Learn about the P3 Charging Index and how it may affect the data behind charging features.

Piotr Majcher

What is P3 index and what it means for e-mobility?

Range anxiety. It seems like this term is by now known to the entire e-mobility industry and generates lots of debates around the topic. To no surprise, this is in fact a big factor slowing down the mass adoption of EVs around the world, especially in countries where charging infrastructure falls behind.

Knowing the significance behind the matter, automakers race to launch electric cars suitable for long-distance journeys with a very high charging possibility that’s fit for super fast charging (100kW and more). As much as it looks extremely attractive on paper, the actual, everyday charging capacity often differs massively from the promised maximum, making it not the best point of comparison for many confused first-time buyers.

The truth behind maximum charging capacity

There are few points to consider when speaking about EVs’ charging procedure. Maximum capacity, although willingly promoted by automakers, might be confusing for inexperienced drivers, who would think that i.e. 100kW super fast charging will be a round-the-clock occurrence anytime they plug their vehicle in. We must take into account that the maximum capacity may only be reached under ideal conditions which are usually nowhere to be found while everyday EV utilization. Amongst the factors heavily impacting the charge speed are temperature, state of charge (SoC), the type/brand of the charging point, age of the vehicle, very low battery level and many more.

It’s the “ideal” charging range, usually between 20% - 80% of the total battery capacity. The lower limit comes from drivers' behavior, as they want to avoid running out of range and will start recharging sooner than necessary. Once most cars have reached around 80%, then charging times dramatically slow down as there's less power available for use within the engine itself. This distorts the charging speed and makes the given maximum capacity not usually a decent point of comparison. To make sense out of these reports and differentiations for an average consumer, many now indicate both numbers: their maximum potential as well as what most drivers will actually experience in daily use.

However, there is still a lack of unified figures that would allow for a cohesive comparison between numerous brands on the market.

P3 Group - consulting and engineering agency - has created a calculation that aims to standardize the average charging capacity that can reflect the real-time charging from the user’s perspective. The P3 Index “defines the charging speed of vehicles and leads to a significantly higher comparability and therefore to more transparency regarding the real suitability for everyday use of electric vehicles on long distances” as we read on their page.

If widely adopted, such standardization could significantly improve the transparency of charging procedures across various brands and types.

In simple words, if an EV reaches an index of 1.0, in practice the vehicle would be able to charge a range of 300 km in only 20 minutes.

What’s interesting, amongst available vehicles on the market, none has reached the 1.0 score, although some are fairly close. With Porsche Taycan leading the pack at 0.72, through VW. ID3 scoring 0.70, to Tesla Model 3, closing the big three with 0.66 P3 charging index value.

Why does the industry need such charging standardization?

The e-mobility market, as much as it’s blooming and growing at a very rapid pace, still requires lots of work put in. Especially in terms of unification and ratification of widely approved standards. This is beyond important from the user perspective as one of the main factors slowing down the mass adoption (apart from undeveloped charging infrastructure) is the confusion of first-time buyers who often resign from the idea of getting an EV due to the lack of unified knowledge. The question of how fast the vehicle charges and what is the charging range is naturally one of the first that comes to mind and not clearly stated information on it may discourage the end user from buying an EV.

In order to ensure that the future of electric mobility looks bright, transparency, clearly presented data and standards open for everyone should be the primary focus. In such cases, initiatives like P3 Charging Index may turn out to be the determining factor pushing the mass adoption forward.

Discover the differences between open and closed charging networks and their advantages.

The world of electric vehicles is ever changing with the introduction of new models and advancements in technology. One thing that hasn't changed however, is how you charge your vehicle once it's out of juice. Charging infrastructure has been and is one of the biggest challenges of the entire industry. Range anxiety in many instances is the main reason as to why people fear purchasing an electric car or deploying a fleet.

Being a very complex undertaking, charging networks and their utilization possibilities are shaped by many different factors. One of them would be the type of networks.

There are two types of charging stations: open and closed. Many would find it difficult to grasp the hold of the differences between them and yet, there is a fairly simple analogy that perfectly describes what it is all about. Namely, in order to fully understand the contrast between them, we can think about Android and iOS systems.

Open charging networks allow for standard communications to be used, so it is easy and efficient. This means that charging station owners can connect to more than one open network without needing any upgrades or changes in hardware since they are all compatible with the same standards-based networking providers. Open networks make it easier for drivers who prefer using their own programs or pay directly at any time without having an account on one specific network. It's much like using a phone with an Android system - you do not have to search for specific chargers or apps as there is a wide standardization allowing users to use various different types as they are all unified.

With the closed network, e-mobility service providers do not have to comply with open standards and can instead set up their stations using proprietary technology. This means that they are able to limit which networks customers can connect to as well as where a car will be allowed to stop for a charge. Within this system it is a bit easier for e-mobility service providers to control their costs, which can be a difficult task with open networks. Easy-to-understand analogy of what closed charging networks really are would be to compare them to the Apple company. iPhone producers heavily focus on making sure their devices are only compatible with their other products. Which means that with a closed charging network all electric cars have to use a specific charging connector - regardless of its manufacturer or battery size, resulting in limited flexibility for customers.

Why are there two types of charging networks?

The e-mobility industry is a very competitive space with many different companies fighting for the customer's business. One of the ways to succeed in this process and create an advantage over other competitors is by providing services that are tailored to their specific needs.

One would think that since range anxiety is one of the biggest issues within the e-mobility industry, open charging networks would work best to help mass EV adoption. So why do some tend to choose the closed ones?

Again, the aforementioned analogy to Apple vs Android might come in handy here. Since e-mobility service providers are all competing for the same customer base, they offer closed networks in order to limit which network their customers can access. This gives them a competitive edge over others by not having as many competitors available and it also allows e-mobility service providers to control costs.

EV charging station owners have a variety of options for how to monetize their products and services. The most popular option is through property owners as they pay both upfront costs for the stations and potentially recurring charges such as maintenance, network access or other small fees each time someone plugs in at your location. Drivers might also be able to purchase subscriptions which grant them use of specific networks on their own terms. Utilities companies are also interested in purchasing driver data from EV charger providers so that usage can help inform decisions about infrastructure needs going forward while car manufacturers may utilize these same provider's technology with some modification.

