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All about VDV 261

Written by skrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Anyone familiar with the field of public transport has certainly heard of the VDV 261 guideline. But what is VDV 261 actually?

What is VDV 261?
VDV 261 is a technical document published by the Association of German Transport Companies that describes how to ensure the data exchange necessary for the preconditioning of vehicles. This means, for example, that the temperature in the bus can be adjusted for passengers even before the bus departs from the charging station. And not just for one bus, but automatically for all buses.

Preconditioning leads to a longer range of battery-powered vehicles, since the energy needed to heat up or cool down the vehicles for the first time is not taken from the battery, but from the power grid. In short, VDV 261 increases comfort, increases range and saves time and therefore money, as processes no longer have to be done manually but are automated.

How does VDV 261 work?
VDV 261 describes how the value-added services of ISO 15118 must be used to automatically precondition vehicles during a charging process. Intelligent charging management enables so-called preconditioning, basically a “preparation” of the buses, via the existing charging infrastructure. There are various options for this, e.g. heating, cooling, ventilating. As soon as the electric bus is connected to a charging station, the data sent can be used to determine precisely whether preconditioning is required and, if so, in what form, so that the vehicle is ideally prepared at departure time. The challenge here lies in the smooth communication from the vehicle via the charging station to the charging management, as this communication chain must be encrypted and coordinated with all parties involved.

What is the benefit of VDV 261?
The VDV 261 interface helps to optimize planning and processes and to minimize potential risks. Because heating e-buses that are not currently connected to the charging station consumes a lot of energy and has a negative impact on the range. The bus is connected to VDV 261 during preconditioning at the charging station – so there is no need to worry about range. Passengers also experience more comfort as the temperature can be optimally prepared.

In addition to VDV 261, the standard VDV 463 is recommended – more information can be found at: https://www.carmedialab.com/en/vdv-463-makes-charge-planning-easy/.

Aachen’s “ASEAG” goes electric!

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Charging in the future with MOBILEcharge
The “Aachener Straßenbahn und Energieversorgungs-AG“, or „ASEAG“ (short for Aachen Tramway and Energy Supply Company), is soon charging their electric bus fleet with MOBILEcharge. Up to 150 charging points will be created in the ASEAG depot, which will work with VDV 463 and VDV 261, among others.

By the end of July 2023, milestones such as the establishment of a server instance, implementation of network requirements, certificate creation and provisioning, configuration of charging stations, communication tests and vehicle tests will be completed.

Click here for ASEAG: https://www.aseag.de/

We are very much looking forward to this collaborative project!

Well-established team for Smart Charging: ISO 15118 and OCPP 2.0.1

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Electromobility standards
ISO 15118 is responsible for communication between the charging station and an electric vehicle, OCPP for communication between the charging station and a central charging management system. They work hand in hand – and benefit from each other.

Why do the two standards rely on each other
Many charging systems use version 1.5 or 1.6 of OCPP. With ISO 15118 and the latest version of OCPP 2.0.1 in combination, the requested amount of energy is moreover sent to the charging station. This in turn forwards the information to the backend system. The two standards help make processes faster and easier for everyone. Without OCPP 2.0.1 and ISO 15118 additional hardware or a mobile app to send information is required.

Smart charging in context
The more data provided and the more accurate the data from the e-vehicles, the better the central system can make decisions. That’s exactly what smart charging is. Smart charging also helps avoid the notorious peak loads in order to save costs. In addition, vehicles are no longer charged with too little energy, other charging users do not unnecessarily block stations, and time-consuming alternatives are eliminated.

With Smart Charging peak loads are avoided

Out Now: Our Tender Support for Charge Management System used in bus fleets

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Support for the preparation of tenders
Do you need assistance with the preparation of tenders? No problem. We have made use of our experience and prepared valuable something for you.

With our tender support, we created a guideline that leads you through all critical points and requirements to make your proposal for tenders successful.

Invitation_Tender_Support_CMS_Title
To the Tender Support

For more support, feel free to use our contact form or contact our responsible Sales Manager.

Contact details:

Maximilian Haag

maximilian.haag@carmedialab.com

Tel. +49 7251 7240-161

Recorded Webinar:
Vehicle Health Monitoring in New York

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

CDTA, a company from New York reports about experiences and benefits.

A webinar was held with our Sales Manager Maximilian Haag together with the “Capital District Transportation Authority”, a regional mobility provider in Albany, New York. The company operates 275 fixed-route buses as well as paratransit vehicles, trolleybuses and electric vehicles. MOBILEvhm has improved the processes and communication there considerably, so that it has been easier to make the right decisions since then.   

The exciting webinar with a duration of only 23 minutes shows the challenges that have been overcome by using MOBILEvhm and lessons learned in managing the vehicle fleet. Watch the recorded webinar and feel free to ask us any questions.

Contact details:

Maximilian Haag

maximilian.haag@carmedialab.com

Tel. +49 7251 7240-161

Leipzig_E-Busse_Betriebshof

VDV 463 makes charge planning easy

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

The right interface determines your daily routine 
You don’t have time to plan and keep track of every charging process and every preconditioning request individually? Do you think it’s too time-consuming to constantly check the charge status of your buses? You are afraid that a bus will not make its tour with its current charge? Then VDV 463 might be just the solution you’re looking for, because it is a decisive interface to remove the stress around your daily operations.

