Understanding E-Mobility Ecosystem: All you need to know beyond Electric Vehicles and Charging stations

Electric mobility is not just about electric cars, electric scooters, e-bikes, electric motorcycles, e-buses and e-trucks. What they all have in common is that they are powered entirely or partially by electricity, contains an energy storage (battery) and charging mechanisms, and mainly derive their energy from the electricity grids via distribution systems with defined regulations.

So eventually, all these components together make the electric mobility ecosystem complete.

Read further to know about various stakeholders of the E-Mobility ecosystem and about the key responsibilities of each of them.

1. EV & Accessories manufacturers :

Not only the car manufacturers (often referred as Auto OEMs), but also the other companies such as battery makers, EV accessories producers , maintenance service providers... etc play a significant role in creating and running an electric vehicle.

 

2. Charge station manufacturers:

These are the companies like ChargePoint Inc, ABB, Tesla, Engie and AeroVironment, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Efacec, Bosch …etc. They design and develop the charging station hardware and software according to various specifications & regulations. Most of the charge station manufactures sell their hardware & software to Charge point operators CPO; however some of the manufactures also play the role of CPO and EMP/EMSP (mentioned below).

3. Charge Point Operator (CPO):

The Charge point operator (CPO) is responsible for both “technical” and “administration” of the charge station. There are numerous charge point operators in every country today, offering various charging station configurations and features.

A typical charge point operator's responsibilities, includes but not limited to :

➤ Technical side: Installation, operation, maintenance & service of charge stations.
➤ Administrate side: billing input to EMP, accessibility, enable roaming..etc.

4. E-Mobility service Providers:

E-Mobility service providers (EMSP or EMP) enables the use of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles . Many of the EMP may not own the charging stations, but they make partnerships with the charge point operators (CPO) and provide E-Mobility as a service to the end-customers.

Simply put, E-Mobility providers (EMP) are the ones who make contract with the end-customer (EV driver), provide charging tags/ RFID cards and do the billing for the services.

5. Grid Operator (DSO): 

The local grid operators are called as DSO (Distribution System Operator). They create, operate and maintain the public distribution grids; they are the ones who 'bring' the electricity to your home / office / public streets.

6. Transmission System Operator (TSO):

TSOs work closely with the DSOs to maintain the grid balance. TSO is responsible for stable grid load in every locality. Along with DSO, they maintain the 'demand' and balance the delivery of power. If & when required, they also set profiles to reduce the supply in every locality.

7. Power generation / Utility Supplier:

The utility provides electricity for the charging points. These utility companies are often the producer of energy, they may own different power generation plants (such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydro...etc); some of the utilities may just buy electricity from other producers too.

8. Regulating authorities

Last but not the least, a very important stakeholder of the E-Mobility ecosystem are the government, policy makers and regulating authorities. They set the regulations for responsibilities for each of the above stakeholders and industry initiatives like “subsidies” to boost the market.

As you may have noticed by now: the overall success of electric mobility system relies on strategic ‘integration’ between each of the above stakeholders. If any single component of this system goes out, the overall functionality and efficiency of the whole system will come to a standstill!