An e-mobility service provider might prefer using the closed charging network to make sure that they are not competing with other networks. Furthermore, it is easier for e-mobility providers to control their costs as opposed to open networks where drivers can connect and charge without having an account on a specific e-mobility service provider's network.

Surely both types of charging network have their pros and cons and it's a much more complicated issue than just money. Let's look at some of them.

One of the best parts about open standards-based charging networks is that drivers get to choose from a number of different hardware and network providers.. This allows e-mobility service providers to be rewarded with more customers who want their specific type of charging network.

The other advantage is that those e-mobility service providers are not limited in the amount of drivers they can have subscribed on any one network. Meaning there's an increased flexibility as for how many cars are available at any one given e-mobility service provider's charging stations.

In the e-mobility industry, open standards are preferred by drivers as they don't need to register or pay on an e-mobility network for them in order to be able to use it. Furthermore, e-mobility service providers need to comply with open standards which means that they can't limit where cars will be allowed to stop.

Proprietary networks allow them an opportunity to capitalize off of charging stations and give customers access with subscriptions that grant priority usage rights or provide rewards for driving electric vehicles over others; these closed networks also help prevent any other companies from using their services which might take away some of their customers.

Some people think that closed networks might mean higher quality services because no one else will be able to steal their customer base or tamper with security measures since it is isolated from other systems.

Not quite. As bizarre as it may sound there is more to charging than just... charging. Namely, at the second end of the cable there are also the energy suppliers.

The electric car market has been growing rapidly in recent years with no sign of slowing down but as it grows we have a responsibility to make sure the charge points don't overburden our current electricity grid system. To ensure e-mobility doesn't overextend, there are several steps that may be taken before things get out of hand: managing demand by monitoring usage; providing remote authorization through standard protocols like Open Charge Point protocol – OCPP; ensuring all chargers work together. For example, OCPP 2.0 can restrict power delivery to ensure the charging points match the power generation capacity of the grid.

So in fact, open charging networks, as much as not so appealing to some operators, may be the only option to ensure sustainable energy distribution once electric vehicles take over the automotive market.

Open vs closed charging networks - summary

Coming back to our previously mentioned analogy, much like with the situation of iOS vs Android, both networks will certainly find their sympathizers. It mostly depends on what is the main focus behind setting up charging stations. Those who wish to reach an audience as broad as possible, should definitely consider an open standards based network. Those who want to focus on securing an “independent” brand position and be in a full charge of costs will choose a closed network.

It seems, however, as though within the e-mobility industry experts, open standards are the ultimate way to go. Apart from increased flexibility in terms of charging equipment, open protocols ensure of staying up-to-date with newest technologies and solutions, they are also responsible for a seamless communication within the channel driver - charging point - grid.

An open, interconnected electric vehicle charging infrastructure would allow for a more dynamic and robust grid. The network of EV chargers could sync up with the pricing signals from utility companies to integrate renewable energy sources into power grids across America. This information sharing will help drivers quickly find available stations when they need them most while also streamlining payments via apps on their smartphones.

Open vs closed charging networks - what do you need to know?

How to Transition Your Fleet to Electric Vehicles? Check some insights!

How to Transition Your Fleet to Electric Vehicles?

Those who earnestly follow automotive market trends can agree that the future of the industry seems to be going in the electric direction. As much as it sounds like a very bold statement, when diving deep into the courses of the e-mobility market, one can observe a massive shift into the pro-electric approach, a great deal of which comes from the biggest industry players and governmental units themselves

Whether you are an EV enthusiast or an EV skeptic, one thing remains clear - mobility and transport are and will always be one of the greatest and most developing industries in the world. From urban mobility, which allows masses of big cities inhabitants access to work, school, health units, services, and leisure to international heavy transport that drives economics across the nations, people do not back down on movement and only travel more. Besides, rough estimations regarding the number of cars (including trucks and buses) in the world speak for themselves, with a whopping figure of approximately 1.32 billion. What’s more, this number is estimated to double every 20 years.

However, any industry of that scale comes with various consequences. Conversations about the detrimental effects of mobility on the environment have been circling around for years, to a point where some may call them cliche. Yet, there is nothing overdone about it. It is said that emissions from combustion engine vehicles grow by 2,5% year on year. Environmental issues are being taken more and more seriously not only by ecologists but also by state bodies of legislation, driving the change towards green mobility. Pro-electric attitude has also been reinforced through the Covid-19 outbreak as it changed the way people travel and work. With countless discussions on how to make the planet a safer place, entrepreneurs, politicians, and everyday citizens are more drawn towards eco-friendly solutions. Thus, all markets are known for their Earth-damaging side effects set on an ambitious venture of rewriting their goals and implementing new tactics in line with the global trends and regulations.

Speaking of which… state regulations and policies are being implemented on a regular basis across the world. Nearly every regulatory legislation taking on climate-bettering action aims at the transport industry at some point or another. Amongst the most crucial policies we can find:

 - legally binding international plan (signed by 196 countries) obliging all parties to continuous commitments in order to slow down the detrimental effects of global warming and bring the average temperature down by up to 2 degrees Celsius. Due to its grandeur and worldwide inclusivity of participants, it paves the way for regulations to come.

- European action plan of going climate neutral (no greenhouse gases emissions) by 2050. Within the EU Green Deal, a fund of 55-65 billion Euro has been launched. The Just Transition Mechanism will aim to help those most touched by the upcoming regulatory changes and ameliorations implemented on the pathway towards more sustainable solutions such as

investing in public and sustainable transport

investing in research and companies who are willing to lead the changes

the largest stimulus package ever introduced in Europe. 1.8 trillion Euro will be allocated long-term in order to make post-Covid Europe a greener, more digital and more resilient place.

EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and Action Plan 

- consists of 82 initiatives built on the strong foundations of the EU Green Deal with the sole purpose of transforming the transport industry. The project involves a few milestones plotted out within the span of the upcoming years.

at least 30 million zero-emission cars will be in operation on European roads

scheduled collective travel for journeys under 500 km should be carbon neutral

automated mobility will be deployed at a large scale

nearly all cars, vans, buses as well as new heavy-duty vehicles will be zero-emission.

a fully operational, multimodal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for sustainable and smart transport with high-speed connectivity.

