SWTCH Portal Customer - EV Charger Onboarding Form FAQ

Account Information:

What is the installation address?
The address of the property where your EV chargers are located is the installation address.

Can I list multiple installation addresses in one form submission?
Yes, but only if all the sites share the same information. This includes having the same contacts, direct deposit details, and access and pricing policies.

Who should be the main point of contact?
The main point of contact should be the person directly associated with the property, such as the property manager or a strata council member, who has the authority to make changes to the charger's access policies and fee structures.

Who should be the on-site contact?
The on-site contact person should be available to respond to on-site requests, such as resetting a breaker or taking a picture of the charger. This person does not need any electrical experience or knowledge.

Who should be the billing contact?
An accountant, property manager, or administrator are examples of people who can be contacted regarding accounting and payment.

Why do I need to provide direct deposit information?
To initiate remittance payments from SWTCH and activate your chargers, please complete and return this form. Upon receipt, we will establish a direct deposit arrangement for quarterly payments. The designated representative will receive a comprehensive quarterly transaction report, followed by the prompt release of funds to the specified account.

How often will I receive remittance payment from SWTCH?
The property's financial remittance, which includes all collected rents and any applicable fees, will be disbursed to the property owner every quarter. These disbursements will be made in the month immediately following the end of each quarter.

What should I do if I need to update my Direct Deposit information?
Please reach out to golive@swtchenergy.com with the updated direct deposit information.

Can the same person be listed for all contact roles (main, on-site, billing)?
Absolutely, the same individual can be assigned to all the contact roles. This means one person can be designated as the primary contact, the on-site contact, and the billing contact for a particular project or account.

Is the on-site contact expected to be available 24/7?
The on-site contact is not required to be available at all times, but they should be able to access the chargers during their available hours.

Access Policy & Charger Settings: 

What is an access policy?
There are four access policies that determine charger availability for different user groups.

• Public: Chargers are openly accessible and listed on public maps for general use.
• Public, Hidden from Maps: Chargers are available for public use but are not publicly listed or advertised.
• Private - Shared: Charger access is restricted to multiple designated users (e.g., tenants or owners) with an access code or authorization.
• Private - Individual: Chargers are reserved for a single owner or assigned user.Charger Access Policies

Which access policy should I choose?         
The access policy you choose will depend on how you intend to use your site.

Can we change the access policy after the chargers have been activated?
If you would like to change the access policy, please reach out to customer.success@swtchenergy.com. 

What’s the difference between the “Public, Hidden from Maps” and “Private - Shared” access policies?

Chargers that are "Public, Hidden from Maps" are available for public use, but they are not displayed on public maps, including the SWTCH app and PlugShare.

Chargers that are "Private - Shared" are not accessible to the general public and are not found on public maps. Only authorized users with an access code from the property owner can use these chargers.

Could you provide examples of when the “Public, Hidden from Maps” and “Private - Shared” access policies would be used? 

The "Public, Hidden from Maps" setting is suitable for chargers in areas like locked parking garages with visitor parking. This allows visitors to use the chargers without advertising their availability to the general public.

The “Private-Shared” setting might be used for chargers in a shared workplace parking garage. In this example, only employees of XYZ company should use these chargers. 

By requiring an access code, which is provided only to XYZ employees, the use of the chargers is restricted, preventing employees from other companies from using them.

How do access codes work for the Private - Shared access policy?
When you select the “Private - Shared” access policy on the EV Charger Onboarding Form, you’ll be prompted to enter an access code of your choice. Once the chargers are activated and ready for use, you will provide this code to your drivers. Drivers will then enter the code in the app to gain access to the chargers.

Pricing Options:

What should I set as my usage rate?
Depending on the intended use of your charging station, you may wish for drivers to pay for the time they are plugged in (hourly rate) or for their electricity only (kWh rate). In either case, you’ll need to do a little quick math to determine a baseline rate to cover your electricity costs. For further details please refer to the SWTCH Access Policies and Fee Structure guide linked in the EV Charger Onboarding Form.

Can you apply to Measurement Canada on my behalf? 
Unfortunately, we cannot apply to Measurement Canada on your behalf; your property will have to apply directly. However, we have outlined all the necessary steps to apply in our blog post.

Can I change the usage rate after the chargers have been activated?
To update the usage rate, please contact customer.success@swtchenergy.com and provide the site address and the new rate.

