Key Takeaways
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What is an EVSP?
An Electric Vehicle Service Provider (EVSP) delivers end-to-end EV charging services, managing both infrastructure operations and the driver experience. The EVSP oversees the IT systems (including the EV charging and energy management system) required for controlling and optimizing EV charging operations and customer interactions. EVSPs typically operate branded networks that offer EV charging services for on-the-road public charging, residential charging, workplace and destination charging, and fleet depots.
What should Electric Vehicle Service Providers care about?
Everything related to the EV charging experience is under the purview of the EVSP.
| EVSP Responsibilities | |
| Area | Responsibility |
| Charging operations | Manage EV charging networks and ensure chargers are available and operating reliably |
| Energy management | Optimize energy usage across charging infrastructure, including integration with renewable energy and local storage |
| Technical operations | Manage the communications, databases, software, and hardware to enable optimized operations |
| EV billing | Manage EV billing operations, tariffs, payments, and financial reconciliation |
| Driver services | Provide driver services and support, including customer service and call center operations |
| eRoaming | Enable roaming between networks so drivers can access chargers across different operators |
These responsibilities dictate an EVSP’s primary concerns.
- Network availability and stability: EVSPs must ensure the chargers remain up and running 24/7. They need self-healing technologies to remotely fix issues, reduce the need for on-site repairs, and strengthen the driver charging process. Customers expect every charge point to work where and when needed.
- Scaling infrastructure: EVSPs need to keep up with charging demand from millions of EVs sold each year. They manage a growing number of EV drivers, chargers, and transactions across their networks. Smart energy management reduces the need for grid infrastructure investment and lowers energy costs by monitoring, managing, and adjusting energy flow among charging stations, battery storage, renewable energy sources, and the grid.
- Driver charging experience: EVSPs should maintain the highest level of customer service. A fully branded app and web portal give drivers access to all their EV charging activities in real time and allow them to plan routes and reserve charge points. They can easily start charging, manage their accounts, make payments, and report issues.
- Network connectivity: Managing their own station operations and connectivity to stations outside their networks is another EVSP concern. eRoaming allows EV drivers to charge anywhere but be billed from their “home” eMobility service provider.
- Compliance: Meeting standards and protocols such as OCPP, OCPI, openADR, and ISO 15118 helps smooth operations by streamlining communication across all components of the EV charging ecosystem.
- Accurate billing: EVSPs typically serve multiple clients, so their EV billing infrastructure must support various business models. This includes pre- and post-paid billing, flexible tariff and tax configuration, roaming reconciliation across networks, multi-currency support, and operating across borders while meeting regional and international regulatory requirements.
How can EVSPs optimize their business?
EVSPs need a 360° real-time view of their charging networks, charging sites, and driver activity to optimize operations and manage the charging experience. This visibility helps them quickly identify issues and maintain reliable charger performance, supporting a consistent EV charging experience for drivers.
- Maximize operations: EVSPs must ensure their hardware is fully operational with systems in place to find and fix issues before their customers – and their administrators – discover problems. Firmware updates must be automatically provisioned to ensure that they are up and running as quickly as possible. The entire system must be electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)-neutral so EVSPs can install the latest chargers without affecting operations.
- Manage power demand: Efficient power demand management prevents electricity grid strain and peak demand costs, or even fines. With smart energy management, EVSPs can keep costs down and avoid expensive investments in energy infrastructure. Any onsite renewables can charge a battery energy management system (BESS) during daylight hours, making the energy available during peak charging times.
- Enable V2G technology: An EVSP servicing a corporate EV fleet charging depot, residential buildings, commercial and industrial buildings, or public parking lots can implement vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities. These allow energy to be transferred back to the grid from vehicles connected to EV chargers, further optimizing energy costs.
- Streamline EV billing: Monetizing networks requires a flexible EV billing system that streamlines processes and ensures accurate, efficient billing. EVSPs can analyze customer behavior and leverage the flexibility of the billing system to drive the creation of new strategies and offerings.
- Ensure driver satisfaction: Apps and web portals strengthen the customer experience and reduce operating costs. They give drivers information about their accounts, charger locations, availability, routes, reservations, payments, and more.
With smart energy management, EV driver self-service, flexible EV billing, and overall operational efficiency, EVSPs can increase revenue while reducing TCO.
How is an EVSP different from a CPO or EMSP?
An EVSP combines charge point operator and eMobility service provider roles into a single, end-to-end charging services model.
Charge Point Operator (CPO): CPOs build and manage charging network infrastructure, including installing EV chargers and associated hardware and software, and ensuring reliable operations.
- Primary concerns:
- Maintaining high charger uptime and reliable 24/7 network performance
- Scaling charging networks across new sites, regions, and use cases
- Managing diverse charging hardware and systems through open, hardware-agnostic platforms
eMobility Service Provider (EMSP): EMSPs deliver EV charging services to drivers by managing subscriptions, payments, customer experience, and access to charging networks. They do not own or operate charging infrastructure and therefore rely on roaming agreements with charge point operators and electric vehicle service providers to enable access to chargers.
- Primary concerns:
- Increasing the number of registered subscribers
- Forming roaming agreements to connect to charger networks
- Partnering with fleets, automakers and dealerships, power utilities, and other industry players
When infrastructure operations and driver services are managed together, EVSPs can coordinate charger operations, billing, roaming, and driver services more efficiently. This reduces system fragmentation, improves reliability, and supports a more seamless charging process for drivers as networks scale.
How does Driivz support EVSPs?
The Driivz EV charging and energy management platform helps EVSPs optimize operations, improve charger uptime, and scale to meet the growing demand for EV charging. Its extremely flexible billing engine enables network monetization, while OCPI roaming capabilities extend driver access to additional charging networks.
Other Driivz platform capabilities for EVSPs include:
- a holistic network view
- network monitoring and self-healing
- fleet EV charging management
- smart energy management
- white-labeled driver app and online portal
- V2G communications
Through support for all major EV charging industry standards and protocols, Driivz provides a future-ready solution that empowers EVSPs to grow, innovate, and build lasting customer loyalty.