Worth mentioning are also the pledges and bans. Namely, various countries announced their own schemes of mass EV adoptions. The pack is led by Norway, which will ban internal combustion engines by 2025 and aim for net-zero emissions by 2050. Following in Norway’s footsteps, there's the UK, the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, or Singapore all planning on the ICE ban by 2030, next China and Japan by 2035, and France, Canada, Portugal or Spain by 2040.

It’s only the tip of the legislative iceberg. Experienced and profound market players already know that in order to stay afloat, an eventual transition to electric mobility is inevitable. Some have already put it to work.



This may come as a surprise how many major companies are already somewhere in the process of electrifying their fleets. Ceres, a non-profit organization fighting for a sustainable future, has even launched an alliance bringing together the transitioning companies. Among The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, one can find:

Within the project, the companies come together to identify challenges and finding solutions on the meandering road towards zero emissions. As per Ceres’ official statement, the alliance enables:

Production of new and increased volumes of EV models,

Adoption of supportive policies and the removal of policy barriers, and

Peer-to-peer learning with regard to industry best practices

Looking at the brand examples or the strategies introduced by governments, it is no exaggeration to claim that the transition to electrified fleets is slowly but steadily already taking place. However, since it is a massive shift, requiring inordinate amounts of work, many people ask what the benefits are other than the environmental ameliorations.


What’s in it for me? (That’s not for the environment)

Starting off with a popular misconception about how expensive electric cars are. EVs reached the times when their cost, in many cases evened out with their ICE equivalents, and - what’s essential - it gradually lowers. According to Bloomberg's data, battery cost noted an unprecedented decrease of 89% and is projected to go even lower. While the overall purchase cost evens out, it is estimated that EV maintenance cuts the expenses by up to 70%. With minimized noise and simple operation (reduction of one pedal), electric cars come to help professional drivers to a better working condition. Finally, as an old saying goes, the sooner the better. With incoming legislation targeting the polluting combustion engines, it might slowly become inevitable that such changes will come as a must rather than a fashionable pipe dream.

The process of transitioning to electric vehicles is a daunting task for many operators. With the abundance of available models, it can be hard to know which one best suits your needs and budgeting structure. The first step in this journey should entail learning about local grid capacity or reliability then comparing performance between different EV's evaluating focus areas such as price point versus efficiency vs range per charge cycle to make sure that you are making an informed decision before committing any capital investment into new equipment. Fleet managers will want an EV deployment plan that minimizes the cost and maximizes management benefits. Spread new EV acquisitions across a number of years to avoid any major backlog in-vehicle replacements, with subsequent budgets benefiting from lower prices over time as well as higher resale values. Avoiding large-scale adoption at once may also help fleet managers identify fiscal impacts each year for better budgeting, which is especially important given heavy infrastructure investments often required for EVs like charging stations or hydrogen filling stations.


In order to prepare for the future, it is important to think about your long-term plan and identify when vehicles will charge. Make sure that you do trenching and wiring required in advance for whatever type of charger infrastructure might be needed down the line so as not to have any unexpected surprises with installation later on. It is also very beneficial if staff members are trained by EV manufacturers or dealerships before they come into contact with customers who may want information during their purchase process; this way all employees can handle questions easily without having someone's job change unexpectedly due to lack of experience related specifically to EVs themselves.

Things to consider when transitioning to e-mobility

There are many factors that need thorough consideration before making the leap into an all-electric program, including weather conditions of various areas in which these cars would be used, length of routes on which they are driven, staff availability as well as fleet housing options near the workplace - all must be taken into account when considering this transition. This also touches upon smart time slotting. When shorter periods of time between recharging sessions are possible, high-voltage chargers may be required; whereas if there are longer intervals before charging again can take place (for example, overnight and early morning hours), slower voltage chargers should suffice.

Statistical study and industry research including energy efficiency

The first thing an organization should do when considering a complete shift over from its current fuel source, typically gas or diesel vehicles, into electric vehicles (EV) is conduct thorough market research about what types they need among other things like how much power each car requires (i.e., charging rate). It's also important for them to take note if there are any specific requirements regarding driving distance.

Charging infrastructure is difficult to find and decide on because there are many different charging standards. When converting a fleet of cars to electric, it's daunting if the company can't upgrade equipment down the line or attach themselves with one specific vendor for all their needs. Market research should be done before settling on any type of charger so that you'll know how soon new industry-wide changes will happen in this area.

Also, EV power consumption needs to be factored in. Simple or complicated calculations depend on the latitude of operations: for example the number of days it's hot and sunny vs rainy will affect how much solar energy is available (or not). When discussing an electric vehicle’s electricity usage we must take into account factors such as miles driven per day, route selection that can vary depending upon what time you are driving along a given road segment during any given week due to different traffic conditions at those times. It also should take things like weather into consideration when analyzing this data - if there has been heavy rainfall then less sunlight might reach photovoltaic panels which could reduce their output efficiency.

Understanding a fleet’s energy consumption and charge times can help organizations optimize chargers based on operational needs. High-powered chargers are needed to charge an electric car quickly. But when you have limited time, it may be more efficient and cost-effective to use a charger with lower power levels because they're cheaper than high-powered ones. The downside is that the low-power chargers might not provide enough energy for your car during periods of operation

The future is uncertain, but it's never too early to start planning for the next generation of electric vehicles. A company needs a plan on how it will keep up with EVSEs in order to make sure that its investments are not lost before being exploited. The key is carefully selecting more future-proofed equipment so your organization has something ready when needed and can avoid investing in an outdated piece of technology right now.

With the increasing amount of EVs coming out and being put into service, it is important that facilities are ready to accommodate this change. There's a few steps you can take in order to prepare for an influx of electric vehicles (EVs). One way would be by reviewing existing electricity infrastructure on-site and assessing if there will be enough capacity for such charging demand. Estimating final state costs will then help determine whether or not upgrades need to happen before initiating any changes.

