User:DanusiaPiekna/sandbox

EcoG is a technology start-up based in Munich, Germany. It develops the operating systems for electric vehicle chargers based on common IoT protocols and provides an open API for charging infrastructure. EcoG is providing its software solutions for EV chargers to charger manufacturers, charge point operators, and Mobility Service Providers electrifying their fleets. Currently, the company has offices in Detroit (US), Oslo (Norway), Dresden and Munich (Germany). As of November 2018, EcoG is a completely hardware-agnostic company, which supports all DC chargers architectures.

History
The company was founded up by three former employees of Siemens. Two of them, Joerg Heuer and Johannes Hund, who worked 10 years on the development of Siemens' charger software, were disappointed by lack of business case in EV charging. They decided to follow the Android approach to make charging more profitable, and open up charging infrastructure to the app economy. The two founders came across Manuel Heckmann, at that time Venture Manager in Siemens, who joined the company to complement the founders' team with his entrepreneurial experience and investor relations knowledge. Their long-distance goal is to create a whole new market for services on the top of charging infrastructure.

In July 2017 EcoG participated in the Detroit TechStars accelerator programme, where the ideas and prototypes of the product were developed. As a result, TechStars and Next47 invested in the company, and contracts for first pilot projects were signed. In December 2017, EcoG became part of Volkswagen’s Future Mobility Incubator, where the software stack for chargers has been tested to become market ready, and first clients have been acquired. In March 2018, the company has been invited to join the CharIn organization, which aims at establishing the Combined Charging System (CCS) as the global standard for charging electric vehicles. In August 2018, EcoG has been selected to join Katapult Accelerator to facilitate the market entry into Norway.

So far, TechStars, Next47 and Katapult Accelerator invested in EcoG. At the beginning of 2019, the company plans to launch open API and its platform.

Product Overview
EcoG offers software stack available for four different controllers, and an API platform, which enables building own services. Moreover, the company developed two demonstrative services to show possibilities of their platform.

Charger Controller
EcoG is available for four different charge controllers which are equipped with the software stack, which includes, PLC and CAN interfaces, and EcoG Runtime for the use in EV DC Chargers (EVSE). Each controller is connected to EcoG Platform (Platform Service) which keeps the EcoG stack up-to-date. This connectivity allows remote debugging, management and system configuration. One could easily see which apps are currently running on the charger. It does not require the use of the EcoG backend for its own operation. The idea behind it is to simplify charger construction since the manufacturer is providing the hardware, and EcoG bears the responsibility of providing full functionality over the EV charger's lifetime through updates.

Open API
The EcoG open API  is an API platform with mobile SDKs for Android and iOS libraries to interact with the EcoG operating system. It is a white-label approach for customer applications. It allows the creation of individual services such as seamless authentication, payment or reservation. The most significant innovation is moving from using services provided by the charger manufacturers to services developed by the business in need of one, and having it integrated into its own backend.

Plug and Go
EcoG core services are based on open API using common web technologies and IoT protocols. It is possible to develop first-party and third-party services and mobile applications and then integrate them with chargers. So far, EcoG developed an app enabling seamless authentication, a service that makes possible to authorize charging the car only by plugging in the plug. It does not require any interaction with the charger or phone app itself.

EcoG Maintenance
It is a service which enables detailed hardware monitoring, and it is easily integrated to existing customer IT systems. It allows remote charger diagnostics and metadata management.