It’s a fact that electric vehicles (EVs) are an essential part of our present and future. EV sales are booming around the globe, with about 20 million passenger EVs currently on the road. Analysts predict that about half of the cars on the road will be electric by 2050. The exponential growth of electric vehicle adoption has fueled a wealth of opportunity across many market segments. Adopting the right EV charging and energy management solution is one of the key elements of success in the business. EV billing management is an important aspect of this solution.
What is EV Billing?
In general, billing is an automated process that includes defining pricing plans, calculating fees, issuing invoices and collecting payment. Designed specifically for the electric vehicle charging industry, EV billing is a smart, flexible, end-to-end, secured process of billing electric vehicle owners for the charging of their electric vehicles. Advanced EV billing solutions offer unique capabilities that support a wide variety of flexible billing plans and complex business models.
Why is it essential to streamline your EV Billing operations?
A seamless EV billing experience is a critical part of a seamless EV charging experience. It is essential that eMobility service providers have a robust and flexible EV billing solution – tailored specifically for the EV charging industry – that addresses every aspect of their operations. A scalable, comprehensive solution results in a seamless EV charging experience, more efficient billing operations and optimized monetization of EV charging networks.
- Streamline EV Charging Billing Operations
eMobility service providers are focused on revenue growth while delivering on the promise of a seamless customer experience. This is enabled by comprehensive billing automation that accelerates monetization and improves ROI.
eMobility service providers need an EV billing and invoicing solution that enables them to provide flexible payment models and tariffs. A flexible yet intuitive billing solution can offer a wide variety of billing plans, including ‘pay-as-you-go’ per kilowatt-hour (kWh); subscription-based; pay less per time-of-use; promotions such as first hour free, second hour-paid; coupons; loyalty programs and, as well as various payment options that all meet business needs. This type of solution empowers service providers to streamline their EV operations, providing complete visibility and control of the entire billing process.
The EV charging session is usually initiated by the eMobility service provider’s mobile app, an individual RFID card or Plug and Charge technology. Once the EV charging session ends, EV owners are billed for their charging session via credit card or debit card. A payment gateway, which is part of the billing process, empowers eMobility service providers to accept credit cards, and to authorize and transfer funds between the driver and the EV charging provider. Payment gateway communications are automated and secured.
- Maximize the monetization of EV charging
Billing for EV charging is perhaps most similar to billing in the telecommunications industry. Clients are offered various pricing plans to suit their specific needs and usage. Managing billing data is an important functionality. Billing data may not always be clean and accurate. An advanced billing solution automatically identifies corrupted transactions before entering them into the billing cycle. This precludes loss of revenue for the eMobility service providers and avoids disputes with drivers to ensure customer satisfaction.
- Build EV driver loyalty with a seamless customer experience
In a world of disruption and change, eMobility service providers need to offer a seamless EV charging customer experience to build long-term customer loyalty and satisfaction. Service providers must optimize the EV charging customer journey and cost by offering a variety of personalized, simple billing plans and payment methods that meet drivers’ needs and expectations. Attractive subscription offers for EV charging also help boost customer retention.
To further optimize the customer experience, eMobility service providers offer mobile apps that empower drivers to view and control in real time all their personal billing data and transaction history. The apps empower drivers to change their billing plan, payment methods and credit card details, view costs before charging, and receive detailed invoices.
Gaining the Competitive Edge
To stand out from the competition, EV charging providers such as EVSPs, EMSPs can offer satisfaction-based EV billing capabilities such as personalized billing plans, promotions, discounts and special offers. This includes a variety of flexible pricing plans based on time of day, kWh, per minute/hour (or a combination of both) and charging speed (fast or ultrafast), loyalty programs and more. Advanced EV charging business models also incorporate various payment models and tariffs, including prepaid, postpaid, ad hoc and group business plans for charging during off-peak and peak hours.