Transitioning an entire fleet is quite a task and requires thorough research. It is no use spending money on technology that will soon go out of the market. Smart spending scheduling is also the key to efficiency without going bankrupt. Financial analysis is an important part of EV implementation and a consideration that should not be overlooked. For example, while the initial cost may seem very high in comparison to traditional vehicles with conventional fuels like gasoline or diesel fuel, EV infrastructure can last for decades if well-maintained due to their reliance on cheaper energy sources such as electric power. It's also worth considering how your area offers incentives related to taxation, utility rates etc., which will affect your overall financials over time.

The right software is the key to a seamless operation on many levels. One such way is through driver reimbursement systems which are now automatic with home chargers and time-of-use tariffs that allow drivers to optimize charging times while receiving reimbursements accordingly. Companies can provide flexibility by allowing private charging as well as software that automatically identifies non-work-related travel, so they don't receive a refund on those charges The importance of real-time visibility and status has become increasingly important in the world today. With so many electric cars on the road, it becomes even more necessary to have a tool available that will deliver your charger's performance uptime. This way, you'll be able to know whether or not there are any issues with charging stations nearby as soon as they happen while also providing detailed information about how much revenue is earned from each station based on hourly usage rates for all days during operation since data analytics can detect potential defects at this stage too.

Planning is a crucial part of the EV fleet strategy, from purely technical issues to an entire network of interconnected factors such as financial analysis or grid capabilities. Certainly, this wouldn't be an overnight occurrence. It's more of a multi-dimensional major shift from the ways of operating as we know it, to the next level, sustainably advanced solutions that will inevitably become the future of transport.

With the ongoing changes within the transport industry, the switch to all electric vehicles becomes inevitable. Take a look on how to proceed with a fleet transition in an efficient way.

Legal frameworks behind the e-Mobility market discussed by the industry experts.

Gabriela Stawiarska

On June 16th we were lucky enough to have led a webinar in which our guests discussed some of the legal aspects of charging network expansion and business approach towards state legislatures and incentives while entering e-Mobility markets.

Below, you will find a video recording as well as a full transcript of the discussion.

What is the European status of e-mobility, now reaching mid-2021?

Yeah, well, it is an interesting question because it is always hard to really get the latest figures. But I think in general, in the electric mobility part, for this kind of overview, you need to split it into two things. One is how well the electric vehicle car sales are doing. And of course, you can split that also between busses, trucks, passenger cars in general, and the other part is the charging infrastructure. And in general, you can say that currently in the electric vehicle sales, new sales are going very well, I think better than expected. That's also one of the challenges that we face from your side, because, on the charging infrastructure side, everyone is doing their best, but it is hard to catch up with the number of vehicles coming in. So also a lot of new models. That's very good. We didn't see or we don't see any more concrete effects of COVID. We saw that last year. We could also register that amount of charging stations because at a certain moment everyone stayed at work from home. So we should withdraw directly, which was actually quite large, I think 20, 30 percent of the energy usage, the same for the old-fashioned fuel vehicles. I mean, no one needed fuel anymore because everyone worked from home. So there was definitely an effect. But currently, we see in the most recent statistics which show the amount of energy use is getting a bit back to normal. So in general, the progress is good. You still see a lot of differences in different countries. And I think that's one of the European concerns that we have both on electric vehicle sales sites, but also on the charging infrastructure side.

Have you noticed any particular countries that noted a boost when it comes to the growth of the e-Mobility market within this year?

We see that. Most of the time, there are almost the most obvious countries. I mean, Norway, of course, is one of the leading countries, especially in electric vehicles. When it comes to the electric vehicles infrastructure, you see that the Netherlands is leading. But we definitely see that countries like Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, are really doing great. Also, Germany and France are doing very well. On the lower side, we see that the numbers are not great when we look at countries like Greece, Czech Republic. But also, to be honest, Poland is not yet really on the move. So there are definitely countries that could take advantage of their current situation and what happened before the COVID period. But the good thing is, I think that I see from the European Union, the European Commission, that now they will really focus on the countries that are lagging behind a bit. So from that point of view, it's definitely positive that the movement is going on.


When it comes to you, EU directives, what updates can be expected during the next few months or next year?

OK, so we should start with the Green New Deal, which was issued on May 27th. Recent year.. It is a long-term recovery strategy because everyone, especially in Europe, but also in the whole world, was harmed and touched by the crisis caused by the COVID outbreak. So, the Commission prepared and issued this green new deal. First of all, the biggest today’s goal for Europe is to become a climate-neutral continent by the end of 2050. European Commission and European Parliament are performing many activities to achieve this target. European Commission will announce new legislative proposals in the coming year. And many of them will, of course, target e-mobility with special concern. That includes the benefits for the EV users, Charge Point Operators, and more restrictions, which can and will lead to automotive concerns and developers.

It can also be seen in the current legislation in both European and member states legislation. When it comes to regulations, we must say that in the field of electromobility and related sectors, there are plenty of examples of new, recent, and upcoming legislation. The most important one, that's happening now, is so-called the Clean Energy Package, which includes a set of updated and ongoing regulations, especially a review of the European Union taxonomy system and the Performance of Buildings Directive, which especially touches developers, renewable energy directive and the market design directive and regulation on energy efficiency. Maybe I will provide you with some more detailed information about those directives and regulations so everyone will have a little bit more knowledge about what's going on and what changes in the near future will occur. First of all, the European Union taxonomies climate is changing and it's a classification system that consists and establishes a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities. It’s a very important system because it's enabled to scale up sustainable investments and help to implement this European green deal. And a new and recent classification consists of some provisions which open and enable operators to provide financing for the companies, to entities which really, really need this financing to make some sustainable investments.

Another very important directive, which is currently changing and shaping is the Energy Efficiency Directive. It's an old directive because; it dates back to 2009, when the main reason to appoint was to reduce CO2 emission from new vehicles. The last version was passed by the parliament in 2013, and these regulations required lowering CO2 emission from new cars in 2013 to be lower by 37,5%. For 2021 protection will also be high - 41%. So in the nearest, eight, nine years this reduction will take like one-third of the emission, which is now. In June 2021, the European Commission will present a proposal to revise these targets and raise them, but they will need the support of the European Parliament because the European Parliament, as you know, is now very much in favor of ambitious climate targets. In the current term because it was said that up to 2015, we will have no emissions system in the European Union. And it's very interesting how the member states today react to this directive, because some of the member states are very clear in the favor of the rapid decarbonization of road transport, especially in Norway, but not only. There was a filed, joint open letter to the European Commission, which demands ban of the registration of combustion vehicles up to 2030. And this letter was prepared by a group of nine member states: Austria, Belgium and Denmark and Greece, Netherlands, Malta, Ireland, Lithuania and Luxembourg. So we may assume that the states declare that. Nevertheless, even if the European Commission wants to ban this registration of combustion engines, they will probably do that and perform some measures and activities to ban this registration.

