Remote controlling your charging station

Does anyone have an internet controllable charging station?

This would allow you to control the access to your charging station via the internet.
Most chargers are located in the garage which limits access.
But if the public does have access, this can lead to unauthorized use.

Example: You live in a condo complex. While you’re at work a guy comes home from work every day for lunch. He parks in your spot and plugs in. After an hour he leaves. You would never know this was going on unless one of the neighbors told you.
One method is to turn off the power to the charging station.
The second is to have a way of locking up the charging cord.
The third method is to use the internet to activate or de-activate the charging station.
Now most of these types stations on the market are for commercial network use. (Blink, Charge Point)

The new generation of charging stations is now offering remote controllability. Yes there may be app for that soon. You may be able to remotely enable, or shut down the charging station. It could also send you a text message if someone is using the station. It could also send you a monthly usage reports. You may be able to add a RFID card reader.

If you own a Siemens VersiCharge EV Charging Station you have possibility of controlling the charging station. There is a 4 screw terminal block. Two of the terminals when shorted will disable charging. The other hard contact terminals let you know when charging is occurring. Siemens added this feature for interfacing with a home automation system.

A company called Delta has plans of bringing network connected charging stations to market sometime this year.
http://www.deltaww.com/Products/Cat...806&PID=289&hl=en-US&Name=Delta EV AC Charger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2KU1t_mhek&feature=player_embedded

The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is an application protocol for communication between EV charging stations and a central management system.

If you have your charging station listed on plug share. The EV driver would log into plug share, and then find your charging station. Call you to get permission to use the charging station. You could then use the cell phone app to enable the charging station. You could also monitor the charging station remotely so you would know when the charging was complete.

If you have further information could you please share it?

jeffand said:

Does anyone have an internet controllable charging station?

Click to expand...

My understanding is that if the FFE doesn't receive a "hot" pilot signal upon plug insertion, the FFE will disconnect from the charger. However, if the charger later becomes "hot" perhaps the FFE will wake up as if the plug had just been inserted. I would find out about this possible wake-up before I would invest in a remote power charging station.

Not an issue Unplugged - My charger is plugged into a remote controlled outlet (insteon). I was using it to fine tune the value charge during the summer.

It looks like the N3RD may work as a remote for the siemens versicharge EV charging station. This uses the I phone app and the N3RD . If you search youtube you will find a video were they use the N3RD to open a garge door. Use one of the relay outputs and tie it to terminals 1 and 2 of the versicharge. The relay output terminals 3 and 4 of the versicharge tie to the digital input of the N3RD.
With this configuration you can turn the charging station on and off. You can also tell if the charging station is in use.

I think this could be done with an existing EVSE using a z-wave 240v relay or if the charging was done with 120V easily with a z-wave 110V receptacle. Either one could then be enabled or disabled with your smartphone. Something like this (EDIT - this may be similar to what GladeStorm was referring to):

http://www.orchestratedhome.com/shop/pc/ELK-Insteon-or-Z-Wave-Heavy-Duty-60A-Relay-Contactor-p93.htm

It appears that the GE Watt station may also have some connectivity that's not documented.