How do I Connect to My PMS

OK2Charge is integrated with most major Property Management Systems (PMS). By connecting to your PMS you are able to have the reservations flow through automatically for all your EV-enabled properties, send emails to upcoming guests to make them aware of the EV charger at their rental, and even upsell them to full-stay charging packages before they even arrive. Watch this quick video to learn how to connect your PMS with your OK2Charge account.

OK2Charge - Connecting to a PMS

I do not use a PMS. Can I connect to my Airbnb or VRBO listing with an iCal link?

Yes! If you don't have a PMS to connect or choose not to for some reason, there is also the option of adding an iCal link from an Airbnb or VRBO listing to your OK2Charge account. See this quick video to learn how to.

OK2Charge - Adding an iCal Link

How do I connect to or Create a Stripe Account in my OK2Charge account?  

Stripe is our payment platform and allows you to start earning revenue from your OK2Charge EV charger. See this quick video for where to go to connect your current Stripe account, or create a new account. 

Connecting to a Stripe Account

My iCal link is synced. Why isn't the Guest information right?

When you connect with your iCal link the Daily Amenity setting can be enabled for your OK2Charge Charger. This means guests are still able to choose a full-stay package at a discounted rate and the charger will know how long their reservation is and charge accordingly. 

Often, the Guest information will be masked so advance payment for charging may not be possible, but when using your iCal link the guest is able to pay for the duration of their stay for a daily fee when they arrive and scan the QR code on the charger. 

We recommend you include EV charging information in your pre-arrival email as well as your electronic or physical guest book. 

• Recommended verbiage: You've booked with an EV-ready property! Your stay at <Property Name> is equipped with an OK2Charge Level 2 Smart Charger. Easy-to-follow instructions are available in the Guest Book so you can charge your vehicle while you relax and enjoy your time with us.

How do I know if my charger goes offline?

If you have a reliable 2.4ghz WiFi signal, once online your charger should remain online and reconnect on its own after brief internet or power outages. You can enable notification to be alerted via SMS and/or email if charger connectivity is not restored timely. We recommend setting this to notification after 20 - 30 minutes of continuous disconnection.

To enable notifications from the CPanel, go to Settings - Notifications, then customize your Configuration Settings - Real-Time Notifications. 

Watch this short video for detailed instructions. 

Why isn't this working with my Tesla?

When using an OK2Charge Level 2 Charger with a Tesla, check these 2 things:

1. Proper seating of the J1772 Adapter. Check your glove box for your J1772 adapter. Seat the J1772 adapter firmly in the Tesla charge port on your vehicle. Connect the OK2Charge J1772 connector to the adapter.
2. Make sure there is slack in the cable. OK2Charge cables are 25 ft long. Extend enough cable to the vehicle so there is no tension.

What billing mode is best for me?

OK2Charge provides several billing options for Vacation Rental and Multifamily properties. But which one is best for you? The billing mode you choose depends entirely on your property and the goals you have for your EV Charger.

Daily Amenity Mode

👐 Hands Off  📱Easy for Guests and Residents  🔋 Daily Charging  💳  Pay Ahead

For these situations, consider Daily Amenity Mode for your charger. This requires integration with your PMS or your iCal links entered into your cpanel. Once that is done you can set pricing for daily charging packages, with one price for single-day packages, and other options to charge less per day for longer stays. This mode also allows you to opt for automated emails to send to guests before they arrive so they are aware of the charger and can even pay ahead of time. Within Daily Amenrity mode you can choose Protected or Standard. Protected mode allows only registered guests or residents to charge, while Standard mode allows any paying user to charge their EV

Pay as You Go

📱User driven  🔋 On-demand Charging  🔐 Protected & 🛎️ Standard Options

Pay as You Go allows users to charge and pay, as needed. When they are at your property they scan the QR code and follow the simple instructions. There are two options in ay as You Go mode. The protected mode allows only registered guests or residents to charge, while the Standard mode allows any paying User to charge their EV. No PMS or iCal integration is required with Pay as you go mode.

I want to give discounted or free charging to someone (property owners, employees, etc), how can I do that? 