Even if in this group there is no Germany but the experience so far shows that Germany will also play a key role in the European Council because they are very cautious about raising the bar for vehicle facturers., We may see a direct course from a Volkswagen Group - a largest car manufacturer in Europe, and it may mean the Germany will finally stop acting as a brake and will support a more ambitious policy to reduce the emission.

There is also a Renewable Energy Directive. And today, it must be stated that a majority of European Union member countries have not incentivized the use of electricity as, for instance, bio fuels, even despite that, obviously, electricity is the cleanest alternative to oil and it's even cleaner than biofuels.

This directive was refreshed and offers a chance to move away from the biofuels and to cleaner fuels. This creation of this credit system would, and I believe will help in increasing the rise of renewable fuels, since this electricity requires a separate infrastructure to be introduced to the market and everyone needs financing to implement that. It is important that the deadline for transposition of this directive in the member countries expires in June 2021. So this is happening now.

There is also energy performance of the buildings directive, which obligates new buildings and the buildings undergoing major renovations to either install charging stations or assure the installation of ducting infrastructure in parking spaces. So it also helps the growth of electric mobility.

Last but not least - in December 2010, 20 European Union proposed the revision of the directive to set the highest standards in the world for the  acquisitions of raw materials from which batteries come and the recycling of batteries, especially car ones. And it will help us have the whole Europe to be self-sufficient too, because right now we have a little problem with getting and exporting, importing lithium, cobalt Netco, which are required for battery production. And by 2014,, battery production will be mainly obtained from the recycled European batteries. So it's a huge boost finally to end this topic, referring to the legislation which committed to European Union climate neutrality by 2050. The European Commission proposed to increase the 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target to 55%. These kind of activities are very crucial for the growth of electro mobility, and I believe that will help us to have a cleaner planet.

In my opinion, there are two important things like Pawel said. All you have to do is legislation in which you are definitely focused on stimulation and support of electric mobility, like similar legislation regarding buildings, parking. Those requirements will definitely show several issues and ensure that you have the right, i.e. to get a charging infrastructure, a parking garages, etc. for buildings that it should be. On the other side, we see influence, which will come from the revised Alternative Fuel Directive. That will come in 2023 and actually the whole market is busy with that. The good thing is from one point of view, that it will be more strict in a way that the first alternative fuel directive, they gave too much room for the different implementations. This will be more strict. The kinds of sites that I see is that if the changes are too big, it will also not support all the new infrastructure which is needed. I mean, currently we talk about approximately 150 000 new charging points that need to be installed every year to meet targets. So we talk about 3000 chargers per week at least to meet the targets. So I hope the whole market, especially with its alternative fuel directive, contains a lot of different aspects like Pawel said, this is this very wide subject legislation. But I hope that it will be more strict that we are also part of that fight for your own foundation, but also in all kinds of ways that it will indeed help the market. But it's definitely one of the things to keep an eye on, the developments which are going on there.

When it comes to network fees and network development, can we witness something that could be called the road to unification?

We have a lot of different networks across Europe and then there is indeed a challenge. One of them is indeed based on the fees because you have different ways you make use of roaming hooks, you can do with peer to peer. You need to connect an operator with service providers to ensure that the service providers get access to the networks and finally, to the EV drivers. There are all kinds of arrangements there, to be honest, I don't expect many regulations on the fees. And I do hope and do currently already see that because of the competition, the fees will not be raised extremely. But it is a complicated market. From that point of view, unification will be done. But I don't expect it directly on the fees because finally, that is also up to the market. As an EV driver, you have the choice to choose your own insurance provider, a service provider, you have the choice to choose the different operators. But of course, it's a big market with a lot of money involved where companies make choices. So I do see that the next networks connect to each other. But in the concrete fees that you need to pay, for example, to roaming or to a service provider or the service provider to an operator, I don't expect there will be much of a registration from the EU site.

It would be good and that's maybe an interesting view that if the consumer authorities would keep an eye on it. There are in all countries and also by the EU, there are authorities to look at to assure honest competition. And I think that's an important role. But in my opinion, that role is not yet taken or not yet managed. I think it would be good to have those types of organizations more proactive in this, because there are definitely threats. I mean, if we look at the current developments via the car industry, like I'm using the 15118 ISO protocol, which is a possibility that via your car, you can directly connect to networks. In itself, it's not a bad development. But if it would exclude certain service providers or other parts of the market, then you get an issue. And I know that from their point of view, I don't think that the fees need to be regulated, but I hope that the authorities will keep an eye on it and assure that an open, valid or equal competition landscape will be there. And that's actually what could help in this

From the point of view of operators and the Union, what regulations can soon arise?

Yeah, well, I think regarding the operator, some mean the biggest regulations that also Pawel mentioned earlier, tax regulations are definitely a hot topic which will influence them, which was actually also rare for a long time. We were not really involved in this. I think at this moment, countries unite there and talk more or less with one vote or work together on that. The alternative fuel directive, which we have, which will have impact. We work together with a lot of companies and the Sustainable Transport Forum, where the EU is thinking about the legislation, about short term data formats, those kinds of things. So there are things which will definitely have an impact on the operator and which might also influence the way that they work. I mean, if I currently see, for example, that you need to offer outlook charging. So that means the ability to charge without subscription cards, those kinds of activities or activities will have an influence. There is another movement where you see that companies, or rather countries, will demand certain displays or certain information that need to be shared with EV drivers. Well, that's quite often it's either shared directly or via the service providers.

