E-mobility is a central building block for sustainable mobility. To make this a success, we must improve the charging experience which today frustrates many people. That's no surprise, because:
- no matter when, too many chargers are inoperable
- too many chargers interrupt a transaction
- too many chargers are not future-proof in the sense of new innovations and features
The question is: How can we do better?
At Pionix, we believe that e-mobility should be powered by open source software. What slows it down are: lack of compatibility between the different vendors; insufficient implementation of relevant industry standards (such as OCPP, ISO 15118 or IEC-61851); slow pace of innovation; high development costs and effort on the part of the vendors.
This is why we initiated EVerest, a freely accessible, standardized, holistic firmware solution for the EV charging infrastructure, developed by a fast-growing global and industrial community under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation Energy. The benefits are clear:
- A common code base ensures compatibility
- More time and resources for real USPs and innovations
- Easy maintenance
- Fast updating and bug fixing
Together is better
But we can't achieve our goals alone. This is why we are constantly expanding our network with partners who share our ideas and visions. We are thrilled to welcome Qwello to the EVerest community. Qwello an innovative, full service public charging operator with a vision to create easy access and easy to use solutions to contribute to an enhanced new urban e-mobility.
TIPP: Learn more and watch the EVerest Technical Steering Committee (TSC) recording on YouTube
Qwello has a number of ambitious goals with EVerest. In 2024, Qwello wants to run all of their chargers on EVerest. As a public charging operator, there are of course requirements that need to be fulfilled, namely high uptimes and flawless operations. Qwello believes that the EVerest project's objectives are philosophically aligned. To facilitate these goals, Qwello will contribute support for the Rust programming language into EVerest. Known for its rigorous error-checking during development, Rust significantly reduces bugs and increases system reliability. A match made in heaven for the EVerest project.
A sign of trust from both Qwello as well as the EVerest community was the selection of Holger Rapp, CTO at Qwello, as full member of EVerest’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) at the last meeting (October 26, 2023). “We are excited to welcome Qwello and Holger. His expertise and knowledge are real benefits for the community and the whole open EV charging landscape,” states Marco Möller, Co-Founder and CEO at PIONIX and Chair of the TSC.
Open Source has more to offer
Originally, open source described a specific approach to creating software (open source means that the source code can be inspected, modified and enhanced by anyone). Today, when we talk about open source, there is a whole set of broader values that are connected to it: open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development.
For Qwello, this was essential for the decision to join the EVerest project, too. “People who do open source software want others to check the code, learn from it, improve it, and try out new ideas,” explains Holger Rapp, CTO at Qwello. To join the EVerest project is therefore not only a technological decision for Qwello. It’s a strong signal to attract the right people who share the passion to change mobility for the better.
Holger puts it in a nutshell: “We are an innovative company and are driven to revolutionize the e-mobility charging experience. In order to succeed, we need to abandon the well-trodden paths and break new ground. If you feel called, Qwello is exactly the right place for you”.
If you are now curious about how life at Qwello looks like, you can learn more about it here [qwello.eu] and here [Instagram].
