Control access to your chargers by configuring opening hours
In the opening hours settings you have the option of setting the opening hours of your chargers and hence their availability. This feature can be purely informative (outside opening hours, the is still available for charging, but cannot be found via the eCharge+ app, for example) or technical (outside opening hours, the charger is deactivated and cannot be used for charging).
Opening hours are configured via group administration. For this purpose, you can create a new opening time group via the Create icon. A modal opens which guides you through the group system in several steps. In the first step you define the group name.
In the second step, you select the chargers to be managed by the opening time group. Please choose the relevant chargers in the selection list. Selected chargers are additionally represented by a chip at the bottom of the selection list. To deselect, you can either cancel the selection in the list or deselect the chip of the respective charger (X).
Various filters and the Magic Search are available for reducing the selection list (click here for more information on the filter options). Chargers which are already assigned to an opening time group contain a note in the column Group in the selection list.
Please note that chargers can only be in one opening hours group. When you select a charger that has already been assigned, it is removed from the previous group during group creation and assigned to the new group.
After confirming the setup in the third step, the opening time group is created. The modal then closes and the newly created group appears in the group overview. The number next to the group name shows the number of chargers assigned.
Opening hours groups can be edited by clicking on the edit button. You can choose between deleting existing groups or changing their names and assigned charger. The process here is similar to the group creation.
By selecting an opening time group, you arrive at the respective group menu. Here you can view the valid configuration on the Configuration tab or create an initial configuration using the button, which can then be adapted using the editing icon:
- Opening hours : Choose the time slots for each day when the chargers of the group will be available for charging and their location will be published (e.g. in the eCharge+ App). You can modify the settings in intervals of 15 minutes. Click + to add another configurable time span. You can delete periods by clicking the bin icon.
- Time zone: In the dropdown Time zone you can define the time zone.
- Holidays:The selection of holidays Consider holidays as well as the selection of the country will influence the opening hours. In this case the charge points will be shown as closed on all holidays or will be switched off automatically if this option is set (see Out of opening hours).
- Out of opening hours: If the Automatic shutdown out of opening hours function is activated, the chargers of the group are technically inoperative outside opening hours and charging sessions cannot be started at the chargers. In addition, the chargers are not publicly displayed (e.g. no display in the eCharge+ app). If the function is deactivated, the charger is not published outside the defined opening hours (e.g. no display in the eCharge+ App), but it is still possible to start charging sessions. This is recommended if you want to allow a certain user group access to a charger outside opening hours.
On the tab Members, you can see a list of all chargers that are assigned to this group.