First, if you are integrated with your PMS and have a reservation flagged as an Owner Booking, the charger will automatically be set to free charging for the owner stay. For other people, you can add someone as a granted user to provide free or reduced-cost charging. This is easy to do in the c-panel!

1. Settings - Users --> Create a driver account for anyone you want to give free or reduced charging.  
2. Next, go to Settings - Network - Chargers. Select the charger you want to give access to, then select Settings within the charger - Granted User. Click on the green + button to add a new granted user, search for them by their email address, and choose free or reduced charging. 

Watch this video to see exactly how this is done!

When someone who is a granted user wants to charge, what is the process? 

If you are an owner or someone else who will be charging for free regularly, you can pin the app.ok2charge.com webpage to your phone's "desktop" to make it look and behave like a native app. Once you sign in for the first time you will remain signed in and only need to scan the QR code to begin charging. To pin the app: 

iPad or iPhone

1.     Launch “Safari” app.  This does not work from the “Chrome” app.
2.     Enter into the address field the URL of the website you want to create a shortcut to. Tap “Go.”
3.     Tap the icon featuring a right-pointing arrow coming out of a box along the top of the Safari window to open a drop-down menu.
4.     Tap “Add to Home Screen.” The Add to Home dialog box will appear, with the icon that will be used for this website on the left side of the dialog box.
5.     Enter a name for the shortcut using the on-screen keyboard and tap “Add.” Safari will close automatically and you will be taken to where the icon is located on your iPad’s desktop.

Android

1.     Launch “Chrome” app.
2.     Open the website or web page you want to pin to your home screen.
3.     Tap the menu icon (3 dots in the upper right-hand corner) and tap Add to home screen.
4.     You’ll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen.

How do we manage EV charger activation? 

There are two different scenarios, chargers integrated with a PMS and those that are not. 

1. If OK2Charge is integrated with your PMS: 
1. Activation and billing is fully automated. Upon a guest booking an EV-enabled property, they will be provided a link via email/SMS to complete payment for EV charging. The PM sets pricing configuration during account setup. 
2. If OK2Charge is not yet integrated with your PMS or you do not have a PMS: 
1. The guest will scan the QR code on the charger upon arrival and remit payment to activate a charging session, no app download is required. 

How much should I charge guests for EV charging? 

When using Daily Amenity Mode, flat daily fees vary by region, property type, and reservation duration. Typical rates range from $20 to $50 per day. We provide flexibility for each PM to set the rate structure they would like to charge guests. When using pay-as-you-go mode, we recommend at a minimum, charging guests 2 - 3 times your average cost for electricity per kWh. 

How do I let the world know I have an EV Charger?

Start by updating your website! If prospective Guests visit your website, do they know you've made a commitment to greener travel by installing an OK2Charge Level 2 EV charger? Headline mentions,  amenity filters, blogs, announcements, and pictures quickly communicate the EV charger amenity. No one wants to spend their vacation in a Target parking lot charging a vehicle; your Guests will be thrilled you've truly thought of everything to make their stay perfect!

Then don’t forget to review your listings with channel partners. Airbnb and Expedia provide options for filtering searches based on EV Charging. While Vrbo hasn't integrated the filter, it is an amenity available for property owners to select. Knowing how Guests can, or can't, find your property on various booking sites may require you to adjust your title, description, and/or pictures. 

Additionally, OK2Charge's Customer Success team can help you get online with PlugShare and ChargeHub for travelers choosing to reverse engineer their travel. Finally, pay attention to how your PMS and channel partners integrate. You don't want your Level 2 charger showing up as a Level 1.

My Internet/WiFI is not great. What can I do?

To start, we recommend testing your signal strength. ​ You can use your phone to check the signal strength at the charger. We recommend the AirPort app for iPhones, and for Androids “WiFi Analyzer” by Olgor.com works well. The WiFi signal should be -60 dBm or greater. 

If the signal is weak, relocate the router closer to the charger or add a WiFi extender. Distance and structures interfere with signal strength. Think "line of sight" and minimize the distance and obstacles between your router and the charger.

The first option to try is a wifi extender. If the signal is still weak, a dedicated cellular router is an option we can provide.

Do you have instructions I can give my guests showing how to charge? 

Yes. Click here for step-by-step instructions to include in your digital or physical guest book, and/or by the charger itself.