The challenge with public transport becoming increasingly electric-powered lies with overall systems that enable comprehensive data exchange. Communication between the vehicle and the charging station (ISO 15118) and between the charging station and the Charge Management System (OCPP) has already been standardized, but there has not been a uniform format for the Charge Management System and the cross-modal pre-system. With a well-defined standard for communication, companies no longer have to develop their own solutions, which have long integration times and involve a lot of effort. This is exactly what VDV 463 is about: an interface between the Charge Management System and the Pre-Systems such as the Intermodal Transport Control System (ITCS) or the Depot Management System (BMS).

How VDV 463 works
How VDV 463 works

Functionality and application
The above mentioned systems using this interface acquire up-to-date data, which is continuously exchanged between the systems in both directions. The interface has been developed for three different use cases.

  1. Manage circulation and provide loading request from ITCS and BMS to Charge Management System: new request or charge request
  2. Control loading process and transfer information about loading processes from Charge Management System to ITCS
  3. Implement preconditioning request from Pre-System in Charge Management System and return current status

Your main advantages

  • Flexibility – open interface and thus no vendor lock-in
  • Ensure compatibility and thus simplify processes considerably

Click here for VDV 463:

https://knowhow.vdv.de/documents/463/

MOBILEcharge in use:

https://www.initse.com/dede/news-resources/knowledge-database/press-releases/2021/lade-und-depotmanagement-fuer-leipzigs-elektrobusse/

You can get to know our proven and widely used Charge Management System MOBILEcharge here:

https://www.carmedialab.com/en/products/public-transport/charge-management/

White paper:
How to implement charge management successfully

Written by skrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Benefit from our experience and implement an intelligent charging concept in your e-bus fleet. The following three factors will bring your project to success: Taking an iterative approach, maintaining close communication between those involved, ensuring that system components are interoperable, and having an experienced partner on hand will all play an essential role.

With its software application MOBILEcharge, CarMedialab is involved in a range of projects since 2019. More and more transport companies start to realize that managing a fleet with this new type of refuelling is so complex that it requires the help of an intelligent charging system.

Are you considering a transition to electric power for your bus fleet?

Read more in the white paper:

Whitepaper_ChargeManagement_Title
Download

Electric cleaning vehicles
ensure clean streets

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Controlled charging thanks to charge controller in Barcelona

Hydra Power uses CarMedialab’s charge controller in street cleaning vehicles. The system links internal control units, such as the battery management system via ISO 15118 and IEC 61851, with the charging infrastructure for the charging process. A special feature of the system is the integrated mobile radio interface, which can be used for remote diagnosis of the charging process, individual control units or via the many CAN interfaces of the entire vehicle.

Hydra Vehicles in Barcelona
These vehicles clean streets in Barcelona 

About “Cuidem Barcelona Residus” (Let’s take care of Barcelona’s waste)

Our customer Hydra Power develops, produces and markets hydraulic and pneumatic systems. In the Cuidem Barcelona Residus project, they are using the Flea as a charge controller. The project aims to improve the cleaning and maintenance of public places in the city.

To learn more about our software stacks for smart charging or our embedded systems, you can arrange a personal meeting here.

OCPP Standard ionity emobility

Why the OCPP standard is so important

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

Interfaces between vehicle, charging station and backend ensure further development of charging infrastructure.

When charging electric cars, several factors are important to ensure a fast and safe charging process. This must also fit seamlessly into the local energy supply. 

The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is the common language between charging stations and their management systems. It has become the de facto standard for electric car charging. When an electric car starts its charging process. A comprehensive data transfer begins between the charging point and the CPO/MSP backend system connected to it. User data can be transmitted to the contract partner as billing data for the charging current. The time frame and the amount of energy consumed for the respective charging process are also transferred.  

Vendor-neutral, license-free – the obvious solution for reliable and efficient management and control of the various tasks mentioned above. As a quality feature, the international partnership of over 160 electric mobility companies, Open Charge Alliance (OCA), added a certificate in 2019. This enables interested parties to immediately recognize whether a charging station is compatible with OCPP. CarMedialab is also a member of OCA. Currently, almost all leading manufacturers are looking to equip their charging stations with OCPP-compatible technology.  

What are the advantages of OCPP?
OCPP has a number of advantages over other standards and protocols. For example, charging stations can fully communicate with any OCPP-compliant CPO/MSC backend system, with data well protected. In this way, customers get a future-proof and cost-effective charging infrastructure. It can also be combined with additional software and hardware components from different manufacturers at any time. 

Up-to-dateness for use of all functionalities
It is important that the charging stations always use the latest version of the Open Charge Point protocol. This means that the core includes all services such as firmware management, smart charging, reservation, management of a local authorization list and remote triggering. All of this is provided with the current OCPP, which will be converted into an ISO standard in the future. 

All info about our software stack OCPP can be found here.

Get the Update: ISO 15118:20

Written by akrause on . Posted in Public Transport.

A new version is released and will be available from CarMedialab this summer

ISO 15118:20 is an important communication standard that offers many new possibilities for electric vehicles.

This can be divided into four major functionality sections: 

  1. AC for alternating current charging
  2. DC for direct current charging
  3. wireless power transfer (WPT) for inductive charging and
  4. Automatic Connecting Device Pantograph for charging communication via pantograph charging infrastructure

Bidirectional charging represents a sought-after technical advancement in the new standard. It enables both the charging of a vehicle and the feeding of energy back into the grid. 

software stack charging
The new software is soon available for charging stations

The CarMedialab release is already available from the end of June. Ask now!

Read more about ISO 15118 here:

https://www.carmedialab.com/en/products/smart-charging/software-stack-iso-15118/

Here you can find all information:

https://www.iso.org/standard/77845.html