So there are a lot of things which are coming to the operators which will influence their work. We all need to catch up with the legislation, but also with improved and updated protocols and connections. So, yeah, I expect a lot of developments there. And I'm not sure if everything will directly be an improvement, because also to be able to say for a long time we as markets did not have maybe the right the right focus. And then you see that the EU, for example, takes the lead and says, well, we need to share data via national exit points. It simply requires that all operators need to open their network and share all the public SMI public infrastructure information towards our national exit point. And so you see these kinds of movements going on and that will have impacts on the way operators work.

It's another wide problem and wide question. I think I will come out with one very important regulation, which I believe will soon arise. First of all, it must be stated that the regulations which regard EV charging infrastructure and mobility, must respond to the real problems which are faced currently by EV owners and CPO’s and eMSP’s and among other areas of law. I believe that especially crucial and urgent for the development of the European single market for EV charging infrastructure may be considered to the VAT directive, particularly when it comes to cross-border transactions to e-roaming. And the industry is currently confronted with very uncertainties regarding the correct interpretation of European Union, especially VAT directive and national VAT laws. Furthermore, the existing VAT regime has turned out to be a major obstacle to the development of this integrated European trudging infrastructure market, because currently there is a big issue that EV charging can be seen either as a supplier of the goods, especially electricity, or as a supplier of service in terms of VAT. This distinction is very important because the VAT directive and after that national VAT rules for six different rules for supplies of goods and supplies of services when it comes to the determination of the place where the transaction is taxable.

Of course, there are some guidelines which were issued by the European Commission in 2019 on the subject that were issued on the request of Italy and France. However, they are not transported to directive or a national law. Now, according to these guidelines, CPO should be regarded (when it comes to e-roaming) as a supplier of electricity in the meaning of this VAT directive. From the point of view of European Union Commission e-roaming (CPO) is making a supply of electricity to the eMSP, who in turn makes the supply of the same electricity to the EV driver. However, it's only the view of European Commission. It's not a hard law. Some member states don't comply with the statement. And we are having issues where it is. It is regarded as supply of services, performing services, and it's a big problem for the unification of the market. And I believe that VAT committee, which is making a new VAT directive, it should be and now is scheduled to reconvene the opinion of the commission and today will decide in this directive, either commission's guidelines are right and they will be transferred into the directive and then all the member states will and must comply with this directive. However, now there are no binding guidelines, no binding regulations, and we are having big trouble with this. This problem regarding that and its complexity led to a situation where most industry members are reluctant to offer charging services to other member states. It's a big issue and I believe it will be changed in the coming years.


When it comes to open network across Europe, what is an optimistic and realistic scenario of forming this one bit in European Union?

I'm actually quite optimistic. I mean, I want to be optimistic. But I think we are not there yet. Let me be clear about that. We are working very hard and that means the whole market: the whole ecosystem, the companies but also the governments. We are all working very hard to achieve and to support an open, better network with the right information to EV drivers, but also possibility for competition, possibility to earn money, connectivity. So that’s the combination actually that we talk about here. There are things that need to improve and that we need to solve but we are working on that. If I look at where we are now and the fact that in the past I needed eight or more different cards and tokens to charge my vehicle across Europe - now, I can do it with two.So it is definitely improving. Networks are more connected to each other. They talk to each other in different standardization bodies. Also regarding the legislation, they definitely work together more and more. By the way, and I also think that's an important actor, which was quite often forgotten, but now we work together with those organizations, which are the communities of EV drivers. Finally, that's the group we do it for. We see that we really work together there. So I'm positive that in the next year or so, together with the EU, I mean, we all talk to each other. I think that's a big achievement - we don't talk about each other, but with each other. And that's a different level. So, the only thing I hope for and it’s a bit of a concern is that not only the main countries, so not only Netherlands, France or Germany, but also the other countries. I mean, it would be great if countries like Poland, like Czech Republic, etc. could also catch up and join and participate. And I know that from the EU also with their self funding mechanisms, they focus now on those countries to support the network. So they really look at the gaps where infrastructure is not yet good enough or where more needs are to be added. That way we can really ensure that it will be a real covering network and not only from a few countries. But again, I mean, we have huge targets. We have huge challenges. The biggest challenge might be the ability to install enough charging infrastructure. I mean, don't underestimate it. If you need to install a few thousand chargers per week in countries, it's going to be a real challenge. But we’ll get there. The next step for us is looking at busses, trucks or vans that are definitely the next important things, which will also have a huge impact on the charging infrastructure.

I totally agree. I believe that we are at a great point. We are after the biggest outbreaks of pandemic. We did it. We managed to survive. We are growing. There are more and more EV users on the European streets. So I believe the worst part is behind us. I believe everything is in our hands. I also believe that the goals we have are very demanding. They demand appointing a set of regulations and targets of member states, companies, consumers in the right direction. But I believe the commission, especially European Parliament is doing a great job in adopting common standards. The standards ensure the interoperability and coordination and support for the member states and the deployment and development of electrical charging infrastructure and while this targeting infrastructure grows. Also, the number of EVs on the European streets will also grow. So I believe we did a very good job and we are on the right pathway to reach these goals. Moreover, in the near future, we may expect some new solutions and regulations which will open this electromobility market, in a world of tokens and cryptocurrencies. And I'm glad to announce that at this point Nexity, together with a partner from our Capital Group - Columbus Energy, we are introducing to the market a solution which enables the tokenization of electricity from renewable energy sources; photovoltaic. It enables its balancing and also its further resell, not only to the neighbors, but also to every interested entity, as well as the purchase of the services of companies from our capital group. So, ladies and gentlemen, I believe the future is now and we are on the right path for this.

Where to look for legal guidance when deciding to enter a new market?

 I can tell you about it in my own example, because we are expanding to other markets. And first of all, we are searching contacts with associations, which conduct and care for electromobility in other countries. We are reaching out to them, contacting them and talking with them. Very often such associations provide us with different bulletins, guidelines for starting, growing and expanding in the foreign market. So I think and I believe that's a good way to go.

