LinkT&B Editorial Team
Managing company EV charging takes work for drivers as well as the people who maintain usage records and track costs. OneChargeKey identifies the vehicle connected to the charging cable. Integration with a management system can reduce repeated actions and manual copying of records, making everyday charging easier to manage.
Contents
- What work does charging add as a company’s EV fleet grows?
- Use OneChargeKey to reduce repeated actions and manual charging logs
- Track charging costs by vehicle, including other branches and partner companies
- Consider adding OneChargeKey to your existing EVs and chargers
- Experience OneChargeKey at the LinkT&B R&D Center
What work does charging add as a company’s EV fleet grows?
For EVs used in deliveries or sales, the aim is straightforward: plug in after returning to base and prepare for the next day. Drivers need an easy way to charge, and managers need a clear record of how the equipment is used.
Consider an operation in which drivers present a card, use an app or write a vehicle number in a log each time they charge. If managers then check those records and total each vehicle’s charging costs at month end, more vehicles and more sessions mean more work for both groups.
Having the equipment record which vehicle charged, where it charged and how much energy it used can reduce driver entries and the work of checking and copying records. Reducing that work for both users and managers is the starting point for considering OneChargeKey.
Use OneChargeKey to reduce repeated actions and manual charging logs
OneChargeKey, which LinkT&B is developing, identifies the vehicle connected to the charging cable. Linking that result to charger controls allows preregistered vehicles to charge and can reduce the need to use a card or app each time.
A management system can then record the vehicle’s identity together with the charging location, time and energy use. This reduces the need to enter vehicle numbers manually or copy log entries into a spreadsheet.
OneChargeKey identifies the registered vehicle, and the integrated charger starts charging. Repeated authentication steps and log entries can be reduced.
The management system keeps each vehicle’s charging location, time and energy use. Those records can also be used to calculate costs.
OneChargeKey identifies the vehicle; charging records and cost calculations use integration with a management system. LinkT&B reviews your equipment and operations, then designs an installation around the repeated actions and manual copying you want to reduce.
Track charging costs by vehicle, including other branches and partner companies
Suppose a company car based at Branch A charges while visiting Branch B. Branch B pays the electricity supplier, but Branch A’s car used the energy. A company that manages income and expenses by branch may want to reallocate that charging cost to Branch A.
Registering each vehicle and its home branch in advance lets the management system use OneChargeKey’s identification result to record that Branch A’s car charged at Branch B. The system can use the charging amount and rate to total the cost payable by the vehicle’s home branch.
a charger at Branch B
20 kWh at Branch B
charged internally to Branch A
Branch A pays ¥600
In the diagram, Branch A’s car charges 20 kWh at Branch B. At an assumed internal rate of ¥30/kWh, the charging cost is ¥600. Because the record includes the vehicle’s home branch, accountants have less need to read each log entry and look up the branch again.
If electricity rates differ between sites, calculations can use the rate at the charging location. A company-wide internal rate is another option. Integration with the accounting system can pass itemized expense-transfer data calculated under the company’s rules.
For vehicles operated by partner companies or franchise businesses, linking each vehicle to its billing account can also support company-level statements. Staff can review compiled records instead of identifying the owner or operator of each vehicle again.
Handle company, employee and visitor charging costs separately
The same charger may serve company cars charged to a branch, employee cars paid for by the company or employee, and visitors or partners who charge for free or are billed. Registering each vehicle’s affiliation and user category in the management system can reduce repeated staff decisions and copying into separate forms.
The table gives examples of integrating vehicle identification with records, reporting and billing under the company’s cost rules.
| Vehicle | Example reporting or cost treatment | Manual work reduced |
|---|---|---|
| Company vehicle based on site | Include in its department’s vehicle expenses | Extracting each vehicle’s energy use from logs |
| Company vehicle from another branch | Total costs for reallocation to its home branch | Checking the home branch and calculating the transfer |
| Partner company vehicle | Prepare itemized statements by company or contract | Matching vehicles to billing accounts and copying billing details |
| Visitor vehicle | Separate free and paid use, and connect paid sessions to payment processing | Checking use and calculating fees at reception |
| Employee’s private vehicle | Separate company-funded use, such as an employee benefit, from employee-paid use | Separating company-car use and calculating individual reimbursement amounts |
Registering the company’s cost rules in the system can reduce dependence on individual staff decisions and personal spreadsheets. Where billing and payment are included, the integration is designed around the relevant contracts, rates and metering requirements for billing.
You may want employees to use the chargers while giving company vehicles priority for business needs. If vehicle identification lets the management system distinguish company cars from employees’ private cars, integration with charging schedules and priority controls can be assessed. The aim is to meet company-vehicle charging needs while making the equipment available to employees too.
Reduce repeated reception procedures for visiting drivers
Consider a visitor who must go to reception, enter a vehicle number in a log and pay before returning to the charger. Repeating those steps for regularly visiting partner vehicles adds work for both the driver and reception staff.
OneChargeKey can be integrated with charging authorization and payment systems. With the terms and payment method registered in advance, the operation can be designed to start subsequent charging sessions using vehicle identification. Linking the charging record to the billing account can reduce repeated registration and reception procedures.
Consider adding OneChargeKey to your existing EVs and chargers
If you already use EVs and chargers, you may want to keep that equipment. LinkT&B reviews the vehicle and charger combinations, current operating procedures and management system, then proposes how OneChargeKey could be added.
Tell us whether your priority is fewer authentication steps for drivers, consolidated charging records, or integration with billing and accounting. We can identify the equipment and system connections needed, including an approach that starts at one branch.
Keep charging records together as Plug & Charge adoption grows
As more vehicles and chargers support Plug & Charge, companies may continue using existing equipment alongside them. Keeping usage records in a common format makes that mixed fleet easier to manage.
ISO 15118 Plug & Charge lets the vehicle and charger communicate and authenticate a charging-service contract using digital certificates. It requires support from the vehicle and charger, together with authentication infrastructure.[1]
For example, supported vehicle and charger combinations can use Plug & Charge authentication, while existing equipment uses OneChargeKey vehicle identification. Collecting both sets of records in a common management system would let accountants review costs by the vehicle’s home branch without having to manage different identification methods themselves.
This combined approach requires testing with the target vehicles and chargers and development of the management-system integration. LinkT&B checks each setup and proposes what to introduce with the current fleet and what to add as equipment is replaced.
Experience OneChargeKey at the LinkT&B R&D Center
You may want to reduce driver actions, stop collecting charging logs manually, or separate use by other branches and partner companies. Tell us which everyday tasks you want to reduce. Whether you are introducing EVs or already operating them, we can discuss an approach suited to your equipment and operations.
You can experience OneChargeKey at the LinkT&B R&D Center. See vehicle identification in use and discuss how it could fit your daily charging operations.
Sources and further reading
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