Future-proof EV charger operating system for the e-mobiliy ecosystem

December 2, 2024

PIONIX BaseCamp enables highly integrated solutions, from EV charging to energy management and related e-mobility services.

PIONIX BaseCamp is a powerful, commercially viable operating system for EV charging stations, based on the open source technology EVerest. We have incorporated our know-how and extensive practical experience from many customer-specific developments. The complete BaseCamp package offers integration support, updates, maintenance and services.

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The software operating the charging station plays a crucial role for long-term economic utilisation. This is why choosing the right operating system is an important success criteria, both for Charge Point Operators (CPO) and charging station manufacturers. PIONIX BaseCamp is the ideal basis for reliable and future-proof EV charging products.

Marco, CEO and co-founder of PIONIX, sums it up: "EV charging should no longer be about reinventing the wheel. PIONIX BaseCamp provides a stable, future-proof foundation that allows manufacturers to focus on delivering a seamless charging experience."

Benefits PIONIX BaseCamp

PIONIX Basecamp is based on LF Energy project EVerest, one of the most widely used open-source firmware for charging stations. The widespread use guarantees a high degree of compatibility. PIONIX BaseCamp also offers numerous other benefits.

Benefits for charging station manufacturers

  • Fast time to market thanks to ready-to-use hardware drivers
  • Out-of-the-box support for new and updated industry standards
  • Interoperability through standardized implementation of industry standards
  • Free-up resources for the development of value-added functions
  • Calculable costs and efforts for maintenance and software support
  • Compatibility with current and future EV models
  • Compatibility with various backend systems
  • Customised support strategy (Service Level Agreement)
  • Fulfillment of legal requirements regarding cybersecurity (Cyber ​​Resiliance Act) and supply with software updates

Benefits for Charge Point Operators

  • Ensure high availability and usage rates through regular updates and security patches
  • Ready-to-use integrations for third-party hardware and services
  • Regular updates that prevent the premature “aging” of expensive hardware and ensure chargers retain their value
  • Low costs and efforts for maintenance and software support

Supported Standards and Charging Communication Protocols

Find a charging station, connect the plug and start charging: What sounds very simple is actually a complex process that is determined by different communication protocols and charging standards. PIONIX BaseCamp supports all relevant industry standards and its continuous development ensures that further standards are being added and new protocol versions are supported.

Here is a selection of the standards supported by BaseCamp

  • IEC 61851-1:2017/SAE J1772 PWM Basic Charging
  • 1ph/3ph switching for solar applications
  • ISO 15118-2:2014
  • OCSP support (RFC 6960)
  • Plug and Charge (Authorization and Certificate Installation)
  • Pause from EV side / wake-up with BCB toggle
  • Stop from EVSE side / restart from EVSE side
  • VAS:  SAE J2847/2 bidirectional extensions
  • DIN SPEC 70121:2014 DC
  • ISO 15118-3:2015: SLAC
  • Type 1 J1772, Type 2, CCS Combo Type 1, CCS Combo Type 2, NACS/Tesla

Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP)

OCPP is a universal, globally used protocol that defines how charging stations and a central management system communicate with each other. If a charging station is compatible with OCPP, it can work with different systems. The best thing about OCPP certification: charging stations can continue to operate even if a provider or operator is no longer able to do so, e.g. due to insolvency.

Support for OCPP 1.6J with various profiles including:

  • Core
  • Firmware Management
  • Local Auth List Management
  • Reservation
  • Smart Charging
  • Remote Trigger

The following optional whitepaper extensions are also supported:

  • OCPP 1.6 Security Whitepaper (3rd edition)
  • ISO 15118 Plug and Charge with OCPP 1.6
  • OCPP and California Pricing Requirements

Supported profile functions OCPP 2.0.1

  • Core
  • Advanced Security
  • Local Authorization List management
  • Smart Charging (nur  K1-K10)
  • Advanced User Interface

PIONIX BaseCamp is actively being developed and new features are being added.

ISO 15118

The ISO 15118 standard describes the bidirectional communication between electric vehicles and charging stations. It enables functions for Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Plug and Charge (PnC). Among others, PIONIX BaseCamp supports functionalities for Plug and Charge (Authorization, certificate installation); starting, pausing and resuming the charging process; bidirectional charging.