Now, I agree that definitely industry bodies or organizations or branch organizations are a good starting point. I also have to admit that this is definitely one of the challenges because it is hard to find single places where you can find all the information, all regulations and legislation. Partially, it is EU regulation. Also, a lot of things like the tech issues are not even solved yet, but we got a lot of questions about it. But there are a lot of discussions going on and you can't wait to start until everything is solved and there is national legislation and regulations. And then you also have the non-directed or the non-legislation parts which are simply the agreements between parties. So what Pawel is saying is definitely good to start with organizations like EV Roaming Foundation or other organizations. Finally, if you go to a certain country and try to get in touch with those countries and do good research on it. Also legislation and these kinds of things change on a regular basis. I mean, especially if we look at all kinds of incentives, it is very hard to keep track of all that. So, you need to do it also on a national level and investigate the possibilities. Unfortunately, I can't say there is one website where you can find all the information. There are good websites. I mean, look at the European Alternative Fuel Observatory, which can definitely be a good starting point. Still you need to look on national level and also maybe on the EU level to find the lost situation.


When creating a pan-European MSP offer, do companies need to create legal structures into every country that they offer access to the charging station in order to manage VAT requirements?

Oh, it's a little bit of a hard question to answer from the top of my head, and I believe we could provide a proper answer after checking and reading some interpretations in this regard. But I believe that the proper answer is that it depends mainly on the place of the taxation. And then I believe you don't need to meet any additional entities in the foreign country to provide your services. However, it is difficult to answer because of this VAT problem, which I mentioned earlier. And in every country, it must be checked if the roaming and roaming services are considered, services or are they considered goods. And I believe in the near future we may check the legislation in the different countries and provide you with some information on our blog.

There was the advice from a group of countries which was also something as guidance adopted by the U.S. on regulations, so to look at it as selling energy as a good but recently, Italy sent a big report with the question to reconsider it and to consider selling electricity for charging stations as a service. That can depend a lot on how you deal with that. The same as Pawel was saying, where do you deliver the energy? That's also a discussion. I mean, an operator in Poland active in Germany, where does he deliver the energy? So that's another discussion. In general what I normally advise, is that at the moment you get considerable volume, reasonable volume. The question is then what's reasonable? Having your own or legal company in a certain country can never harm when the volume is still small. It's probably too much effort, but it is a delicate discussion as Pawel was saying. Your options are waiting until the EU agrees, but then you can't do business for the next two years.

Are any directives being made that you are aware of, that will regulate the exception right for roaming partners throughout the EU? Small EMSPs are getting less chances to roam with large operators, which slows the development down.

It's a bit of an open market and I know where the question comes from because I also hear those issues and I see it. But it is a bit of a challenge. Do you also want it to be EU regulated? It's a bit of what I mentioned. I think that we have the authorities in the different countries who should definitely keep a good eye on honest and open competition and the possibilities for that. But if a certain operator is asking a large high fee to an EMSP and it can indeed be that bit maybe blocking or may be making it more difficult to enter the market for that EMSP. But there can be good reasons. I mean, if volumes are low, then it is not really strange to ask for a higher fee but these are difficult discussions. Almost on a daily or weekly basis I get those questions: can you do something about it? It is hard to do, and I think, do you want to get the EU to say “well, now we put a certain cap on it”. I mean, what's reasonable? You always get those kinds of discussions. Maybe Pawel will know something about it from a legal perspective. But we do stimulate the companies to be reasonable to each other and I think maybe branch organizations can play a role that the companies that are members of those organizations assure a kind of equal playing field. So that if you are a member, then you need to comply or apply to do all those business. I know where the question comes from, but it is hard, it's the market…

Do most member states consider electricity as a good or as a service? Are there any visible trends?

The only thing I can say, if companies are interested there is from the EU committee open information available. And that's the only thing I can say and you will see that as Pawel was saying, they also don't agree yet, but that information is available and can be shared.

To summarize, there are those guidelines from the European Commission from 2018, according to which the supply of electricity supply is regarded as supply of goods. However, there are a few member states where it is considered a service. But I believe mostly it is considered to supply imports. But it's only a trend. Now we need to have VAT directive changes, which I believe will come out in the next few years.

Learn about the legal aspects of charging network expansion and business approach towards state legislatures and incentives while entering e-Mobility markets.

EV charging infrastructure: cross-border directives and state legislations

Smart charging offers improved grid capabilities and conscious energy consumption. Learn more

 you can find information about the potential of charging stations and learn what smart charging is. In a nutshell, it applies to efficient communication between entities related to the consumption, supply and flow of energy. The software behind the platform automatically analyzes and visualizes a mass of data in real-time. One of the uses is for automatic decisions about how and when EVs are charged. Efficient energy management can be used to monitor how an electric car is being charged, among other things, but over time it will become an essential feature of any system that wants to work both economically and cooperatively. It is anticipated that as more and more EVs emerge, the load on the electrical grid will require a well-tailored communication system and the implementation of protocols responsible for smart charging.


What is the difference between smart charging and bi-directional charging?

Bi-directional charging can refer to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging. This could also apply to the terms like vehicle-to-home (V2H), or vehicle-to-building (V2B). The feature is responsible not only for charging an EV but also can supply power back to the grid (or home). Effectively it enables to treat car battery as an extra source of charging power, storing energy that can be re-used.

Smart charging goes one step further, enables efficient communication between charge points and grid operators. All in order to manage charging points remotely and to optimize energy consumption and costs. By 2030 it is expected to have smart charging protocols developed and implemented, to avoid network overload. Smart charging allows EV owners, businesses, and network operators to control how much energy is taken from the grid and when. By balancing the load, it also offers to charge at lower rates, when the demand for energy is lower, e.g. at night.

How does bi-directional charging work in practice?

To charge an EV, one needs a charger to convert AC (alternating current) electricity sourced from the grid to DC (direct current) electricity. This happens via a built-in converter (either vehicle or in the charger). If the energy stored in the EV’s battery is to power home or sell it back to the grid, the DC electricity from the car must be converted again to AC electricity. This mechanism happens via bi-directional charging. The feature is already adapted in the US, UK, and EU. It is used to power houses, office buildings. How much power do we talk about? Nissan says the 62kWh battery in the Leaf e+ can store enough energy to power an average Japanese home for up to four days.

Do all vehicles support bi-directional charging?

