Pionix, AST-X and Solectrix Launch Turnkey EV Charge Controller Partnership Built on EVerest

Three companies have joined forces to give EV charger makers a faster route to market: rather than starting a charge controller from scratch, manufacturers can now begin with a proven reference platform and have it tailored to their needs. The collaboration brings together Pionix, AST-X and Solectrix, and its centerpiece is what the partners describe as a configurable, ready-made controller for software-defined charging.

The foundation is Pionix’s controller reference design together with its ChargeBridge module, which runs the open-source EVerest charging stack. ChargeBridge handles the low-level charging tasks — handshaking, PWM and safety monitoring — on a microcontroller, kept separate from the Linux side that runs EVerest and manages OCPP, ISO 15118 and smart charging functions. CCS is supported today, with modules for MCS, CHAdeMO, ChaoJi and GB/T in the pipeline. Pionix also supplies the reference design and cloud services for over-the-air updates and security.

Each partner covers a distinct slice of the development chain. AST-X shepherds customer projects from initial definition through to production, handling hardware and PCB engineering, mechanical design, qualification and manufacturing. Solectrix contributes embedded software and Linux expertise, including board support package development and system integration. According to the companies, customers can stand up an initial proof of concept in a matter of days using development kits and hardware they already have. The published timeline places a functional prototype at ten weeks — two weeks of definition followed by eight weeks of prototyping — with eight weeks of integration and testing and another ten weeks of industrialization before series production begins.

The partners argue that consolidating charging logic, compute and interfaces onto a single PCB strips out much of the internal wiring and assembly work inside a charger. That reduces manufacturing cost and eliminates connection points that tend to cause failures in the field. They also note that new features and standards can be delivered via OTA updates instead of hardware redesigns, sparing manufacturers a fresh board revision every time requirements shift. The offering is already available, and manufacturers can evaluate the reference system before committing to a custom development path.

Stefan Schütz, Managing Director of AST-X and Solectrix, framed the proposition as a way to avoid a false trade-off: charger makers, he said, should not have to pick between moving quickly and getting a controller suited to their specific product. Combining AST-X’s hardware development and industrialization strengths with Solectrix’s embedded Linux and system integration know-how, he added, allows a validated reference design to be adapted to real customer requirements and carried through validation, series production and long-term lifecycle support.