Hubject and partners present reservation solution for electric commercial vehicles

The pilot project, which was developed in the concept phase with the support of charging point operators (CPOs) OMV, Smatrics and Citywatt, supports the OCPI 2.3 booking module and at the same time addresses the specific operational requirements of CPOs and EMPs, according to Hubject. These include, for example, ‘evolving responsibilities in the booking process, contractual and tariff considerations, and the handling of CDRs in an open ecosystem’.

The charging of heavy electric commercial vehicles is one of the major topics at the Intercharge Network Conference (ICNC) organised by Hubject in Berlin. While charging electric trucks at dedicated charging stations in depots is primarily a question of financing and connection power, and is already technically feasible today, public charging adds another component that is important in practice: predictability. For the optimal use of electric trucks, charging during statutory breaks is crucial – and reserving a charging space for a specific period of time can help with planning.

Individual projects and companies are already working on such solutions, including project partner FRYTE, as we described in more detail in this article. However, the solution presented and demonstrated on site at the launch of the ICNC goes one step further: as it uses the OCPI 2.3 booking module, cross-network reservations are possible. ‘Unlike existing single-network solutions, this creates a basis for fleet operators to book charging time slots with multiple providers via a single interface,’ says Hubject.

In other words, with this solution, the partners want to provide the basis for a reservation system that allows charging time slots at charging stations from different operators to be reserved via a single access point. ‘Fleet operators need guaranteed charging availability, truck-specific infrastructure data and seamless integrations,’ writes Hubject. This is not the case with current charging solutions, which were primarily designed for electric cars – while pressure on logistics companies to electrify their operations is increasing.

As FRYTE emphasises in its own statement, this is not just about public charging. Both operators of public truck charging points and depot chargers are set to benefit from better utilisation of their charging points – depot chargers can then be made available to third parties when their own trucks do not need them.

Hubject operates the Reservation Hub, ‘which acts as a B2B marketplace and facilitates both technical and contractual communication between all parties.’ Bosch Road Services acts as a booking management service provider for CPO, establishing the technical connections and responsible for reservation processing and POI provision, as well as possible integration with CPO’s charging point management and access management system. FRYTE participates as a fleet operating system and EMP by integrating reservation and planning functionality into logistics systems to enable efficient route and charging point planning for logistics companies. And Shell subsidiary SBRS acts as a CPO, contributing real-world insights and truck-relevant POI data from its charging stations.

“Truck charging and booking are mission critical services to be established – in a very complex eMobility ecosystem – new actors, new roles, and logistics-grade requirements,” says Christian Hahn, CEO of Hubject. “Together with our partners, we are testing an interoperable, hub-based solution to clarify responsibilities, reduce integration effort across the ecosystem, and increase scalability. This is especially relevant for commercial fleets with their strong focus on Total Cost of Ownership.”

“We connect the needs of fleets with the reality of charging point availability and accessibility, thereby laying the groundwork for more efficient logistics for tomorrow,” explained Niels Christmann, Senior Business Development Manager of Truck Charging at Bosch Road Services. Max Zähringer, CEO of FRYTE, added: “Interoperable booking systems are key for logistics, ensuring efficient dispatching and resilient operation of eTrucks. FRYTE supports this initiative with Hubject and Bosch Road Services to speeding up the eTruck rollout by enabling charge optimization and booking directly out of the logistics software systems.”

Just before the start of the ICNC, Hubject announced another innovation: Hubject is joining forces with the EVRoaming Foundation (EVRF) to further advance scalability for the global EV market. For the EVRoaming Foundation, this means that the global OCPI standard is now finally recognised and endorsed by all major roaming hubs worldwide.

hubject.com (reservations), hubject.com (EVRoaming Foundation)

This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.