Background
As the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to scale, one innovative company is pushing the boundaries of how drivers ‘refuel’ on the road—not by plugging in, but by swapping out. This California-based EV infrastructure company is rethinking the way energy is delivered to vehicles, aiming to deploy battery-swapping stations that allow for quick, efficient replacement of depleted EV batteries. To support this forward-thinking model, the company needed to overhaul its edge computing infrastructure with a solution that met strict performance, reliability, and environmental requirements.
The Company
The customer, a pioneering EV startup, is developing a nationwide network of automated battery-swap stations that offer an alternative to conventional charging. Designed to minimize downtime for EV drivers, their stations use mechanical systems to replace drained batteries with fully charged ones in a matter of minutes. These operations rely heavily on edge computing to coordinate hardware movement, manage sensor inputs, and communicate with centralized management platforms in real time.
The Challenges
As the company set its sights on scaling its EV battery-swap stations across new markets, it quickly became clear that its existing edge infrastructure was not built for the future. The demands of managing real-time data from sensors, coordinating mechanical battery-swap operations, and ensuring uptime in various environmental conditions required a more robust and reliable computing backbone. However, the road to finding a suitable industrial PC was far from straightforward.
At the heart of the challenge was the company’s need for a purpose-built edge computing solution—one that could integrate seamlessly into existing enclosures, withstand varying environmental stressors, and support intelligent automation. But as they began evaluating options, several core issues emerged:
Despite their innovative approach, the company faced several major obstacles in scaling their infrastructure:
- Vendor Limitations: Many potential hardware partners struggled to meet the company’s strict technical and environmental criteria. Some proposed off-the-shelf systems that lacked the industrial reliability needed for field deployments, while others offered overly complex, over-engineered platforms that introduced unnecessary cost and integration complexity. There was a clear gap between what was needed and what vendors were offering.
- Legacy Confusion: The company’s internal teams had limited documentation on the computing systems deployed in their earlier stations. From a procurement and engineering standpoint, this created a blind spot—they weren’t sure what specifications they were replacing or how to benchmark potential new systems. This uncertainty slowed down the hardware refresh process and increased the risk of compatibility issues.
- Environmental Constraints: Since all systems had to be installed within sealed NEMA-rated enclosures outdoors, the company needed a fanless, thermally optimized computing solution. However, they also didn’t want to overpay for ruggedized features that weren’t necessary due to the protection offered by the enclosure. This required a nuanced balance between ruggedization and efficiency—something not all vendors could offer.
The Solution
After researching potential replacements through online paid search, the company found Premio. They discovered a wide range of industrial grade solutions that were a possible fit for their overall solution and reached out to Premio.
After lengthy discussions, the company narrowed down their choice to the BCO-3000-RPL industrial computer. Engineered for industrial use cases, the BCO-3000-RPL offered a powerful, fanless design with flexible I/O and processing capabilities—tailored to support edge deployments in automated environments. Most importantly, the system was built to operate passively inside a NEMA-rated enclosure without requiring excessive ruggedization. This meant the company could avoid paying for unnecessary hardware reinforcements, while still ensuring uptime and stability in semi-outdoor environments.
BCO-3000-RPL Key Features:
- 12th/13th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors
- Small Form Factor
- Rich, High-Speed I/O
- Industrial-Grade Design
- Edge AI Ready with HAILO-8 AI Accelerator
Premio’s solution also came with a dedicated technical team based in California, offering localized support that ensured rapid prototyping, testing, and deployment assistance—something previous vendors had struggled to provide.
The Benefits
With the BCO-3000-RPL deployed across their new generation of battery-swap stations, the company unlocked several operational and strategic benefits that helped accelerate their go-to-market goals:
- Seamless Fit, Reduced Overhead: The BCO-3000-RPL's compact, fanless design allowed for a smooth installation within the company’s existing NEMA enclosures—avoiding the need for costly retrofitting or redesign. This not only reduced installation time but also minimized disruption to ongoing deployments.
- California-Based Support: With both the customer and the technology provider located in California, the company benefited from localized, responsive technical and sales support.
- Requirement Fit: The BCO-3000-RPL fulfilled all environmental, performance, and form factor needs without over-engineering—ensuring cost-efficiency while maintaining operational integrity.
- Streamlined Deployment: The compatibility of the system with existing NEMA enclosures meant faster deployment timelines and reduced engineering overhead.
By modernizing their edge computing infrastructure with the BCO-3000-RPL, the company took a major step forward in delivering a scalable, reliable, and innovative battery-swap experience to EV drivers—backed by a trusted industrial hardware partner.