CitrineOS provides essential backend software for swiftly implementing EV charge management systems that adhere to Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) 2.0.1 and National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) standards.
S44 has unveiled its open-source project, CitrineOS, to revolutionise the electric vehicles (EV) charging landscape. The project represents a significant step forward in addressing the critical need for robust back-end software to rapidly deploy EV charge management systems compliant with Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) 2.0.1 and National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) standards. This modular software promises enhanced interoperability between charging equipment, vehicles, and networks, offering a global solution to a global challenge.
As the Biden administration sets ambitious targets, aiming for 500,000 public EV chargers and half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, reliability and consistency in charging experiences are paramount. Concerningly, even in cities with high EV adoption rates, just 72% of fast charging stations are operational, falling far short of the 97-99% uptime required for federal funding eligibility. The recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates a substantial $7.5 billion to EV charging infrastructure, while the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) discretionary grant program supplements this with an additional $2.5 billion. However, EV charge management software must be OCPP 2.0.1 compliant to access these funds by February 28, 2024.
Julian Offermann, co-founder and CEO of S44, emphasised the urgency: “Even with an experienced team, you’re looking at six to eight months to build NEVI-compliant EV charge management software from scratch. With CitrineOS, you can do it in a month. Democratising access to the software is the only way to be fast enough to hit the state and federal certification deadlines.”
The software is now available on GitHub, welcoming many stakeholders, from EV enthusiasts to global charge point operators, fleet managers, and car manufacturers. This open-source platform enables users to provision new charging equipment, complete charging transactions, remotely control charging equipment, monitor charger equipment uptime, power levels, and degradation, and manage energy consumption and throughput.
Cliff Fietzek, a board member of CharIN North America, highlighted the significance of CitrineOS: “Reliable, standardised, and open back-end communication is key for commercial, fleet, public, and autonomous electric vehicle charging infrastructure. CitrineOS is a game changer for this communication, built natively on the latest charge point protocol standard, OCPP 2.0.1. Now anyone can leverage the open-source libraries to get to work quickly—to bring even legacy networks to OCPP 2.0.1 compliance.”
By fostering industry-wide collaboration on a single code base, the project promises to enhance the reliability of back-end communication for EV charging infrastructure across the board. Delve deeper into the potential of the software and its role in fortifying and expediting global EV charge management. The company invites charge point operators, fleet managers, automotive OEMs, and EV enthusiasts to actively engage in this transformative project.
