EVCAN | Reliable EV Charging Solutions for a Connected Future
Apr 29, 2025
Managed Charging:
The Hidden Engine Behind Scalable EV Charging Infrastructure
Why charge coordination is critical to the electric vehicle future.
Global economic and political uncertainty notwithstanding, the nation’s wheels are already in motion, and they are rolling inexorably toward an electric vehicle (EV) future.
Now numbering about five million, there will likely be over 30 million EVs on US roadways by 2030, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To support this, the country’s approximately 200,000 charging stations (public level 2 and direct-current) will need to expand to about 28 million.
Ramping up the number of charging ports is only part of the story, however. Ensuring that charging infrastructure is deployed in ways that are accessible, convenient, affordable, and sustainable for the driver and charging port operator/owner is the other part – and arguably the linchpin to successful auto sector decarbonization.
Providing sufficient charging infrastructure to accommodate 30 million EVs drivers will come with a unique set of challenges. Careful coordination is needed to ensure that electric grids have ample power available for all customers – not just EVs – when drivers plug in. Other key considerations include preventing significant cost increases for utility ratepayers and avoiding reliance on outmoded, polluting generating plants to meet heightened demand for electricity.
Widespread adoption of EVs depends not only on having enough charging stations, but on managing how and when charging occurs. Effective managed charging is the key that will drive success.
Benefits of managed charging programs include enabling greater grid reliability, increased use of renewable power, and cost savings for electric ratepayers by minimizing the need for costly power distribution upgrades. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory defines EV charge management as “a variety of approaches to balance the needs of the EV owner and the electric grid…controlling the amount of power exchanged between chargers and EVs to meet customers’ charging needs while also responding to external power demand or pricing signals to provide load management, resilience, or other benefits to customers and the electric grid.”
While there are various types of managed charging programs (see National Grid’s or PG&E’s for examples), a common thread is the shifting of EV charging to off-peak hours, which lowers demand on the grid and enables utilities to better integrate EV load into their systems. This can also help utilities avoid the use of more carbon-intensive “peaking” power generation (i.e., plants powered by coal, oil and natural gas) and increase use of renewable energy by aligning charging schedules with times when resources such as solar and wind are more abundant.
The Smart Electric Power Alliance has recommended that all utilities “consider adopting some form of managed charging in the near future to prepare for higher levels of EV charging and build processes and experience deploying these solutions.”
At the basic level, managed charging programs use incentives or time-of-use electricity pricing to manage when individual cars or fleets of vehicles are charged. More advanced methods use various combinations of hardware and software to ensure coordinated EV charging that meets the needs of vehicle owners while guarding against overloading the electric grid and making the best use of existing infrastructure. Some systems use telematics technology that allows fleet managers to monitor vehicle battery condition and vehicle usage patterns to schedule charging times based on vehicle location and needs.
Managed charging can involve intelligent charge management systems that connect EV chargers to other devices, networked charging units that communicate with each other to adjust power levels, alert systems that notify customers about charging or operational issues, and much more.
Navigating these options in a rapidly expanding and evolving field can be daunting, leading to delays in getting to the essential goal of scalable, reliable, safe and accessible EV charging solutions.
This is where the Electric Vehicle Charging Accessibility Network (EVCAN) comes in. EVCAN’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of reliable and connected EV charging across North America through collaboration with industry experts and stakeholder advocates to develop and provide access to impartial product information, tools and resources. We view managed charging as a crucial instrument for accelerating deployment of the charging infrastructure necessary to meet the oncoming surge in EV ownership, as well as state, community and corporate decarbonization goals.
EVCAN is an initiative of Efficiency Forward, a non-profit with over a decade of experience assisting utilities in promoting adoption of energy-efficient commercial lighting, largely through product evaluation and maintenance of qualified products lists that provide confidence in features ranging from product quality and sustainability to cybersecurity and interoperability. As such, the EVCAN team is uniquely positioned to work with utilities and other partners on issues ranging from the complexity of industry standards to equipment performance.
EVCAN evaluates, qualifies and lists the software and related hardware that managed charging programs need, bringing a high level of consistency and clarity on standards and implementation practices. Working with a consortium of key stakeholders (utilities, states, NGOs and industry), we aim to drive consistency in EV charging solution performance to accelerate deployment of reliable and connected EV charging. Learn more about EVCAN’s first Specification on Charge Station Management Systems (CSMS) and plans for a CSMS qualified product list here.
Reliable and Connected EV Charging Starts with the Charge Management System
EVCAN is pleased to release the first version of a Charge Station Management System (CSMS) Technical Specification. This Specification will guide screening for an upcoming CSMS qualified product list.