How ASTAG charge works
ASTAG Charge brings depot operators and fleets together. This lets depot operators earn additional revenue with charging infrastructure that would otherwise sit unused, while fleets benefit from lower charging costs.
ASTAG Charge is the white-label solution from Depotcharge, so the platform and all its features are identical; only the look and feel is tailored to ASTAG Charge. In this article, we show you how the platform is structured and how a charging session comes about.
1.The two areas
ASTAG Charge is divided into two areas, and you can switch between them at any time at the top of the sidebar.
- Depot operator is for anyone who offers charging points.
Here you manage your Sites, Agreements, Tariffs and Reports.
- Fleet manager is for anyone who charges their vehicles.
Here you find Fleets & charging cards, the Map, Agreements and Reports.
An organisation can also use both areas, that is, open its own depot to others while charging at other depots on the road.
2.How a charging session comes about
- 1.First, the depot operator creates a site with charging points and sets a tariff for it.
- 2.The depot operator then publishes an agreement offer that specifies which fleets are permitted to charge and at what tariff.
- 3.The fleet accepts the offer or requests it.
Depending on the settings, the agreement then applies immediately, or the depot operator first reviews the request and accepts or rejects it.
- 4.This is how the offer becomes an active agreement, under which the fleet is permitted to charge at the site.
- 5.At the charging station, the vehicle authenticates with an RFID card or via Autocharge.
- 6.Finally, Depotcharge issues a monthly invoice to the fleet on behalf of the depot operator, and the depot operator also receives its payout monthly.
3.Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Your company on the platform, under which everything else is set up. |
| Company | The company that invoices and pays. In most cases, one is enough. |
| Site | A charging location with an address and charging points. |
| Charging point | A single charging space with a connector. |
| Fleet | Your vehicles and RFID cards. |
| RFID card | The card a vehicle uses to log in at the charging station and that assigns the charging session to your fleet. |
| Autocharge | Login without an RFID card, where the vehicle logs in by itself when it is plugged in. To use it, enter the vehicle's MAC address in ASTAG Charge; both the vehicle and the charging station must support the feature. |
| Tariff | The price a depot operator sets. Choose the right country straight away, as it determines the currency and VAT. |
| Agreement offer | The depot operator's offer, which defines which fleets may charge at which tariff. |
| Agreement | The accepted offer, which is what makes charging possible. |
The following diagram shows how the terms organisation, company, fleet and site relate to each other.
At the top is the organisation, and below it any number of companies that sign contracts and receive invoices and credit notes. Each company has its own fleets with vehicles and its own sites with charging points and tariffs.
4.The ASTAG Charge community
As an ASTAG member, you are part of the ASTAG Charge community, which you can access with your membership number when you register. Depot operators can target their agreement offers at this community by selecting the Community fleets option under Fleet partners.
This lets them offer the community's fleets special prices, the community tariffs. In addition, they can agree their own prices bilaterally with individual fleets.
To find out how this works, read Add an agreement and Conclude a bilateral agreement with a fleet.
5.Note
You do not need any new hardware for ASTAG Charge, because your existing RFID cards, charging stations and your current backend simply keep working. The connection works with any common charging station that supports OCPP, the standard charging stations use to communicate with a backend, and usually takes 1 to 2 weeks.
Your drivers do not need their own account; they use the RFID card or the Driver Web App.