4 ms·

Orange Charging offers a low cost "dumb" solution that still manages to bill for the power. It'd be a great fit for a lot of apartment complexes, IMO.

• vel0city 3y ago
  What is the solution?
  • _ea1k 3y ago
    Really simple outlets with builtin power monitors, cellular for management and billing, bluetooth for mesh connectivity between multiple units, and bluetooth for customer connectivity for activation. Cost ~$400 for a 240V unit. https://www.orangecharger.com/product/orange-outlet-620 https://www.orangecharger.com/product/orange-outlet-620
    • vel0city 3y ago
      That doesn't sound very dumb, that sounds quite complicated. Bluetooth for customer connectivity? So I'll still need an app...
      • _ea1k 3y ago
        Well, it can't be completely dumb and still support billing. There are several competing factors here: - They want to support billing - which requires network access, at least for the station itself - They want to minimize the cost of the station both up front and maintenance. Fewer cables and accessories (eg, card readers) helps a lot here - Much of their target audience is inside of parking garages where cell reception can be spotty. This means mesh is a must and bluetooth for client connectivity is best. - They need to have power metering built-in and there are related regulatory concerns due to usage based billing All of this means that it can't be a truly dumb device. What they've come up with is essentially the lowest cost solution that can possibly work.
        • vel0city 3y ago
          If it can't truly be a dumb device, maybe you shouldn't be telling people its a "dumb" device. Hey guys, this thing is "green". Well, we couldn't actually paint it green, so it's blue, but that's as close as we could get it!