NXP can help electric vehicle charging station manufacturers navigate the complex intersection of technical, functional and regulatory requirements from varied users with vastly diverse goals.
To satisfy electric vehicle owners and operators, manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations must address demands for safety, security, accurate power measurement and reliable financial transactions. Electric vehicle owners and operators also benefit from easily accessible information about chargers and power availability throughout the day. Grid operators demand real-time and accurate energy consumption data at the point-of-use to efficiently and effectively manage the power load. The energy supplier needs customer ID, accurate energy consumption records and up-to-the-moment tariff and billing info to create and deliver an order used for settlement of payment. Meanwhile, the charge point operator requires a record and analysis of performance data to manage their infrastructure. Finally, the EV charging station manufacturer needs to monitor equipment health status, manage firmware updates and handle equipment errors. Many of these requirements rest on a core need for reliable, secure communication between the edge and the cloud.
NXP is positioned to provide solutions for each of the requirements outlined above, and in future blogs we will delve into the details about how NXP products help address requirements from each user or entity who interfaces with an EV charging station. Today’s blog focuses on how NXP solutions enable reliable and secure communication with the cloud.
Get started today. We will guide you through the process of getting your EV charging station development platform up and running.
Why would a manufacturer want to connect EV charging stations to the cloud? Looking only at the initial investment, it may be less expensive and simpler to go with a local EV charging station solution. However, cloud connectivity presents multiple ways to increase functionality and profit. The power of the intelligent edge and the intelligent cloud working together allows for load balancing to avoid overwhelming the grid at peak charging times. Energy suppliers or grid operators can adjust prices based on demand, to incentivize electric vehicle operators to charge at lower demand times. When real-time communication and broad data analysis are available, EV fleets can even give power back to the grid, acting as massive batteries to mitigate periods of high energy demand on the grid.
Cloud-connected EV charging stations give customers access to information about where to go for a fast charge when they need it. Cloud connectivity also enables over-the-air (OTA) updates to quickly deploy security patches or roll out firmware upgrades, without rolling trucks to each EV charging station location. National smart metering projects typically update every 30 minutes, every hour or once per day. This latency is unsuitable for real-time control of an intelligent smart grid and is thus a key driver for connectivity outside of the smart metering infrastructure.
Looking more closely at the ownership model, a range of stakeholders include the OEM, the charge point operator, the grid operator, the energy supplier, etc. Each of these must be assigned correct ownership, credentials and access during the installation phase without requiring an IT specialist to meet defined security policies.
The scenarios described above require an optimized relationship between the intelligent edge and intelligent cloud. The market is driving many industries—including EV charging station manufacturers—to leverage a powerful hybrid edge/cloud model. They expect the benefits of zero-latency processing, which works even without a connection at the edge, as well as fleet management, data aggregation, unlimited storage and unlimited processing that’s available in the cloud. While manufacturers are experts in their domains, it can be a stretch to effectively implement the required connectivity, security and provisioning in their designs. Experience shows the developer’s effort and risk are spent mostly on integration and interoperability.
Being aware of these challenges, NXP partnered with Microsoft to create the EasyEVSE EV charging station development platform. This cloud-connected development platform allows customers to accelerate innovation and simplify the design process while integrating products from across NXP. Customers can quickly load the Azure RTOS-based application software on the NXP i.MX RT1064 crossover MCU and securely connect the simulated EV charging station to Microsoft Azure IoT Central service. The development platform features NXP Kinetis® metrology MCUs, which include mature reference designs, schematics and metrology software. To support secure communication between the car, the EV station and the cloud, the reference design shows how to leverage the NXP EdgeLock SE050 secure element to meet ISO15118, X.509 and IEC 61508 security and safety requirements. Customers can use the platform as the foundation to develop a full, differentiated EVSE system.
Beyond the Azure-based EasyEVSE development platform, there are many ways to connect an EV charging station to the cloud—from cost-effective Linux and RTOS-based industrial solutions for always-on applications running OCPP2.x, to bare metal entry level solutions—all supported by NXP.
Access more information about how NXP enables EV charging station development through the EasyEVSE Development Platform.
Rachel Lockwood has a degree in Electrical Engineering and has worked in semiconductor marketing for more than 20 years. She loves to observe the many ways the future is coming to life, thanks to converging technology trends empowered by Edge Computing.