No. A CHAdeMO protocol & charge port facilitates bi-directional charging, (e.g. Nissan Leaf is equipped with CHAdeMO). However, most vehicles use the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard right now. Existing models will probably require V2G integration as an aftermarket resolution. Many car manufacturers, such as BMW, Honda, Volkswagen, and Tesla, are considering introducing bi-directional features in their future electric vehicle models.

E.g. According to the information provided by Nissan, two-way charging does not have a damaging long-term influence on the battery because charging and discharging are less intense than driving. Bi-directional charging does not affect the producer's battery warranty as long as the charger used is approved for use by the manufacturer.

What are the most popular features of smart charging?

Among features smart charging provides, one can distinguish power sharing, power boost and dynamic power sharing. Each is relevant to the ecosystem and to individual actors.

 in 2020 by Cenex found that the common pattern for V2G of creating income through energy trading is only one of the opportunities. Other key value propositions highlighted are resilience, the benefits to society, enhanced battery management and self sufficiency.

 can be defined as load balancing or leveling. How does it work? Each site is limited when it comes to power access. Bigger demand for energy would mean electrical infrastructure upgrades. Smart charging allows avoiding these expenses. Network operators or sites with many chargers can divide the available energy capacity proportionally over all operating EV charging stations. Optimal distribution with smart charging helps to avoid costly expenses.

 prevents households from surpassing maximum energy capacity. Power Boost comes with help to the situation when electricity is consumed simultaneously on a high level by many devices. It balances the load dynamically among the charger and the rest of the devices. When reaching the highest capacity, a smart charging control system automatically reduces the power consumed by an EV. The case scenario even includes pausing the charging session till enough power is available again.

With Dynamic Power Sharing (DPS) a building’s energy demand is monitored and measured against its maximum admissible capacity. When demand is low, the spare available energy is transferred to the charging network. The smart charging system automatically covers the available power among all chargers. On the contrary, if the site energy demand is equal or larger than the maximum authorized rate, no power is supplied to the charging points. Smart management allows keeping in great balance the charging network’s demand.

To cover and support unified communication, Open Charge Alliance developed in 2015 Open Smart Charging Protocol (OSCP). An updated version was released in October 2020. The protocol was first designed for communicating a forecast of the locally available capacity to Charging Station Operators (CSO), to enable them to fit the charging profiles of the EVs within the boundaries of the available capacity. The new version specifies use cases in which the messages are applied in more universal terms, which was specifically aimed at smart charging of EV by a Distribution System Operator (DSO). Behind the use of generic terms is the specification not limiting the possibilities of the protocol to smart charging EVs. This is a top-down integration of EVs in larger energy ecosystems, including Photovoltaics (PV), stationary batteries, heat pumps and other devices. Based on JSON / REST, offers also additional types of forecasts (generation, consumption, fallback) and a message for reporting errors. The OSCP is available to download at the Open Charge Alliance 

As we see bigger demand for conscious energy consumption and distribution, features and smart charging protocols soon will become a necessity. The multi-level changes we are witnessing dictate sustainable and smart energy distribution. Open standards and dedicated protocols are essential for unified communications, and it is expected that soon implementation will be legally binding for market participants.

Smart charging offers improved grid capabilities and conscious energy consumption. Discover what technology offers today.

Smart charging features - innovative possibilities for efficient energy use

Pro tips how to overcome common Progressive Web Application challenges

Paweł Głogowski

Common challenges with PWA can be fixed in a variety of ways. In this article, I want to share some practical tips and solutions on how to resolve common issues of Progressive Web Applications. Refreshing, service-worker configuration and updating to save time and achieve smooth flow and be ahead of your users' needs.

This is the second part of our series about PWA. If you’d like to learn how to change your web page into a Progressive Web Application, be sure to check out our previous 

 application that can be served as a Progressive Web Application. We follow a 

 approach to enable quite frequent changes in the product and ensure that our users get the latest content of the application.

 is heavily cached, serving the latest content to users can be challenging. It’s not possible to refresh the application when you’re in standalone mode so we have to do it differently. We spent some time preparing a user-friendly solution that would allow users to get the latest version of the application quickly.

Different ways to refresh your application

Developers can approach the problem of refreshing the application in different ways. 

The easiest way could be adding a fixed refresh button that is available only on the 

 version. It might be the easiest way since it doesn’t require any interaction with service workers. However, it’s not very user-friendly. Users may not be aware that the latest version of the application is already available and ignore that button.

The second approach could be informing users when the application is showing on the screen. So once the new version is available, users will see some indicator bar with a refresh button. That way, they will know that there’s new content to fetch from a server. Let’s take a look at how that’s indicator bar could look like.

We can achieve the above effect by using 

. Take a look at the following code to see how to achieve it. To get the best result, you should show this bar only to users in a standalone mode (PWA) - we discuss this in our previous article (link) so make sure that you generate that bar only in standalone mode. Additionally, you can style your snack bar to suit your application best.

You can see two handlers in above code - let's see how they can looks like:

We don’t want to allow refreshing the application because we notice some unexpected behavior on iOS - it tends to fail randomly or behaves in an unstable way after some refreshing, so we encourage users to kill the app and reopen it. However, refreshing seems to be stable on Android and Chrome, so for Chrome users, you can change the bar and show the refresh icon so users can refresh the app to get new content on their own.

From the programmatic perspective, nothing interesting is done here - we just show a bar and allow the user to close it. The more important thing here is how we indicate that a new version of the application is available to the user. To do that, we need to define a proper callback for updating service workers and force them to be updated. More on that in the next part of the article.

How to update Custom Service worker callback?

Let's take a look at the service-worker configuration generated during the development of a React application.

I have highlighted the most important parts of that code snippet. As you can see, we add a listener on the state change of service worker. It will be executed when changes occur in the service-worker. It might be misleading that we’re watching for the ‘installed’ state. But the existence of the controller property indicates changes in the service worker. What we need to do is to pass the config object with the callback onUpdate function. We usually need to register our service worker in the index.js file. Here we pass the object with the onUpdate property which is a callback function.

Making your application usable in case of the lack of an internet connection isn't going to be a part of this article. Instead, we will focus on enabling users to install your application for both iOS and Android applications.

How to skip waiting for a new service worker?

However, it's not enough for the configuration of service worker. