Admin Overrides

Admin overrides allow operators to bypass the standard payment flow and start charging sessions without requiring a card tap. This is useful for providing free charging to residents, employees, VIP guests, or for testing and maintenance purposes.

What Are Admin Overrides?

Normally, every charging session begins with a contactless card payment. An admin override skips the payment step entirely — the operator authenticates using a PIN code on the touchscreen, and the contactor closes immediately without any preauthorization. The session is recorded as a complimentary session in the system logs and on Thorium Cloud, with zero cost.

Overridden sessions still track energy consumption and duration. This data is available in your analytics dashboard, giving you full visibility into how much "free" energy is being dispensed and by whom.

Starting a Free Session

1. On the touchscreen home screen, tap the channel you want to activate.
2. Instead of tapping a payment card, press and hold the Thorium logo in the top-left corner for 3 seconds. This opens the admin authentication prompt.
3. Enter the 6-digit admin PIN. The default PIN is printed on the quick start card included with your unit.
4. Select Start Free Session.
5. The contactor will close and charging begins immediately with no payment hold.

To end a free session, navigate to the active session screen and tap Stop Session. Alternatively, simply unplugging the vehicle will trigger the standard session-end logic (the contactor opens after detecting zero current for 30 seconds).

Use Cases

Residential Buildings

In apartment buildings with shared parking, operators often want residents to charge for free (or at cost) while visitors pay the standard rate. Admin overrides let the building manager start complimentary sessions for residents without involving a payment card. Combined with Thorium Cloud analytics, the building administration can track each resident's consumption for fair cost-splitting at the end of the month.

Hotels and Hospitality

Some hotels prefer to offer EV charging as a complimentary amenity for guests, similar to Wi-Fi or parking. Front desk staff can use the admin override to activate chargers for arriving guests. The energy cost can then be bundled into the room rate or absorbed as an operational expense.

Staff and Employee Vehicles

Businesses that provide employee parking with chargers may want to offer free charging as a workplace benefit. The admin override allows facilities management to activate sessions for authorized employees without requiring individual payment.

Testing and Maintenance

During installation, commissioning, or troubleshooting, electricians and technicians need to activate chargers without processing a real payment. Admin overrides provide a clean way to do this while still logging the session for diagnostic purposes.

Configuring Default Overrides

For locations where free charging is the norm (e.g., a residential building where all sessions are complimentary), you can configure a channel to always start in override mode:

1. Navigate to Settings → Channels.
2. Select the channel you want to configure.
3. Under Session Mode, change from Paid to Free.
4. Tap Save.

When a channel is set to Free mode, tapping it on the home screen immediately starts a session without any payment or PIN entry. The touchscreen will show a "Free Charging" badge to indicate that no payment is being collected.

Remote Override via Thorium Cloud

Operators with Thorium Cloud access can start and stop override sessions remotely. Navigate to your unit's dashboard, select a channel, and click Start Free Session. This is particularly useful for managing multiple sites from a central location or for granting access to a specific driver without being physically present.