EV Charger Testing and Commissioning

How to test EV chargers after commissioning?

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New fleet charging sites require thorough EV charger testing. While you can expect vendors, installers, and partners to pre-test and run quality tests when delivering product and services, an EV charging solution consists of many parts and is unlikely to operate smoothly from day one. 

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We’ve seen set EV charger testing that lasted just one or two days and some that lasted nearly a month. Sometimes you’ll face issues that are easily resolved with small upgrades or corrections, but in other cases you could wait two weeks or more for a spare part.

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Similar to most industrial sites or systems, it is good practice to test the individual equipment first, before testing the system as a whole. For instance, test your grid interaction, power distribution on breakers, charging stations, internet connection, and software system independently. Once these elements are tested successfully, you can start connecting multiple components together. During the full EV charger testing procedure, we recommend having pre-scheduled test slots where all partners and vendors are available on-call.

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When testing your EV charger with the charging management systems, we follow 11 key steps.

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1. Connect and power up charging stations (charger is not connected to the software)
2. Verify charge health locally through local UI or interface
3. Configure OCPP URL on EV charger and reboot the charger
4. Wait 3 to 5 minutes and verify the charger has automatically connected to the software
5. Verify internet connection and stability
6. Configure the charger in the software (hardware configuration and authentication)
7. Test remote commands (e.g., reset, trigger messages, firmware status, etc.)
8. Test charging sessions (local authentication, remote start, and payment)
9. Enable energy management
10. Test multiple charging sessions at the same time
11. Verify internet connection and stability again

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Fleet managers should test multiple vehicles at the charger, especially when using DCFCs. Vehicles and chargers often communicate through the charging cable which helps improve monitoring and power management. However, it can possibly lead to communication errors. EV charger testing and a thorough testing procedure are important because power line communication (PLC) causes operational problems if issues aren’t identified at an early stage after the deployment, especially with fleets consisting of trucks and buses. Proper EV charger commissioning can help mitigate these issues.

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Once EV charger testing is complete and chargers are connected, infrastructure managers and ground ops should constantly measure and monitor charger uptime. The fleet solution is only as good as its monitoring and measurements. We use real-time alert triggers and instant notifications, as well as reviewing our uptime from the last 24 hours every morning, and discussing possible issues and improvements. Incorporating a standard EV charger testing procedure and thorough charger commissioning helps ensure reliable performance and quick identification of any issues.

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