Convergys Partners with Plug Smart to Provide Real-Time Rating and Billing for Electric Vehicles
— Companies set to facilitate new growth for utility and electric car network operators —
(Cincinnati; October 5, 2011) – Today at Metering, Billing/CRM Europe 2011, Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) announced a partnership with Plug Smart to provide real-time rating, billing and data management support for electric vehicle charging stations. This partnership pairs Plug Smart’s patent-pending charging station technology, Zephyr, with Convergys’ state-of-the-art Smart Revenue Solutions to bill for electric vehicle charging anytime, anywhere, while providing a seamless customer experience – a first of its kind solution for the industry.
Highly flexible and fully scalable, Convergys Smart Utility Solutions are well positioned to support electric vehicle charging. Convergys enables utilities to solve and evolve challenges, including complex rate tariffs such as time-of-use and critical peak pricing. In addition, multi-party billing capabilities allow for revenue and cost settlement between multiple service providers and Convergys’ real-time processing capability provides instant authentication of users, as well as the delivery of prices and balances in real-time.
Plug Smart’s Zephyr platform is a suite of cloud-based services that provide open, standardized communication between charging stations and software products. Zephyr simplifies how utilities manage the growing number of charging stations within their service territory by establishing a standards-based middleware platform. Instead of integrating with each and every electric vehicle charging station vendor, Zephyr provides a single interface to the utility and handles communications with the charging station, charging network or directly to the electric vehicle. Zephyr is free for hardware vendors and provides real-time access to charging data.
“The billing challenges utilities face in the wake of smart grid technology and electric vehicles are not unlike those the telecommunications industry addressed in its early years. As a world leader in real-time transactional intelligence, with significant experience in rating and billing for telecommunications roaming, we are able to draw upon a wealth of expertise to help solve and evolve electric vehicle settlement,” said Eran Ofir, General Manager of Global Utilities, Convergys.
Market research forecasts by Pike Research indicate that the global market for plug-in hybrid and electric passenger cars and light duty trucks will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 106% between 2010 and 2015, resulting in sales of more than 3.24 million vehicles during that period. A report by the Center of Entrepreneurship & Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, on U.S. sales indicates that electric cars could account for 64% of U.S. light-vehicle sales by 2030 and comprise 24% of the U.S. light-vehicle fleet.
“The electric vehicle market is just starting to emerge. Only limited standards have been established and transaction models have yet to be defined,” said Richard Housh, Plug Smart President and CEO. “We are excited to partner with Convergys who, as a recognized leader with proven experience in real-time transaction processing at scale, provides technology that will keep pace with the needs of the market as it grows and evolves. Together we are shaping the future for the electric vehicle charging ecosystem.”
Zephyr will be deployed across the United States this fall with several large utilities, universities and corporations as part of a smart electric vehicle charging pilot. During the pilot, electric vehicle drivers will charge at 110 volt “smart sockets” and Zephyr will aggregate the data, enabling billing settlement, demand response and real-time pricing.
About Plug Smart
Juice Technologies LLC doing business as Plug Smart is an energy services and technology company that helps commercial, industrial, non-profit, institutional, and utility companies implement a broad range of energy solutions on both sides of the utility meter. Plug Smart’s core capabilities include helping clients implement self-funding energy efficiency projects, leverage renewable energy resources, lower power generation and energy supply costs, reclaim investments in energy efficiency projects, and discover new ways to intelligently network and charge electric vehicles.
About Convergys
Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.
For more than 30 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to marquee clients all over the world.
Convergys has approximately 70,000 employees in 69 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit www.convergys.com
(Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)
Supporting Resources:
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
Contact:
Jeff Hazel, Convergys Corporate Communications, +1 513 723 7153 or
jeff.hazel@convergys.com
