KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Today, Burns & McDonnell and Greenlots announced that they are building out an advanced electric vehicle (EV) charging network at the Burns & McDonnell World Headquarters campus as a demonstration project to test new open standards charging technology. Greenlots’ SKY™ EV Charging Network Software is being integrated into an expanded network at Burns & McDonnell’s headquarters as part of a program that will explore user interactions and use cases for integrating the charging infrastructure with other technology platforms to unlock the full benefits of a distributed energy future. In the years ahead, the two companies will work together to provide complementary hardware and software solutions that will extend the global reach of EVs.

Greenlots enables the future of electric transportation by delivering EV charging hardware, software and analytics that utilities, automakers, cities and governments need to leverage, and manage, EV infrastructure at scale. Greenlots’ turnkey EV charging solutions support programs with San Diego Gas & Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Electrify America, to name a few. The company’s hardware agnostic SKY™ EV Charging Network Software provides real-time monitoring and fault detection to keep chargers running, flexible pricing tools to allow workplaces to offer compelling charging rates to employees, and advanced grid balancing tools for grid operators to control these networks from a broader energy standpoint. 

“Our alliance with Burns & McDonnell will allow Greenlots to accelerate the global deployment of innovative EV charging solutions,” said John McLean, Director of Strategic Alliances for Greenlots. “Greenlots’ market-leading technology, combined with Burns & McDonnell’s century-plus of design expertise, allows us to offer our clients a unique and compelling turnkey solution.”

“Electric vehicles are coming soon and electric utilities have a great opportunity if they are ready,” says Mike Beehler, Vice President of Burns & McDonnell. “The new charging loads have the potential to be significant so we, as an industry, need to test our response. We are excited to partner with Greenlots, the recognized technology leader, in this emerging technology.”

The project will incorporate networked Level 2 charging stations, each of which can fully charge a vehicle in four to six hours’ time. The new stations will augment an existing charging network on the Burns & McDonnell campus that utilizes older technology. Burns & McDonnell covers 100 percent of the costs of EV charging for employee-owners connected to the campus charging infrastructure.

The Greenlots SKY operating platform is being integrated with Burns & McDonnell’s open standards electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to provide real-time visibility into the network and allow for charging data collection. The software includes an app that will allow Burns & McDonnell employee-owners to monitor progress as their own vehicles charge, or, if waiting in line, see which stations may be available soon. The platform also provides a wealth of data on systems and technology performance that will be vital information as Burns & McDonnell’s charging infrastructure is built out on a broader scale. 

The new charging network will provide Burns & McDonnell’s Business Intelligence and Analytics team with an environment to experiment with new methods of customer interactions. The results will drive solutions for electric utility clients, cities, EVSE solution providers, automakers, and a range of other large commercial and industrial clients who are deploying charging infrastructure at scale.

Charging data will also be analyzed for predictive modeling within a new Burns & McDonnell Integration and Automation Lab that was created to enable real-time testing of advanced equipment that utilities are incorporating into their power grids. The testing and modeling results from this installation will help many of Burns & McDonnell’s utility clients plan for the impact of expected load growth created by thousands of EVs charging on their systems. 

“Our work with Greenlots will allow us advise a range of clients on how to implement EV charging strategies that are the most economical and efficient for their unique operating environments,” says Chris Underwood, General Manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Business & Technology Solutions Division. “Charging networks must be integrated with the latest technology in open platforms that will be flexible enough to accommodate continued innovation and new technologies that are certain to be on the way. This data also will be invaluable for utilities and regulators as they develop new policies, rate structures and legislation that will be needed as EVs become an even bigger part of the transportation fleet.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is an employee-owned, Kansas City-based firm made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists and consultants. Currently ranked as the No. 1 firm in Power Engineering by Engineering News-Record, Burns & McDonnell has more than 50 offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is proud to be ranked on Fortune’s 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.

About Greenlots

Greenlots is unlocking the possibilities of the new electric mobility future by delivering innovative software and services that empowers industries across the globe to deploy EV charging infrastructure at scale. Our technology brings together the latest in EV charging and grid management software, connecting people in a safer, cleaner, and smarter way. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, the company’s global footprint spans across three continents with deployments in 13 countries. Visit greenlots.com for more information or follow us on Twitter @greenlots.