eMobility is at a turning point. With the charging industry having so far been laser-focused on rolling out enough charge points to meet growing demand, things are now changing.
As the infrastructure becomes more prevalent and standardized, the real competitive advantage and value within the eMobility sector are increasingly found not in the hardware itself, but in the software that operates it, enabling smarter integration and enhanced user experiences.
This transition follows a recognizable pattern seen in various technological sectors.
The first wave is driven by hardware technology pioneers, enabling the early phase of transformation, with simple software designed and rolled out to support the hardware.
This is followed by a second wave, characterized by more sophisticated software breathing life and intelligence into the hardware.
A clear example is the mobile industry, where apps catalyzed a significant revolution.
Then, out of that second wave, the software winners evolve into platform-providing giants, creating ecosystems that demote hardware to a secondary role while continuously expanding their feature sets.
eMobility is currently navigating the second, software-driven wave, transforming “dumb” chargers into intelligent devices that not only refine the electric vehicle (EV) ownership experience but also open new avenues for revenue and more efficient energy management.
Accordingly, we are now at the brink of the third, platform-based wave, poised to witness significant innovations for those ready to embrace the changes.
The platform era: where the magic happens
In the fast-approaching platform era, the charging solutions that are emerging right now will become commonplace – and much simpler to proliferate across networks.
The seeds for what is next are already being sown.
Cloud-based platform architecture enables us to offer grid-friendly features like frequency regulation (FCR) periodic and dynamic pricing, and advanced dynamic load management (ADLM).
All pioneering technologies that allow chargers, drivers, and charging point operators (CPOs) to actively steer and service the energy grid, rather than merely draw energy from it.
This is going to mean big changes for the industry.
According to the global management consulting firm Bain & Company, the profit pool for the EV charging sector is likely to grow to between eight billion euros and 13.5 billion euros by 2030 in Europe, the United States (US), and China, with smart energy services leading the growth.
All of this is turning eMobility into a whole new game for CPOs, enabling them to integrate into power grids and even profit from grid balancing through frequency regulation or by opening their chargers to the public.
In other words, the forthcoming transition will redefine eMobility, transforming the charging industry from a cost center into a significant revenue generator.
For CPOs and other industry stakeholders, the directive is therefore clear: embrace the newest and most advanced software to not just prepare for what is coming, but to actively lead the way.
The future of eMobility will be a platform game, providing a golden opportunity to innovate, optimize energy use, and generate new revenue streams—and the future belongs to the early adopters.
