vCharM

What vCharM Manages

vCharM unifies charging management, load management and energy management. Each layer can be activated independently or combined depending on operational requirements.

Charging Management

User authorization, vehicle registration, charge point configuration and session monitoring in one place. All charging activity across the fleet is visible, logged and available for operational reporting. Multi-tenant architecture lets service providers operate charging for multiple client organizations from one platform, with separate data and user trees per tenant.

Load Management

Charging schedules are coordinated across all vehicles using departure times, vehicle readiness requirements and state of charge. Available power is distributed dynamically across active sessions within site capacity limits, preventing simultaneous uncoordinated charging from triggering demand peak charges.

Energy Management

Charging is aligned with energy price signals and renewable availability for vehicles with flexible departure windows. Readiness commitments or cost optimization can be prioritized.

Solving Real Operational Challenges

As electric fleets grow and charging sites scale, predictable challenges emerge. vCharM is built to solve each of them.

Vendor-Independent From the Start
vCharM communicates with charging points via OCPP. Any compliant hardware from any manufacturer works, with no lock-in to a specific brand.
Avoid costly demand peaks
Simultaneous uncoordinated charging triggers demand peak charges that inflate electricity bills. vCharM distributes power across active sessions to stay within billing thresholds.
Integrate with existing operations
vCharM connects to fleet management systems via REST API and to billing service providers via OCPI. For depots running vCharM.DMS, departure schedules flow directly into charging decisions.

Scale as electrification grows
Start with a small electric pilot fleet and scale to hundreds of vehicles, sites and charge points without architectural changes or platform replacement.
Charge more vehicles on the same grid connection
When site power is insufficient for all vehicles simultaneously, vCharM distributes available capacity intelligently across active sessions. More vehicles charge in parallel without requiring a grid upgrade.

Where vCharM is Used

vCharM applies in two primary operational contexts. The management layers it activates depend on the type of operation.

Fleet Charging

Bus depots, truck depots and commercial vehicle fleets charging overnight or between shifts. All three management layers apply. Integrates with vCharM.DMS for full depot operational context.

Site Charging

Facility, workplace and commercial charging sites where a shared grid connection must support many concurrent sessions. Load management is the primary layer. Energy management applies where session timing is flexible.

Charging Strategies

vCharM supports multiple charging strategies. The active strategy is configured per site or fleet context and can combine modes depending on operational requirements.

Fixed Power Allocation per Charging Point

Fixed allocation per charging point, independent of other active sessions. Used where load variability is low or fixed allocation is a regulatory requirement.

Trusted by Fleet Operators and Charging Site Managers

Customers

Technical Cooperations

Driver App. Charging Visibility.

Live Charging Map

View available charge points, current occupancy and session status in real time. During an active session, drivers can see current charging progress, estimated state of charge by departure and whether their target charge level will be reached on time.

Boost Mode

Drivers can request priority charging when departure plans change or urgent readiness is needed. The request is processed by vCharM within the overall site power budget and prioritization rules.

Charging History

Full session history per driver or vehicle including energy delivered, session duration and charge point used. Useful for expense reporting, fleet cost allocation and driver accountability.

Find my Vehicle

In large depots and charging sites, drivers can locate their vehicle quickly using the last known parking or charging position recorded by the system.

All Features. No Commitment.

Request your free vCharM trial now and explore all features at your own pace. Discover how our solution can streamline your charging and energy management processes.

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How vCharM Fits into the Product Family

vCharM is the central coordination layer. It can be deployed standalone or combined with vCharM.DMS and vCharM.edge for full coverage of depot operations and local site resilience.

^{DEPOT MANAGEMENT}

vCharM.DMS

Tracks vehicle availability, parking assignment, maintenance status and departure planning. Feeds schedules and readiness data to vCharM so charging decisions have full depot context.

^{CHARGING, LOAD AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT}

vCharM

Coordinates sessions across all charging points, enforces site power limits, prevents demand peaks and optimizes against energy price signals. Issues charging commands via OCPP.

_{CURRENT SELECTION}

^{LOCAL SITE EXECUTION}

vCharM.edge

Executes local load management autonomously when connectivity to vCharM is unavailable. Site power limits are respected even without a stable backend connection.

Standards, Protocols and Integration

Charging point communication	OCPP 1.6, OCPP 2.0.1 (IEC 63584) and OCPP 2.1. Sends smart charging profiles to charging points. Monitors session status, energy metering and fault states.
Energy price and grid signals	Integration with energy price data feeds for time-of-use tariff optimization. External demand response signal support for grid operator coordination.
Fleet and depot system integration	REST API for integration with fleet management systems and asset management platforms. OCPI for integration with billing service providers and roaming networks. Native integration with vCharM.DMS via direct data exchange.
Backend and reporting	Session, energy and scheduling data available via API. Supports export for billing, energy cost allocation and operational reporting use cases.
Deployment options	Cloud-hosted (SaaS), on-premise and hybrid deployment. Suitable for operators with data residency requirements or closed network environments.
Hardware agnostic	Works with any OCPP-compliant charging point hardware. No proprietary hardware dependency for central management functions.

Vector’s Role in Development of Standards

Vector is an active member of the organizations that develop and maintain the standards vCharM implements.

OCA

^{BOARD MEMBER}

Open Charge Alliance: develops and maintains the OCPP protocol for charging point communication

VDV

^{CONTRIBUTING MEMBER}

Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (Association of German Transport Companies): defines VDV 261 and VDV 463 standards for bus depot charging integration

ISO 15118

^{ACTIVE CONTRIBUTOR}

International standard for vehicle-to-grid communication, bidirectional charging and Plug & Charge authentication

Industries Electrifying with vCharM

vCharM applies wherever multiple electric vehicles charge from a shared site connection and where coordination is needed to manage power, cost and readiness.