Vector Informatik has expanded its vCharM charging and energy management system with features aimed at making VDV 261-compliant preconditioning easier to deploy for electric bus fleets. Working with Hubject, Vector says it can now automate the certificate management required for secure VDV 261 communications, and its vCharM.edge hardware can support VDV 261 communication in existing IPv4 networks.
VDV 261 preconditioning lets an e-bus use energy from the charging station to preheat or precool key components before leaving the depot, so the vehicle can start service with more usable battery energy available for driving. The catch is that VDV 261 requires secure TLS connections and (per the standard) IPv6-based communication between the vehicle, charging station and backend—two areas that can turn into real-world deployment headaches.
On the security side, Vector says vCharM now supports automated creation and distribution of the required certificates via a public key infrastructure, reducing the manual work of generating and installing certificates across charging stations and backend systems. On the networking side, Vector says vCharM.edge includes an IPv6-to-IPv4 proxy, allowing VDV 261-compliant communication without requiring operators to overhaul their existing IPv4 infrastructure.
“We are removing two of the biggest practical barriers to implementing VDV 261: complex certificate management and the requirement for IPv6 in typical IPv4 infrastructures,” said Christian Witt, Product Manager at Vector.
Source: Vector
