"Working with Flipturn so far has been really great. They’re responsive, nimble, and constantly releasing new features. We’ve even integrated Flipturn into Slack so that people get notified faster when they’re up next for charging."
VP of Customer Ops at Harbinger Motors
The challenge
With 145 employees sharing 17 Level 2 chargers, charger availability quickly became a bottleneck. Harbinger needed a system that could make it easy to see who was charging, keep vehicles moving, and balance power within the limits of their site capacity.
Legacy systems were too cumbersome. RFID cards required purchase and distribution, while app-based systems demanded user account management and ongoing support. Harbinger needed a frictionless, scalable way to manage charger access and maintain high utilization without extra administrative work.
Easy and fast charging experience
Harbinger chose Flipturn’s QR code charger access system for its simplicity and speed compared to traditional RFID or app-based solutions. With Flipturn, drivers scan a QR code and begin charging using a phone number or email, eliminating the need for physical cards, app downloads, or user accounts.
This gives Harbinger immediate visibility into who is charging and allows quick communication when it is time to move a vehicle. The result is a seamless system that scales easily as new employees join.
Driving high utilization with notifications
More than 140 employees share access to 13–17 chargers, so turnover speed matters. Harbinger uses Flipturn’s real-time notifications to keep utilization high:
- Integrated Slack alerts announce when chargers become available, so employees can plug in right away.
- SMS notifications remind drivers when charging is complete.
- Idle detection highlights chargers that are not in active use.
These tools help Harbinger maintain 77% average utilization during work hours, with chargers running continuously from early morning through evening.
Smart energy management
Harbinger’s electrical capacity cannot support all chargers running at maximum power simultaneously. Flipturn’s dynamic energy management automatically balances load across all chargers every 30 seconds, adjusting output to stay within the site limit while maintaining optimal charging speeds.
Previously, Harbinger capped each charger’s power evenly, which led to slower charging even when capacity was available. Flipturn allows them to use the available current more efficiently and complete charging sessions faster without manual adjustments.
Harbinger's timeline in Flipturn, showing power usage graphs for chargers at their HQ throughout the day, where total energy consumption at any point is capped at 80 kW.
Results
- 77% percent average charger utilization during business hours
- Faster charging through smart load balancing, without infrastructure upgrades
- Less admin work and employee time saved with QR-based charger access
