A big thank you to everyone who made this year what it was.
Switch isn’t just a patch or a layer on top of a broken charging infrastructure. We reinvented the wheel. Started from the bottom and built our way out. The result: Switch fixes the EV charging experience.
In 2023, we achieved so much – and in 2024, we’re going even further.
Try the Switch Platform. Free for 30 days.
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We’ve added some amazing people to our team.
Erik is from Brazil, but now based in Munich. He boasts extensive experience working on smart charging projects. When he’s not working, Erik is an avid cyclist.
Auke is Dutch, living in Munich, Germany. At Switch, as a Senior Software Engineer, he is part of the Josev team, primarily writing code using Rust.
Fran is Switch's content lead, living in Bristol, UK. In his spare time, he renovates his home, plays tag rugby and enjoys reading and film.
Born and raised in Sintra, Portugal, Tomaz is part of the Switch Platform team. When he’s not working, you can find him either tinkering away on his computer or climbing.
Aditya leads the development of Switch’s Android & iOS driver apps. Aditya works remotely from Amsterdam and spends a lot of time watching football and cricket.
Rita enjoys working at the intersection of digital technology, marketing, strategy and data insight. Outside of her work, she enjoys walking, hiking and painting.
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An Argentinian residing in Cardiff, Roger is part of our Josev team, mainly coding in Rust. He spends his spare time in search of the Tardis (no luck on that front, yet).
Martin, AKA Tincho, is part of the Munich branch of the Josev team. When he is not coding, he’s behind the lens of a camera, riding his motorcycle or 3D printing contraptions that, most likely, will not work.
The evolution of the Switch Platform.
No charger left behind:
OCPP 1.6 and OCPP 2.0.1
We added support for the legacy OCPP 1.6 protocol. While we love OCPP 2.0.1, we recognise most chargers installed today are still using OCPP 1.6. You can now manage all of these stations on the Switch Platform.
OCPP 2.0.1 remains our core focus, however. Switch got its OCPP 2.0.1 Core and Advanced Security Certifications from the Open Charge Alliance.
We were also approved by Hubject as a Plug & Charge backend provider.
So any Switch Platform users can now offer Plug & Charge to their customers.
Switch App Store: Add functionalities with a tap
In October, we launched the Switch App Store. Our first app? An exciting integration with Hubject, Europe’s largest roaming hub.
Switch covers all the costs and integration effort and allows you to onboard your stations with a single click. You can read more about the Switch x Hubject roaming integration here.
The App Store has lots more coming in 2024. To see teasers of the upcoming integrations, head to the Switch Platform.
Big network? No problem
Managing your network with the Switch Platform became a breeze this year. Most of this explains itself, so here we go:
• Per kWh tariffs
• Driver management
• Location management
• International currency support
• Notifications
• Dashboards and graphs
• Bulk charger onboarding
• Platform personalisation options
We always try to simplify these features, aiming to give you the detail and control required in a beautiful and intuitive user interface—basic stuff.
Open API: Add Switch to your systems
We love our user interface. But we know some may have pre-existing systems or want to plug into other applications.
That’s why created our Open API architecture. You can get Switch functionalities while keeping other systems in place.
• Manage users, locations, drivers, tariffs
• Send commands to charging stations
• Update station firmware
• Use it as an OCPP 2.0.1 passthrough
• Access a live stream of OCPP messages from each station
You can do all these cool things via a REST API interface. It’s easy to use and you can see everything via a single view.
Next-level charging
Our dedicated DevOps engineers rewrote the entire infrastructure definition in Terraform. This lets us create new instances and services in minutes.
We now use Kafka and OpenSearch for all those tasty logs we’re collecting. More data, less problems. We also improved security, deployment speed, documentation, and cloud costs. We now proudly deploy every week.
Station Features
We worked a lot this year on station management functionality. And there's much to share. We’ve moved to a weekly feature release cadence (that’s right, WEEKLY), and all the info can be found on our Changelog.
It's been a very busy year on Josev as well.
OCPP certification
We expect Josev will receive its official OCPP 2.0.1 Core and Advanced Certifications in January 2024 (pending one final testing rendezvous with our dear friends DEKRA).
Being OCPP certified means Switch supports certificate management, encrypted and secure communications, firmware updates, uploading of station logs, offline operation, as well as rigorous testing of all the basics of transaction and authorisation handling.
Performance and Compatibility
We added support for multiple EVSEs, signed meter values, ISO 15118 bi-directional power transfer, data persistence and security improvements.
We also continued our efforts to convert the stack to Rust, which reduces the size of Josev and improves reliability and speed.
Pricing and Packaging
We introduced a major change to the Josev pricing and packaging structure. You can now buy individual Josev components to cover your specific needs.
To see our new pricing structure head to pricing.
Try before you buy
You can try Josev free for 30 days. This lets you poke around and get started on integration before taking the leap with Josev Pro.
The trial also comes with free access to the Switch Platform. So you experience the full Switch system.
A big year for Switch!
Switch Approved: 2.0.1 got real!
Iocharger became the first OCPP 2.0.1 certified charger manufacturer to be Switch Approved.
Being Switch Approved verifies that your hardware is OCPP 2.0.1 ready. We look forward to getting more OEMs Switch Approved in the new year.
Switch goes DACH with Charge Construct
Switch and Charge Construct launched a partnership to deliver convenient, zero-touch charging at scale in Germany.
Most notably, a framework agreement for the installation of fast-charging infrastructure at almost 200 locations of the German discounter NORMA.
P3 Energy Lab, DEKRA and Hubject
This year, Switch became synonymous with cutting-edge integration testing. We’ve teamed up with DEKRA, P3 Energy Lab and Hubject to move charging forward worldwide.
Manufacturers can now use Switch to check their products meet the latest and best industry standards (OCPP 2.0.1 and ISO 15118).
In 2023, our team banged the drum for next-gen EV charging.
That’s a wrap!
There’s more to come in 2024. More App Store integrations including Nuvve, Eco-Movement, Gireve, and EVA Global.
As well as: Flexible tariffs, more fine-grained user roles, various payment solutions, better reporting, smart charging and V2G, more OCPP Certifications, Rust, and a foray into mobile.