During a charging session for an electric vehicle (EV), multiple parties are involved, each receiving a margin for their services. These margins are essential to ensure the continuity and quality of the charging infrastructure and services. Below is an explanation of the involved parties and why they apply a margin:
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Charging Station Owner (Host): The owner invests in the purchase and installation of the charging station and is responsible for making the location available. The charging rate set by the owner to compensate for electricity consumption, compensates for these investments and any operational costs, such as maintenance and electricity consumption.
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Charge Point Operator (CPO): The CPO manages the charging station, ensuring its technical functionality, performing software updates, and resolving malfunctions. The margin received by the CPO covers the smooth handling of financial transactions and the maintenance of these processes and covers these operational costs and ensures a profitable operation of the charging network.
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Mobility Service Provider (MSP): The MSP provides charging cards or apps that grant EV drivers access to various charging stations. The margin received by the MSP covers the smooth handling of financial transactions and the maintenance of these processes and covers the costs of offering these services and developing user-friendly platforms.
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Roaming hubs and other service providers: These parties ensure interoperability between different charging networks, allowing EV drivers to charge at multiple providers using a single charging card. They charge fees to Mobility Service Providers (MSPs) for this, as they enable the technical and operational infrastructure required for this collaboration. These fees are passed on by the MSPs in the roaming margin they receive. The margin of roaming hubs also covers the costs of facilitating cooperation and exchanging data between systems.
The attached document provides a visual overview of the key parties that influence the price of a charging session.