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    Quick Start Guide
    • 29 Oct 2024
    • 4 Minutes to read
    • Contributors
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    Contents

    Quick Start Guide

    • Updated on 29 Oct 2024
    • 4 Minutes to read
    • Contributors
    • Dark
      Light
    • PDF
    Article summary

    Getting Started

    Tap Electric is an easy-to-use charger management system that allows you to set access and tariffs, collect payments, perform charger maintenance, and more, all from a convenient app or webportal. Tap Electric supports all chargers that speak OCPP 1.6.

    This guide helps you get started with Tap in 3 steps if you are a charger owner, or 4 steps if you are an installer or operator. It also provides some helpful checklists for before and after onboarding to make sure you have got everything in place to start managing your chargers.

    Tip: Prepare your account and location in advance

    We recommend to set up everything as much as possible from behind your desk, so that when you are at a location, you only have to add the charger.

    We recommend using the webportal for setting up your accounts, locations, and other day-to-day management tasks as it is easier to manage from a laptop. We recommend using your phone at site to add chargers and link QR stickers when necessary. Having said that, either will work for most tasks.

    Pre-flight checklist

    Required input for setting up a (connected) account and location
    1. Company name (if applicable)
    2. Address
    3. VAT number (if applicable) and preferred tax settings
    4. Account administrator names and emails
    5. Email to send invoices to
    6. Email to send alerts to (like “charger offline” alerts - probably maintenance staff if applicable)
    7. Bank account details (UK: account number & sort code | EU: IBAN and BIC)
    8. Location GPS coordinates (right click exact location on Google Maps)
    9. Charging price that the owner should be reimbursed (ex VAT):
      1. Start fee: … price per session
      2. Energy fee: … price per kWh
      3. Idle fee: … price per hour
    10. Will there be any home charging on this account? If yes:
      1. Will this be for a company driver/vehicle? Does the company need to reimburse the home owner for the electricity (i.e. split billing)? If yes:
        1. The (connected) account with the home charger needs the fleet module activated. Contact support@tapelectric.app to request activation.

    Step 1: (First time users only) Create your Tap Electric account

    Create your free Tap Electric account at web.tapelectric.app.

    You can find more details on this here: Creating & Deleting a Charger Management Account

    Step 2: Setting up the new location

    1. Navigate to Location > connect new chargers > Create an empty location
    2. Enter the details of the location. In case you are unsure of the latitude and longitude, you can verify this by going to maps.google.com, search for your location, and then right click on the red pin, this should show the latitude and longitude.
    3. Set the correct location access: Location Access
    4. Set the correct location visibility: Location Visibility
    5. Set the tariff: Setting Tariffs
    6. In case you want to use one of our charge control algorithms (energy management/scheduling/load balancing etc): Charge Control

    As an installer or operator, you can link the location to a Connected Account. If you are installing this charger for yourself, or if this account is directly linked to the owner, continue to step 4.

    What are Connected Accounts?

    Connected Accounts have 2 main functions:

    1. Make it simpler for installers & operators to manage all of their customers from one place, instead of jumping between many accounts.
    2. Automatically split revenues between yourself and the customer using a Service Plan. A unique Service Plan can be created per Connected Account (i.e. per customer). Note that Service Plans are transparent to the Connected Account, so make sure you agree on this plan with your customer first.
    1. Create a new connected account: Account > Connected accounts > connect new account
      1. More information on creating Connected Accounts here: Connected Accounts
    2. To link the connected account to the location, navigate to the location. Select “other location settings” > Link location to connected account
    3. You can invite your customer to their connected account as an administrator so that they can see their dashboard, manage their own pricing, etc. To invite your customer to their connected account: Open the connected account, then Account > Account administrators > invite new admin

    Step 4: Add the charger to the location

    1. Follow the onboarding guide for your specific charger brand: Charger Onboarding Guides
    2. Once the charger is onboarded, make sure to select “add to existing location”, and add it to the location you already created in Step 2. In case you create a new/duplicate location in this step, you can simply delete the empty location.
    3. Optional: Set charger specific settings: Charger Settings
    4. Optional: link a QR sticker to the charger: QR Stickers

    Final Checklists

    Final checklist
    1. Open the app. Can different driver types (guest, resident etc.) find and access the charger as intended?
    2. Is the pricing correct? If you have any Driver Group pricing, do those drivers have the correct price in their app?
      1. Tip: if you see anything off, have you checked the tax settings in your account?
    3. If a QR sticker is required: does scanning the QR sticker open up the correct charger in the app?
    4. Can you start a session via the app?
    5. Is your bank account linked to your account?
    Extra checklist for installers
    1. Is the charger linked to your customer’s connected account?
    2. Are your customer’s bank details added to their connected account?
    What's Next