Calibration Law (Eichrecht)

The calibration law makes sure that charging processes are billed correctly, which helps to keep things reliable and transparent. PIONIX BaseCamp currently supports these functions:

  • Starting and stopping the charging session (Power Meter)
  • Transferring data in OCMF format (Open Charge Metering Format) to the Charging Station Management System (CSMS)
  • Recovering the charging session after power interruption and/or communication failure

Simplify and accelerate certification processes

Certifications show that the standard requirements have been met and therefore increase interoperability. However, getting certified can be time-consuming and costly. With PIONIX BaseCamp, companies can simplify and accelerate certification processes, such as:

  • Hubject Plug and Charge EVSE Check
  • Preparation for the OCPP certification by fully fulfilling the official test specifications defined in the OCPP Compliance Test Tools (OCTT)

Ready-to-use Drivers for selected Hardware

Building a solid hardware concept takes a lot of know-how and, most importantly, reliable driver software. Developing and supporting these takes time, money, and resources. The drivers in PIONIX BaseCamp are developed by PIONIX and well-known manufacturers such as Huawei, AST International, and LEM.

Below a list of hardware drivers which are included in PIONIX BaseCamp.

Charging Controller phyVERSO-EVCS

The phyVERSO-EVCS charging controller from Phytec is based on series-tested and industrial-grade circuits and components and comes with a special evaluation version of PIONIX BaseCamp. This enables direct and easy testing or use of the solution for the development of various types of charging stations:

  • 1 Port AC chargers or 1 Port DC chargers
  • Dual Port AC chargers or Dual Port DC chargers
  • Dual Port AC & DC chargers

Insulation Monitoring

  • Bender ISOMETER isoCHA425HV

DC Meter

  • AST DC650
  • Acrel DJSF1352 RN
  • DZG GSH01
  • Carlo Gavazzi DCT1
  • LEM DCBM400/600

AC Meter

  • Iskra WM3M4 & WM3M4C
  • Eastron SDM72DM, SDM72DM-V2, SDM230, SDM630-V2
  • Klefr 693x - 694x

DC Power Supply

  • InfyPower BEG1K075G
  • UUGreenPower UR100X0
  • Huawei R100040Gx
  • Huawei V100R023C10
  • SCU DPM1000/30

Regular Software Updates

Over-the-Air-Updates

Over-the-air updates (OTA) allow software and/or firmware to be updated via a wireless interface. Updates to the software, along with bug fixes and security patches, bring new functions to charging stations and make it possible to meet future legal and customer-specific requirements. PIONIX BaseCamp offers several options to provide updates:

  • OTA via RAUC (D-Bus)
  • OTA via functionalities defined in OCPP
  • Optional: OTA via PIONIX Cloud

Security

Charging stations need to be secure because they have a constant internet connection so they can get software updates and maintenance. That means they must meet all the legal cybersecurity requirements. PIONIX BaseCamp comes with all the security features you could need, including:

  • TLS support for ISO 15118-2
  • TLS support for OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1  (including Security Profile 3)
  • TPM 2.0 support for OCPP Private Key Storage
  • Signed and/or encrypted RAUC updates

Modular Architecture and Robust Interfaces (APIs)

PIONIX BaseCamp uses the modular concept of the open source technology EVerest and expands it for more flexibility and stability. This allows you to flexibly put together function modules for different application scenarios and access them via robust interfaces (APIs). This enables the development of scalable solutions and the decoupling of customer-specific adaptations. As a result, the implementation and maintenance of customer-specific functionality is simplified as this can be done without affecting the rest of the system.

Included Connector to PIONIX Cloud

PIONIX Cloud is a powerful solution for the operation and maintenance of charging stations. PIONIX BaseCamp includes access to basic functions. Compared to OCPP, PIONIX Cloud offers more extensive maintenance and diagnostic options. It enables the analysis and evaluation of log files and hardware status data in order to detect malfunctions at an early stage and ensure the trouble-free operation of the charging stations.