Fleet charging software is the platform a fleet operator uses to run charging as one system: it knows which vehicle is plugged in, schedules charging against departure times, attributes every kilowatt-hour to a vehicle or driver, and reports what each vehicle cost to run. It sits above the chargers and talks to them through an open protocol. It is not the charger, and it is not the electricity contract.
Key Takeaways
- The vehicle-centred layer above the chargers: identity, departure scheduling, cost attribution, home records, exceptions.
- It connects through the charger’s stated OCPP interface; what a platform actually does is the platform vendor’s document.
- It adds no power and no supply capacity — those are hardware and installation facts.
- EVDANCE supplies hardware with stated OCPP and RFID lines; it offers no fleet platform.
The Five Jobs That Make It Fleet Software
General charging platforms exist to run charger networks. Fleet software is defined by a different centre of gravity: the vehicle list. Its jobs start from the fleet’s own vehicles and duties:
| Job | What it does |
|---|---|
| Vehicle identity | Matches each session to a vehicle or driver, usually through the credential that started it. |
| Departure scheduling | Charging is fitted inside the parking window so every vehicle is ready by its shift, staggered so the site supply is respected. |
| Cost attribution | Each session is priced and rolled up to a vehicle, a team or a cost centre. |
| Home charging records | Take-home drivers’ home sessions enter the same ledger as depot sessions, ready for reimbursement. |
| Access and exceptions | Decides who may charge, and flags the vehicle that did not charge before its shift. |
A station management system for a public or workplace network is organised the other way round: chargers first, with pricing, payment and uptime for whoever arrives. The two overlap — one product may do both — but the fleet layer is the one that thinks in vehicles, departures and allocated costs. That distinction is what the word “fleet” in the name is claiming, and it is the first thing to test in any vendor’s description.
How It Connects: The Charger’s Half of the Conversation
The charger and the platform exchange status, meter values and start/stop commands using the Open Charge Point Protocol — the handshake covered in our explainer of OCPP and what operators need from charger hardware. A charger’s stated OCPP version is its half of the contract; whether a platform supports that charger, and which jobs it performs, is the platform vendor’s document to state — in writing, before purchase. How access, sessions and back-end records fit together is set out in our guide to how commercial charging stations work.
What Fleet Software Is Not
- Not the charger. Software adds no power. Charge rate is set by the charger, the circuit and the car, whatever the dashboard shows.
- Not the electricity supply. Scheduling can share a site’s capacity; it cannot raise it. Capacity is an installation fact, settled by the site survey and the electrician.
- Not a substitute for records discipline. A session started without an identity stays unidentified. The software organises records; the plug-in routine creates them.
Where EVDANCE Hardware Fits
EVDANCE is a charger manufacturer; it offers no fleet software or platform, and any platform claim for a project belongs to the platform vendor. What the hardware states is the interface a platform works through. The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station — two Type 2 connectors, up to 43 kW shared (22 kW per connector), IP54 — states OCPP 1.6J and RFID: the protocol line a platform connects to, and the credential a session’s identity hangs on. The EV-RHDC30K-L compact DC fast charger, at 22 kW DC with OCPP 1.6J and IP54, states the same interface for the fast-turnaround corner of a depot. The full depot range is on our commercial charging page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fleet charging software the same as a CSMS?
They overlap, but the centre differs. A charging station management system runs a network of chargers, typically including public pricing and payment. Fleet software is organised around a known list of vehicles: identity, readiness and cost per vehicle. The vendor’s document, not the product name, says which jobs a platform performs.
Does a small fleet need it?
Not automatically. A handful of vehicles on one depot pattern can run on session exports and a spreadsheet for a long time. The triggers are usually several drivers or sites, departure-critical duties, or home-charging reimbursement — the points where manual records start to leak.
Can the software also run drivers’ home chargers?
Only where the home charger’s stated interface is one the platform supports, and the driver agrees. Ask for the supported-hardware list in writing; a home session the platform cannot see must be collected another way.
Related Reading
- OCPP Explained: What Charge Point Operators Need From EV Charger Hardware
- How Do Commercial EV Charging Stations Work?
- How to Plan a Workplace EV Charging Program
- Fleet Depot Charging: How to Size AC Chargers for Vans and Light Commercial Vehicles
