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Houck, Kaleb

Publications and source records attributed to Houck, Kaleb.

Customer-Focused Key Performance Indicators for Electric Vehicle Charging

To systematically improve the public charging experience, EV charging industry stakeholders need to define and measure it precisely. Many stakeholders currently measure aspects of the charging experience, but they typically employ metrics that are either operational in nature, such as charger uptime and mean time between failures, or composite customer satisfaction indices. To improve the customer experience most effectively, the industry needs metrics that define the charging experience from the perspective of the customer, not business operations. Furthermore, industry practitioners need granular metrics to know what specific aspects of the charging experience need improvement. This report defines such customer-focused metrics, called key performance indicators (KPIs).

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Implementation Guide for Minimum Required Error Codes in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

With the growing adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs), there is an increasing need for a reliable EV charging infrastructure. To help meet this need, the report “Recommendations for Minimum Required Error Codes for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure,” recommends a set of minimum required error codes (MRECs) and their functional and responsibility classification. Charger manufacturers, charging station operators, EV manufacturers, and other stakeholders in the North American market are encouraged to uniformly adopt the MRECs to enhance EV charging error reporting, interpretation, and diagnostics. This document serves as a guide to enable uniform implementation of the MRECs using the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Recommendations for Minimum Required Error Codes for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

OCPP protocol manages the interaction between the EVSE and its respective back-end communication network. It plays a pivotal role in both error reporting and troubleshooting, carried out primarily through the CSMS. OCPP defines both standard error codes and a flexible framework for creating and communicating custom error codes. The OCPI protocol orchestrates the communication between different backhaul communication networks, incorporating the exchange of error codes. These error codes are instrumental in pinpointing and rectifying issues that can surface prior to, during, or after charging operations, fortifying the reliability and resilience of the EV charging infrastructure. The flexibility offered by the OCPP and OCPI frameworks through the introduction of custom error codes also creates its own set of challenges. While the integration of custom error codes allows for enhanced granularity, it also introduces inconsistencies and fragmentation within the overarching diagnostic reporting system. To address the challenges with custom error codes this report proposes a set of Minimum Required Error Codes (MRECs) for streamlined error reporting, interpretability, and diagnostics. Recommendations in this report are based on independent analysis of custom error codes from multiple stakeholders within the EV charging ecosystem. For better error resolution, this report also assigns one or more entities responsible for the resolution of every mentioned error code. Finally, a functional classification for each mentioned error code is also identified to describe the nature of the error. In summary, the purpose of this document is to simplify the troubleshooting process and increase charging reliability for all EV users. This report serves as a recommendation for industry stakeholders, encouraging a unified methodology to define, transmit, and interpret common error codes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