Bus fleet operators managing earlier-generation BYD depot chargers can avoid costly infrastructure replacement after VEV completed a targeted integration that brings legacy units into its VEV-IQ charge point management platform. The development offers operators a route to modernise monitoring and control without undertaking wholesale hardware replacement programmes that could cost larger fleets millions of pounds.
VEV estimates that operators may be able to extend the operational life of existing BYD chargers by between five and 10 years. This protects capital budgets and avoids the early retirement of chargers that remain functional but lack compatibility with modern charge management systems.
Over the past decade, bus operators across the UK and internationally have invested heavily in BYD electric buses and associated depot charging infrastructure. Much of this equipment was installed before open charging standards such as the Open Charge Point Protocol, or OCPP, became widely adopted, creating ongoing challenges around interoperability, system monitoring and long-term software support.
These issues are particularly acute where original equipment manufacturer maintenance contracts are no longer in place. Limited visibility of charger performance and fault data within closed systems can lead to prolonged outages and operational disruption.
To address this, VEV’s engineering team developed an integration within its VEV-IQ platform for selected earlier-generation BYD chargers. VEV-IQ is an enterprise-grade charge point management system designed for fleet environments, with certification from the Open Charge Alliance for OCPP.
Through VEV’s integration, legacy BYD chargers are enabled to communicate using OCPP within VEV-IQ. This brings them into a standards-based operating environment and allows operators to manage both older and newer charging infrastructure through a single dashboard.
In addition to real-time monitoring, the platform includes bespoke load management designed to optimise charging within site grid constraints. Grid capacity limits are an increasing concern for large depots, where exceeding available supply can trigger disruption, financial penalties and operational risk.
By incorporating legacy chargers into VEV-IQ, operators can also strengthen oversight of older infrastructure. Improved visibility, access control and system monitoring reduce both cyber and operational risk, particularly in mixed estates where equipment from different generations and manufacturers operates side by side.
The platform supports faster fault diagnosis for both chargers and vehicles, helping maintenance teams identify issues more precisely and reduce downtime on routes. For bus operators running time-sensitive public services, improved reliability can translate directly into service continuity and cost control.
Hanno Klausmeier, VP Software Engineering at VEV, said: “Fleet electrification rarely follows a single, uniform path. Operators are managing a mix of earlier-generation and next-generation infrastructure, often under significant operational pressure. We are experiencing considerable challenges, with unsupported charger failures sometimes taking months to resolve due to limited visibility of faults within closed systems.”
“Our work with legacy BYD chargers demonstrates the scale and maturity of the reverse engineering capability behind the VEV-IQ team. This is not about one-off integrations: it is about investing in a flexible, scalable platform that can bring diverse infrastructure into a secure, modern, and optimized operating environment. This will protect the massive investment in charging infrastructure our customers made in the past.”
“By bringing these chargers into VEV-IQ, we’re giving operators the insight, control and optimisation they expect from modern infrastructure, without forcing premature and costly hardware replacement, maintaining a unified view on all chargers regardless of whether the chargers are old – and don’t necessarily respect modern OCPP standards – or new.”
As fleets transition towards higher-powered and increasingly standardised charging estates, software-led integration is becoming a central consideration in depot strategy. Protecting existing infrastructure investments while maintaining service reliability is a growing priority for operators working within constrained public sector budgets and regulated transport environments.
VEV’s integration reflects a wider shift in the electrification market, where the focus is moving beyond initial vehicle rollout towards long-term asset management and operational resilience. For operators with mixed charging estates, the ability to bring legacy infrastructure into a modern management environment may provide a practical bridge between early electrification investments and the next phase of fleet transition.
