According to customer requirements, the Hydra Dion is fitted with single or double CCS2 charging cables. It can be connected to any three-phase AC input.

A fast DC charger with a lower power output can be a very cost-effective way to achieve faster charging times, compared to a standard AC wallbox, as it bypasses your EV’s onboard AC charger (which could be limited to 11kW).

This means an average family EV with a 60kWh battery could be fully recharged in under 3 hours compared to over 8 hours on a domestic 7kW chargepoint. Similarly, an electric commercial van with a 100kW battery could be recharged from 20% up to 80% charge in just 2 hours with the 30kW DION.

The post Hydra Dion 40kW appeared first on Hydra EVC.

Until very recently almost all public EV charge points required the use of an app to activate charging facilities and pay for the energy used. But as EV ownership has grown, and the number of Charge Point Operators (CPOs) has grown so has the proliferation of apps and other online payment methods.

The public has demanded a different approach and so has the UK Government with its drive to encourage all publicly accessible charge points to offer a simpler payment process, notably contactless, tap-and-go or swipe-to-pay methods.

Hydra EVC was one of the first EV charge point suppliers to offer built-in contactless payments for its range of commercial EV charging units. The development of this service has lead to the introduction of Hydra’s PENSIO Contactless Payment Solutions.

Not only can the payment terminal be integrated within the chargepoint itself but the unit can also be mounted remotely and manage multiple chargepoints from a single terminal. This helps reduce the initial cost of deployment and also the overall overheads.

Hydra has now gone one step further and is now offering the PENSIO solution to all CPOs regardless of manufacturer. This is achieved by mounting all of the communications, power and networking components within a separate housing which can be mounted adjacent to an existing chargepoint, protecting existing investment and future proofing the payment process.

For more information please call 01268 205 121 or email sales@hydraev.co.uk

Click here for more details on the HYDRA PENSIO Contactless Payment Solution

The post Hydra EVC to offer retro-fit contactless payment solution for existing EV charge points appeared first on Hydra EVC.

Dual Hydra Genesis 22kW with Contactless Payments

This customer required two dual-output Hydra Genesis 22kW EV charge points with contactless payment option.

RFID cards can be used to activate charging for selected staff members, public use also offered by the way of a scanned QR code or Contactless Payment terminal.

The customer sets the charging tariff and monitors usage via our Hydra Nexus platform.

Installed by Herts EV Specialists

Further details:

• Hydra Genesis Dual output 22kW EV charger
• Find a Hydra Approved Installer in your area

Other Recent Installations…

Zodiac 7kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis Workplace Installation

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The post Genesis Workplace Installation appeared first on Hydra EVC.

Hydra Genesis dual 22kW with Contactless Payment Terminal

This public installation was carried out by our CPO (Charge Point Operator) Partner, EVIE LIFE. The Genesis offers up to 43kW dual charging with the option to add a Contactless Payment Terminal.

Further details:

• Hydra Genesis Dual output Commercial AC chargepoint
• Contactless Payments for EV Charging
• Find a Hydra Approved Installer in your area

Other Recent Installations…

Zodiac 7kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis Workplace Installation

Load More

The post Genesis dual 22kW appeared first on Hydra EVC.

Hydra Genesis dual 22kW with Contactless Payment Terminal

This public installation was carried out by our CPO (Charge Point Operator) Partner, EVIE LIFE. The Genesis offers up to 43kW dual charging with the option to add a Contactless Payment Terminal.

Further details:

• Hydra Genesis Dual output Commercial AC chargepoint
• Contactless Payments for EV charging
• Find a Hydra Approved Installer in your area

Zodiac 7kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis dual 22kW

Genesis Workplace Installation

Load More

The post Genesis dual 22kW appeared first on Hydra EVC.

As the take up of Electric Vehicles continues apace the demand for EV chargepoints in the office car park is also increasing. Government grants are still available for companies looking to install EV chargers which will go towards both the cost of the charger and its installation (see OZEV website for more details), so it makes sense for companies to at least get the ball rolling ahead of the 2030 deadline for cut-off of petrol or diesel vehicles.

Controlling the access to these EV chargepoints can be achieved in a few different ways so the only real decision to make is whether to provide EV charging as a free employee perk or charge for their use.

Options for EV charging in the workplace:

• Simple Plug’n’Play – Just park up, plug the EV in and start charging.
• RFID cards or Keyfobs – The employee just swipes the card or keyfob across the reader built into the EV chargepoint and charging facilities are activated.
• SmartPhone App – Charging functions can be controlled by those with the necessary App on their phones.
• Pay as you go charging – Usually requires a card payment or contactless payment terminal fixed to the chargepoint.

Plug and Play EV charging

Although most EV chargers have the clever management and access facilities built in there’s nothing to stop someone setting up an EV chargepoint as an ‘open’ plug’n’play charger. The ‘always on’ facility is quite safe, most EV chargers have a standby power usage as low as 2w when not charging.

