User-friendly and easy-to-use software

This section covers the main features related to payments and billing.

• Automatic Billing/Integrated Payment: The payment system must be integrated into the application, allowing the use of credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.
• Virtual Wallet: The user must have a virtual wallet that can be reloaded with funds. The wallet must be assignable to both vehicles and users, or combinations of both, covering situations such as carpooling, company vehicles, loaner vehicles, etc.
• Rate Assignment by User Groups: The charger must be able to offer different rates based on user groups and time slots. For example, a company may prevent outsiders from charging during the day, while employees can use it for free, and outsiders pay a specific rate outside of work hours.
• Price Simulation: The charger must provide an estimated price based on the charging forecast.

This section covers the main features related to the charger’s use by users.

• Charging Profile Configuration: The charger must differentiate between charging profiles, allowing some users to have priority over others. If there are priority users, the charger must supply more power to these vehicles than to others.
• Charging by Time or Energy: The charger must allow charging based on total charging time or total energy to be charged.
• Nearby Charging Point Locator: The app must allow users to view nearby charging points and their availability.
• Real-Time Charging Point Information: The app must provide certain real-time information about the status of each charger and charging point: availability, price, status, etc.

It is important to consider that a vehicle can be associated with more than one user (car sharing, company car, etc.), allowing tracking even of shared vehicles.

The functionalities that the charger must be able to offer correspond to those specified below.

• Operations: This section covers the needs related to equipment management, in relation to the operation of the system for the charger owner/operator.
• Booking Management: Offer a booking system for each charger, including penalties for non-compliance and benefits for compliance, as well as time-slot-specific bonuses.
• Incident Management: Offer a vertical incident management system: user -> operator -> SAT
• Remote Connection and Configuration: Allows the charger operator to know the real-time status of the charger and configure it remotely.
• Charger Network Monitoring: Allows the operator to monitor the real-time status of all the chargers they manage.
• Data Management (User, Vehicles): Allows the operator to access charging data by user and vehicle for the chargers under their responsibility. From the user side, allow users to check their data for associated vehicles.
• Energy and Power Consumption Graphs: Provide information on the power charged by each charger and charging point during each time period. Provides insight into the total energy supplied by each charger and charging station, as well as energy data for specific periods.
• Charger Usage Statistics (by vehicle, by user): Provides statistical and graphical data on charger usage by charging station, vehicle, and/or user.
• Data Export: Allows the operator to export data for further processing as deemed appropriate.

The charger’s operation includes the following usage modes:

• Plug and Charge Mode: Plug and charge modes allow free and unrestricted use for users. Once the vehicle is plugged in, the charger starts automatically, without requiring any user input, authorization, or payment.
• Home Mode: In plug and charge home mode, the user can access charging history data (current charging power, kWh charged, charging time, etc.). This mode also allows for setting a maximum charging power.
• Public Mode: In plug and charge public mode, the user cannot view any historical data; only the current charging power and time are displayed on the screen.
• Pay-as-you-go Mode: Pay-as-you-go modes require user authentication to charge on a per-use basis. The user must have an app that allows communication with the charger to initiate the charging process. To start charging, the user must define the limiting factor for charging, which can be the maximum charging time or the cost associated with charging. The device must inform the user of the amount of kWh that will be charged within that time, based on the available power (limited either by the car or the installation). Upon processing the information, the user will be charged the estimated total, which will be adjusted accordingly and reimbursed if charging is completed before the estimated time.
• Identify to Use Mode: This mode is intended, for example, for hotels, underground parking garages, etc., which may or may not offer the service free of charge, depending on the user’s classification. In this case, the charger must wait for a system-generated code to set the limiting parameters for charging. Once charging is complete, the charger records the cost associated with that code in the administrator’s portal, and it is at the administrator’s discretion whether to invoice the service or not.

For the charger, the following user roles are defined. The same user can have a different role for each charger.

• Administrator Role: The administrator role provides full control over device information. They can manage access codes and users.
• User Role: The user role identifies the user, for example, to track the charges performed on all our chargers. The user can set their vehicle model (or more than one) and thus help the charger estimate times, charges, and speeds.
• SAT Role: This role has access to the configuration of the equipment’s internal parameters, allowing low-level changes.