ChargePoint has announced the launch of a new ChargePoint 4.0 platform for EV drivers and charging station owners. ChargePoint 4.0 is a free upgrade for all ChargePoint account holders and is now live for all Chargepoint network member station owners and EV drivers.
For station owners, ChargePoint 4.0 incorporates new features including a patent-pending ChargePoint Connections platform, support for multi-site deployments, and additional pricing models for charging services. The 4.0 update incorporates an advanced analytics engine for reporting and analysing key charging station metrics, and a new administration model allowing station owners to outsource some or all of the tasks of managing their charging stations to third parties. New pricing options in flexible billing for ChargePoint 4.0 include combined hourly and kWh pricing (the latter only where allowed by US legislation) and the ability to change the hourly rate if a driver is plugged in longer than a specified period.
EV drivers using ChargePoint 4.0 can now access dashboards to help find stations, plan trips and track usage, while ChargePoint Connections allows them to connect with a list of network members and access special offers and discounts.
For organisations considering offering EV charging services, ChargePoint is introducing ‘ChargePoint Test Drive’, a free seven-day trial.
ChargePoint, part of the charging station manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, runs an online network of independently-owned charging stations now operating in more than 14 countries and open to all charging station manufacturers. ChargePoint supplies turnkey charging services for charging station operators’ parking facilities. ChargePoint locations can be found online and are included in ChargePoint apps for iPhone and Android.
Globally, charging stations in the ChargePoint network are currently dispensing over 706mWh of energy per month, with EV drivers plugging in for more than 4,100 charging sessions per day. Network members in the US include Google and SAP, utilities such as Orlando Utilities Commission and Austin Energy, and municipalities such as City of San Francisco and City of New York. BMW announced in late September that it is using the network for its San Francisco car-sharing trial using Active-E models.