I can’t find someone to install my new charger. Any recommendation?

Your charger(s) must be installed by a certified electrician. Here is a detailed guide to walk them through the steps. If you need help finding an electrician, try our national partner, Q-Merit.

How do I connect my charger to WIFI? 

Here is a video showing how to connect to WIFI in a few easy steps. While we ar talking about WIFI, here are some other important things to know.

• The charger requires a ​stable 2.4 GHz​ connection. If you have a mesh network or “Smart” WiFi and it does not broadcast a separate 2.4 GHz channel, you will need to log into your router to enable one. In rare cases, a separate 2.4 GHz router may be needed.
• If your WiFi password uses special characters, we recommend you change it.
• Check WiFi signal strength. You can use your phone to check the signal at the charger. If the signal is weak, relocate the router closer to the charger or add a WiFi extender. We recommend the AirPort app for iPhones, and for Androids “WiFi Analyzer” by Olgor.com works well. The WiFi signal should be -60 dBm or greater. If you have intermittent or weak connectivity in general, a dedicated cellular router is an option we can provide.
• If you use StayFi at your property, create a 2.4 GHz network in the wireless networks section of the StayFi portal

I did not connect to my PMS and need to create a property to assign to my charger. How do I do that?

With no PMS or iCal integration, you will need to create a property for each charger (or a community for many properties sharing a charger, more n that later). This is a simple process. Watch this video to guide you.

How do I transfer a charger from one property to another? 

If you realize you assigned a charger to the wrong property or you relocate a charger, watch this video for how to reassign. 

How to Download Monthly Usage Reports? 

You can view your usage on the control panel homepage, to download a report follow these instructions.

I heard I can charge idle fees to guests/residents so they don’t use the charger as a parking spot. How do I do that?

If the charger is in a public location and will be used by various people in Pay as you go mode, we recommend idle fees. Here is a video showing how to implement idle fees & best practices 

How do I load share multiple chargers on a shared electrical circuit?

Please consult an electrician and/or your OK2Charge representative before implementing load sharing. Once the correct settings have been determined:

Create a new Load Sharing Group in the cpanel from Network > Load Sharing and click on the green + button. Name the group and input the breaker size. Note, the maximum combined output of all active charging sessions on a load sharing circuit must be 20% less than the breaker rating. 

Once the Load Sharing Group is created, click on the Load Sharing Group name, and then in the Members section click the Green + to add chargers to the group. 

Create Load Sharing Group:

Add Charger to the Group:

How can I adjust the maximum charger output (amperage)?

The max output for your charger depends on the model; 40A, 48A, or 80A. To reduce the max output to meet electrical code or panel capacity, in the cpanel go to Network > Chargers > Settings > General Settings and adjust the Max Amperage slider to the desired max output. 

Note, the electrical breaker must be sized 25% greater than the max output of the charger(s) on the circuit. If multiple chargers are on a shared electrical circuit, they must be operated in a Load Sharing Group.  

Charger Max Amperage Output: 

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I am a property manager. How do I add a new owner to my account?

There are a few short steps involved, which we have outlined here for you:

1. Create the Owners Account - Add the owner to your account as a "Driver" under "Users". We will have already added the charger to your account. 
2. Have you connected your PMS to your OK2Charge account? If so the PMS will pull in property profiles for all of the units. If you don't link the PMS we will just need to manually create a property each time a new homeowner purchases a charger. We are happy to help with this, but it is nice to have the automation. 
3. Assign the New Charger to the Correct Property: Under Network - Chargers and click on the charger name to edit it, then click on the small pencil icon and scroll down to see where to assign it to the correct property, then save. 
4. Assign the Owner to the Property: Go back to Network - Chargers, click the box to select the correct charger on the far left side of the line, then select the down arrow below "Status" to assign it to the correct owner. 

How can I automate Property Owner RevShare & Send Owner Stripe Link?

Assuming you've created an owner account for the property owner and assigned them to their property, this is all you need to do: 

• Have them log in via cpanel.ok2charge.com using the username and password you provided them.

• Click on Settings in the main navigation menu on the left side of the screen

• In the Billing tab, click Connect Stripe and follow the instructions 

You can also see how it’s done with this video.