A charging architecture could help Indian fleets run many EV chargers from one central system, reducing repeated electronics at each charging point.
PhilbrickEV has revealed that it is developing a distributed architecture for fleet electric vehicle (EV) charging that could allow multiple charging dispensers to share a central electronics and control system, instead of replicating the same hardware in each charger. In a recent interaction, Jaynil Patel, Founder of PhilbrickEV, said the design is aimed at charging sites with 20–30 dispensers, including bus and airport fleet charging facilities.
In the planned architecture, a central Linux-based system would handle the main power electronics, communication, and control functions, while smaller modules at each charging dispenser would connect to the central unit over Ethernet. Additional dispensers could be added by connecting more Ethernet lines, without redesigning the complete charging system or changing its software.
“The approach could reduce the electronics needed at each dispenser. In conventional fleet charging systems, each charger may need its own communication hardware, SIM card, meter, and other electronics. With our proposed architecture, these functions can be handled centrally, instead of being duplicated at every charging point,” said Jaynil.
This means the charging dispenser could become a simpler part of the overall system, while the main electronics sit at a central location. The approach is intended for sites where many vehicles need to charge at the same time.
Buses and airport fleets are among the potential applications. For operators, the architecture could also make it easier to add charging dispensers without installing the same main electronics at every parking position.
“We are currently working on the PCB for the new architecture. The chip for the Ethernet-based system has already been designed and is ready for production, but the complete system is still under development and has not yet been launched as a standalone product,” said Jaynil.
If the planned architecture is deployed, fleet charging could move away from using a redundant complete charger at every parking position towards a central power and control system serving multiple dispensers.
