Insights

Engineering notes on EV charging, load management and site power

Plain-language guides for strata committees, fleet and workshop managers, facility teams and electrical contractors: how to charge more cars on the supply a site already has, what the standards and tariffs mean, and how the engineering works.

Apartments & strata23 October 202613 min read

EV charging for apartments and strata: a capacity-first guide

An apartment building's electricity supply, not its car spaces, decides how many EVs it can charge. Measure real demand first, set per-phase limits, and share the spare capacity with load management: this guide covers the plan, the maths, cost recovery and the Australian rules.

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Integration23 October 202613 min read

EV charger BMS integration: Modbus, MQTT and BACnet in practice

Integrate EV charging with a building management system by letting the BMS read EV power, per-phase current, charger status and alarms, and at most write a site cap that the on-site charging controller enforces. Modbus TCP is the usual path, BACnet normally needs a gateway, and MQTT suits telemetry.

Fleet & workshops23 October 202611 min read

Fleet depot and workshop EV charging on a limited supply

Size depot charging from energy, not charger count: daily kilometres times kWh per km gives each vehicle's nightly need, and the dwell window turns that into average power. At most depots and workshops the supply is the limit, so measure the non-EV load and share what is left.

Load management23 October 202613 min read

Hardware-agnostic EV load management: what “OCPP compatible” means

Hardware-agnostic load management controls any charger that implements OCPP smart charging, not just one brand. Here is what OCPP 1.6J actually standardises, what it leaves to each charger, and what to ask before you call a charger compatible.

Demand & tariffs23 October 202611 min read

Maximum demand and EV charging: what a demand cap is worth

Network demand charges bill a site's single highest 15- or 30-minute reading, often over a rolling 12 months, so one unmanaged evening of EV charging can set the charge for a year. Here is how Australian networks measure demand, and how to set and value a demand cap.

Integration23 October 202613 min read

OCPP proxy or on-site CSMS? Adding load management to a charging site

An OCPP proxy sits between chargers and an existing cloud CSMS so a site controller can add load management; an on-site CSMS replaces the cloud link instead. Here is how each works at message level, what happens when the internet drops, and how to choose.