential tools in establishing the baseline for charging station distribution. Data layers augmenting a backdrop of GIS imagery can highlight population and demographic information, transport routes, traffic patterns, the location of utility transmission and distribution infrastructure, and other features that can influence and optimize the placement of EV charging stations.

Take utility infrastructure as an example. If two locations look equally favorable based on logistical factors, but the local utility’s distribution network is more robust at one of them (i.e. more available power capacity), going with the better electrical infrastructure can save a fleet owner from a long interconnection wait and costly demand charges in the future.

2. Charging management systems
Charging management systems handle EV charging, billing (where applicable), and energy management. Many also handle EV fleet and driver management. Given the impact of EV charging patterns on fleet management, that’s no surprise, and charging management and fleet management systems will either be tightly integrated or completely unified as we move forward. The nature of the EV-fleet charging and operations puzzle—an endless optimization challenge with many variables—lends itself to integrating AI, and that’s happening already. So is the addition of generative AI assistants that help managers quickly solve problems they pose in natural-language chat interfaces.

Charging management systems speed EV charging infrastructure deployment by enabling transport companies to implement less (or less powerful) EV charging hardware than might seem necessary at first glance. That can lower the cost of EVs by right-sizing batteries to real-life needs, like duty cycles and dwell time.

Being primarily operational in nature, the value of charging management systems grows as fleets deploy additional charging stations and experience accumulates with respect to what sorts of vehicles must be charged at what pace and when. Slow-charging certain vehicles overnight can maximize utilization while cutting the number of necessary charging ports. Overnight charging also smooths power demand and cuts kilowatt-hour costs. If understood prior to deployment, the projected reduction of power needs can lower the interconnection bar for utilities and get an EV depot online more quickly.

3. Bidirectional charging
EVs are also rolling battery-storage resources. Utilities and others concerned with the stability of electric grids are well aware of this. They see EVs as a way to supply electricity at times of peak demand to boost resilience and avoid the high cost of peaking plants or dedicated energy storage facilities.

The predictable usage patterns of transport fleets, EV trucks’ big batteries, and the prospect of fleets selling electrons to the grid make bidirectional charging an interesting proposition for fleet owners and operators. Just as importantly, fleets can exploit bidirectional charging by redistributing electricity among their own vehicles based on projected need. From the perspective of speedier EV charging infrastructure deployment, bidirectional charging can boost the business case for going electric and make interconnection more favorable for a utility.

First, though: Vehicles and charging equipment must support bidirectional charging, so fleet owners should consider that when making buying decisions. It’s well worth considering, as we can expect bidirectional charging to become the norm over the next few years.

4. Microgrids
Microgrids involve a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) that then interact with the greater grid. EV transport fleets comprise both loads and, with bidirectional charging, DERs. But why stop there? Electrified fleet depots are ripe for the addition of rooftop or canopied solar. Combine that with battery storage, and there’s your microgrid.

One benefit is an ability to show the utility reduced projected peak demand and, with that, speed up interconnection. With batteries, a transport-facility microgrid can also fill up on cheap utility-supplied electrons when rates are low and then discharge to vehicles when power is expensive during peak hours (yet another variable for charging management systems to juggle).

5. Deployment operations management systems
To fast-track EV charging infrastructure deployment, one must roll out systems faster and more efficiently. Deployment operations management systems (a.k.a. industry cloud for infrastructure) are already widely used by commercial EV charging companies. They also help fleet owner operators and their contractors plan and manage dozens or hundreds of job sites, assets, and crews in real time as they combine the strengths of project, asset, and work-management software. These systems sharpen the planning and development phase, speed construction and implementation timelines, manage ongoing maintenance, and streamline vendor and labor management.

In development, these systems manage site candidates, approvals, and designs. They match deployment assets with job sites to ensure that equipment is where it needs to be, when it needs to be there, and that permits and utility interconnections are ready to go before ever breaking ground. In implementation, deployment operations management systems include standardized project templates, automated document generation, and mobile forms to make life easier for construction crews and managers, digitizing work while providing real-time visibility throughout the process.

With the right technologies, transport firms can navigate through the “messy middle” without the muddle: speeding up interconnection and EVSE deployment while boosting efficiency and opening up new revenue opportunities. That’s good for the environment—and good for business.

About the author: Melvin Irizarry is a product marketing manager at Sitetracker.