The OpenADR Alliance talks with Joachim Lohse, CEO and Founder of Ampcontrol, a leading AI-powered software company for electric fleets, about the important role the OpenADR standard has played in the company’s EV fleet software.

Can you please tell us more about yourself and what Ampcontrol does?

Ampcontrol is a smart charging management software for electric fleets based out of New York City. In short, we help electric fleets meet their charging goals. With Ampcontrol’s software, our customers overcome grid constraints, maximize charger uptime, manage energy load, and significantly cut electric fueling costs. Our smart charging management system has been proven in the field since 2019 with a variety of electric fleets ranging from ridesharing Teslas at Revel to heavy-duty trucks with WattEV.

Our customers have one thing in common; they need dependable and secure charging to keep their fleet running smoothly. If a vehicle is not charged when needed, or is met with a security threat, this can throw off an entire fleet operation. At Ampcontrol, we’re proud to have an industry-leading 99.995% charger uptime with many customers.

How is the software being implemented into the market today?

Ampcontrol is working with fleet managers across the globe - with deployments in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Our onboarding process is very hands-on and comprehensive to ensure any issues are addressed before we are deployed with a customer’s fleet. When we onboard an electric fleet operation team, we dive into security measures, hardware testing, and 24/7/365 monitoring with them to address any questions or concerns.

We also offer monitoring through our in-house team. Whether a fleet operator chooses to utilize our in-house monitoring or monitor their fleet electrification themselves, we consider ourselves a partner with each customer, and we usually have weekly touch bases with them to make sure they are getting the most out of Ampcontrol. This collaboration allows us to grow long-term relationships with our customers.

Any key results from customers that can be shared?

Absolutely. We’re excited to share some stories from customers who have scaled their sites, built resilient charging infrastructure, and cut fueling costs. Last year, Ampcontrol was deployed at WattEV’s Port of Long Beach location, the largest charging site of its kind in the U.S. We are very excited about the opportunity to grow with them as they scale their operations. The WattEV team is great and they have leveraged Ampcontrol for monitoring, energy management, and beyond.

Ampcontrol has also been a key part of Aeversa overcoming grid constraints for their turnkey electric fleet solutions in South Africa. This case had a unique challenge with South Africa prone to power outages, which can range from minutes to hours. To work through these outages, Aeversa required a dependable monitoring system and backup power. Aeversa’s battery energy storage systems automatically extend the charging sessions, and through Ampcontrol’s API, Aeversa can schedule demand responses to dynamically react to predicted outages.

Last but not least, we have our work with Revel - an electric rideshare company based in New York. Revel’s Superhub is the largest public fast charging hub in North America, with over 25 75 kW DC chargers. At the site, Revel charges its electric fleet of Tesla Model Ys and also offers public charging. With Ampcontrol, Revel has been able to cut electric fueling costs by over 30%, ensure on-time departure, and maximize the use of their site.

All of these companies are innovators and have heavily contributed to our product and success through their collaboration. We are very grateful for that.

Why did you join the OpenADR Alliance, and how is being a member beneficial to your organization?

Since we founded the company in 2019, we understood that we can’t build innovative products in the energy and mobility market without standards and deep collaboration. Early on, we joined OpenADR’s workshop sessions and networking events to share ideas. One of the most complex subjects is typically utility integration, which directly applies to Ampcontrol as we were figuring out how a new innovative software solution can communicate with utility companies. Since utility companies have the very difficult and multi-faceted task of operating the electric grid across the country, it’s sometimes difficult to move as fast as young software companies often do.

With OpenADR, we’ve seen many possibilities to integrate and collaborate with utilities. For example, the modern smart grid of the future wouldn’t be possible without it and I’m sure it will hold many other opportunities for OpenADR members. As we’ve grown, it has been so helpful to work with OpenADR, and we look forward to future collaborations as we continue to scale.

What is your biggest industry challenge, and how do you think OpenADR will address these challenges?

Grid constraints are probably the largest industry challenge. We see this in the Netherlands, UK and throughout Europe. The electric grid is fundamentally being challenged. While this is not the first time the grid has had to adapt to innovation (as we saw with solar and wind energy), this time these changes are happening quickly and almost everywhere. Utilities need a way to keep the grid reliable but also affordable. Countries are dependent on it, and this infrastructure shift will be one of the largest challenges of this century – it’s the million-dollar question.

A smart way forward is to allow the grid to communicate with devices, systems, and aggregators. It can then react and adjust power and generation faster without depending solely on managing large power plants. This is already a reality in some locations, but it needs to be implemented everywhere in a reliable and secure way.

For more information, visit https://www.ampcontrol.io/, or LinkedIn.