EV adoption is growing exponentially, as are the opportunities for players in the e-Mobility ecosystem. Leveraging those opportunities requires overcoming complex challenges, especially when it comes to billing.

A primary challenge is the variety of stakeholders and EV business models. Each charger host, charge point operator, eMobility service provider, roaming network provider, etc. needs to be able to manage multiple plans – pre-paid, postpaid, ad hoc, group plans (driver/station group), etc.

These plans further vary based on the type of customer – individual, fleet, public, and private – and the location of the charging site – homes, offices, fleet charging centers, parking lots, multi-tenant units, municipal locations, and more.

 

Price per charge adds another wrinkle to the situation. Consumers can be charged based on how much they use the charge point, price per kWh, price per minute or hour, or a flat fee. Each charge session may come with ancillary fees such as a connection fee; waiting fee for staying connected after reaching full state of charge; or an out-of-network access fee. Additionally, fees may vary based on the geographic location of the charging station – a busy site within a city or a charging location along a highway.

Of course, the billing infrastructure must be secure, easy to maintain, and facilitate real-time user support. Accuracy is critical – the system must generate personalized ratings based on components like the energy tariff from the utility, host charges, OEM discount, driver-specific plans, day/time, taxation, etc.

e-Mobility service providers need to comply with new billing-related regulatory requirements (state, federal, and international) and ensure their network is adapted in an optimized way without increasing operational costs.

EVSPs, CPOs, EMSPs, and the other players in the market can leverage a variety of business models to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They can smooth the path to profit with products such as setup, membership, early termination fees, multiple tariffs, and more. They can build immediate gains with offers, promotions, discounts, and additional EV-specific aspects, like home-charging reimbursement.

To increase long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty, service providers need “satisfaction-based” infrastructure, as well, such as self-service apps connected directly to the back-end billing infrastructure. The apps must prevent surprises, allowing drivers to see the price before making charging reservations and access real-time billing, not just at the end of the billing cycle. Customers need clearly detailed invoices of overall usage, information down to the per-session level, and easy-to-understand account statements. These self-service tools not only differentiate EV service providers from their competitors, but also minimize driver billing complaints and reduce support center costs.

The infrastructure must be able to handle today’s opportunities while being future-proof, so the ideal EV billing solution has to:

• Ensure their front- and back-end charging management system can manage the variations and combinations of customer types, billing plans, and charging events.
• Provide end-to-end connectivity with the incoming data from the chargers and also include the ability for charge detail record data (CDR) clean-up and filtering to ensure efficient and error-free billing cycles, higher revenues, and fewer billing complaints.
• Be easy to configure with robust and flexible capabilities
• Offer settlements capabilities among all the market players
• Deliver a streamlined communications infrastructure to share the variety of plans with sales, marketing, and support teams, who communicate directly with end customers. This is particularly crucial since customers demand to see clear business propositions before buying in.

Driivz Business Value

Driivz vast experience and leadership in EV charging management, has given us the long view on EV charging billing. We ensure operators can monetize their networks and gain competitive advantage by offering innovative tariffs and billing plans. We continually develop and deploy an extremely powerful and integrated billing engine that supports multiple business models across stakeholders and situations.

• Increase revenues by streamlining the billing process and ensure efficient, error-free billing cycles
• Enhance agility by easily managing multiple billing plans that cater to your business needs and easily adjust them based on peak charging times and cost of energy
• Streamline partner operations with a scalable, flexible integration of settlements between different parties and partnerships with vehicle manufacturers into your network offering
• Improve offerings using billing-oriented analytics and driver-pattern data, providing customized plans for your customers and business partners

Explore our robust billing module, which supports and futureproofs your complex business models, accelerating your profit for the long-run.