However we would recommend only doing this if you do not need to monitor individual usage (you can still monitor overall statistics) and your car park is secure or closed out of office hours to prevent unauthorised usage by people outside your organisation.

RFID Cards and Keyfobs

The simplest method of restricting access to an EV charger to only authorised personnel is by using an RFID card or Keyfob. This is the same technology as used in some company ID passes. The credit card sized RFID card is simply ‘swiped’ or held near to the reader on the EV chargepoint to unlock the device.

The benefits of an RFID card is that the cards are individually identified so whatever method is used to remotely monitor and manage the device – We use our own Hydra Nexus platform – can also identify users and log individual power consumption and other statistics such as total usage, time connected and disconnected, etc.

This data can then be used to charge the employee for the usage, if required, or simply to generate reports relating to CO2 savings and offset.

All Hydra EV chargers are RFID compatible (for the Zodiac it is an optional extra) and we can supply blank or personalised RFID cards to be issued to staff.

Smartphone App

Almost all EV chargepoints have an associated SmartPhone App which allows the user to set up charging sessions and log usage and power consumption etc. In the workplace some of these apps are not suited to ‘Group’ usage as they are designed for single users. The HydraHome App, however, can be configured for family use, giving each user their own login and creating separate usage records for each person.

This may be perfectly adequate for small companies with only a few EV drivers (contact us for more information on setting this up) but for larger organisations a more commercially focussed SmartPhone App linked to a powerful back-office platform like Hydra Nexus may be the answer.

Hydra Nexus allows any organisation to monitor their entire EV charging facility from one chargepoint to a nationwide network, providing realtime data on power usage, peak usage, employee usage, etc. The associated app can also be used by employees to access the EV facilities.

Pay as you go charging.

For companies looking to recoup the installation cost and power usage and maybe even provide a useful additional revenue stream there is the option of fitting a contactless payment terminal to an EV chargepoint.

These work just the same as parking meters in public carparks, the user simply plugs in their EV, swipes their credit or debit cards and starts charging. The device communicates with the EV charger and charges the user for the time and/or power consumed.

Actual rates to be charged can be set by the company which owns the EV chargepoint and everything is managed and monitored, as above, via the Hydra Nexus platform. The payment terminals used by Hydra EVC can also accept Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Companies looking to generate additional income can leave the EV chargers with contactless payment terminals ‘Open’ for use by anyone, including the general public, to earn income from the chargepoint out of office hours and at weekends.

If you would like more information regarding RFID cards for EV Charging, Contactless Payments for EV charging or Remote monitoring via the cloud-based Hydra Nexus platform please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The post Securing access to your office EV charger with a Keyfob or RFID Card appeared first on Hydra EVC.

As the number of chargepoint operators increases, the number of different EV chargers is also increasing and so are the ways in which we can access and pay for the electricity we require from them.

Larger nationwide operators seem to prefer to use smartphone apps which allow you to set up an account, then login and operate the chargepoint via your phone and also pay for the charging session.

With each operator favouring their own apps the seasoned EV driver will soon collect a plethora of different apps in order to access the UK charging network. However, there is a better way: contactless payments, or chip and PIN as we used to call it.

The UK Government announced earlier in 2022 that part of its push towards building a reliable EV charging infrastructure across the whole country would be the requirement for streamlining the EV charging procedure, including allowing for contactless payments rather than relying on smartphone apps.

Adding a contactless payment facility to an EV charger gives drivers the options to just pay-as-you-go for their charge. No need to download an app, register an account or enter your debit card details, just Tap and Charge. Couldn’t be simpler!

No Apps, no fuss.

Hydra EVC can add a contactless payment terminal to all of our EV chargers designed for public access. The Contactless Terminal offers an attractive looking unit with a high-resolution colour touchscreen to engage your consumers. The screen also features Gorilla Glass, which safeguards the device from vandalism.

Hydra believes that using contactless payments in this way makes paying for the EV charging no more complex than plugging in an EV. Its quick, hassle free and reliable.

For installations in a communications blackspot where customers might struggle to download an app or get a 4G signal to link up to the charger this is truly the only way to facilitate public charging and start to earn revenue from an otherwise ‘closed’ area.

The payment terminal touch also supports Apple Pay and Google Pay so the customer doesn’t even need to have a debit or credit card on them when paying to charge their electric vehicle!

Accompanied by our Hydra Nexus platform any operator can remotely monitor, manage and earn money from a single chargepoint as easy as they can from a nationwide network 24/7. Not only does it ensure that your chargepoints are all in good working order but it can remotely install updates, provide usage reports, manage earnings, etc.

If you’d like more information about adding contactless payment facilities to your EV charging network or would just like to discuss options about installing and commissioning a chargepoint for public use please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Touch. Tap. Charge.

The post Contactless payments is the simple way forward for Public EV charging. appeared first on Hydra EVC.