ChargeLab has launched its public API for electric vehicle (EV) charger management and developer program to fast-track adoption of the API. Through this new program, third-party developers can control EV chargers and access charging data for the purposes of integrating ChargeLab’s core charger management capabilities within their own platforms and apps.
ChargeLab builds software to operate and optimize EV charging equipment. The company’s charging station management system (CSMS) empowers fleets, building operators and utilities to deploy large numbers of EV chargers and manage them as an intelligent network. ChargeLab does not build any hardware. Instead, the company partners with EV charger manufacturers like ABB, Phihong, United Chargers, Siemens and Tritium. ChargeLab and these manufacturers form part of an open EV charging ecosystem driven by the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP).
Every OCPP-compliant EV charger interacts with the cloud in a slightly different way. Historically, this has made it costly and difficult for businesses to integrate EV charging into their existing fleet, parking or building management systems. Now, developers can leverage ChargeLab’s single set of APIs to easily add any OCPP EV charger to their own platform or app.
“Our focus is on building the best core platform to connect and mange EV chargers,” states Ehsan Mokhtari, CTO of ChargeLab. “For advanced capabilities, we expect our customers, partners, and new third-party developers to build on top of our public APIs. That’s why we’ve focused on a modular microservice architecture, making it easy to expose any part of our system – from charger status to pricing and power management.”
“We’ve already opened our APIs to fleet managers, parking operators and smart building platforms who are building on top of ChargeLab’s core EV charger management expertise,” mentions CEO Zak Lefevre. “What’s most exciting is what new developers will dream up once they get their hands on these APIs.”
ChargeLab’s API factory also allows for other third-party integrations such as CRM, accounting or environmental impact software.