The chargers are open to the public, but I want to give a charging discount to residents at my building. How do I set this up?
To offer a charging discount to residents at your building, please specify the details in the "Usage Rate" section of the Onboarding Form. 

For example, you could write "Public charging rate: $2/hr, Resident charging rate: $0/hr".

I want the usage rate to differ depending on the time of day. How should I set up Time-of-Day Pricing?
To implement Time-of-Day Pricing, please specify the rates you'd like for each time period in the “Usage Rate” section of the EV Charger Onboarding Form. Common rate structures, based on electricity demand, include:

• Off-Peak: Low rate
• Mid-Day: Moderate rate
• Peak: High rate

What is the prorate feature?
If this feature is enabled, the hourly fee set at the site will prorate based on vehicle energy consumption during the transaction.

For example, let's say your charger has an output of 6.6 kW and your hourly pricing is set to $1/hr. Driver A has a full EV and is capable of pulling the full 6.6kW output available within an hour. Driver A will be charged the full $1/hr as their vehicle is able to consume all of the output provided. Driver B has a hybrid and is only able to pull 3.3kW output from the same charger. Since they're unable to consume the entire output the rate is reduced based on their consumption ($0.50).

Do other buildings usually have the prorate feature enabled?  
The prorate feature is a popular option, especially in Canada. Many buildings have it enabled to ensure driver satisfaction while still recovering and remitting electricity costs to the property.

Are there pricing requirements for New York State? 

For chargers with a public access policy in the state of New York, it is required to bill by kWh. This means that public chargers can only choose the “Energy Consumption Pricing ($/kWh)” option, and not the “Hourly Pricing ($/hr)” option.

With that being said, the following are also acceptable set ups for NYS:

• Energy consumption pricing plus flat rate connection fee, and 
• Energy consumption pricing plus time based loitering fee acceptable

What is loitering? 
Loitering fees are charges that can be imposed on EV drivers who leave their vehicles connected to the charging station after their vehicle’s battery is fully charged, occupying the charging space, and preventing others from its use. These fees are designed to encourage efficient use of charging stations and ensure that charging spots are available for all relevant EV drivers who need to charge their vehicles. As a site administrator, you can configure and enforce fees based on either time or status.

Time-based loitering begins once a certain amount of time has passed. Drivers will receive a notification letting them know they have to move their vehicle, otherwise they will be charged.

Example: After 4 hours of charging, the driver receives notification stating they need to move their car, otherwise they will be charged $X.

Status-Based loitering begins once a vehicle's battery is fully charged. The driver then receives the same notification stating they have a certain amount of time to move their vehicle otherwise they are charged $X.

Do I need to enable loitering at my site?
Adding loitering to your site is completely up to you. Please note, we can turn loitering on or off at any point in time by reaching out to customer.success@swtchenergy.com after activation, with the requested update as well as site address.

When should I set up Time-of-Day Loitering?
Many properties implement Time-of-Day Loitering to prevent drivers from being charged for leaving their vehicles plugged in overnight.

For instance, a property might set a loitering fee of $5/hr from 8 AM to 10 PM, but reduce it to $0/hr from 10 PM to 8 AM. This has the effect of turning off loitering overnight.

Are users notified when loitering fees start?
The loitering fee and loitering setup will be visible to users before they begin a transaction.

Users will receive notifications via the SWTCH app and email to inform them when a loitering penalty begins. For example, if a time-based loitering fee applies after 4 hours of charging, users will be notified when they reach the 4-hour limit.

You’ve submitted the EV Charger Onboarding Form:

I submitted the onboarding form. What happens next?
Once the form is submitted, the SWTCH onboarding team will process the details and generate a Network Services Order Form for signature. The order form will be sent out via DocuSign to the main point of contact listed on the onboarding form.

I don’t want to complete the onboarding process yet since there are no EVs on the property. What should I do?  

We recommend completing the onboarding process so that SWTCH has your account and charger setup preferences on file. 

The onboarding team can then set the chargers into a “pending” state until you are ready for activation. This way, once you have your first driver, the chargers can be activated immediately without any delays.

Can I make changes to our EV Charger Onboarding Form before activation?
If you would like to make any changes to your site, please reach out to golive@swtchenergy.com with the requested update as well as site address.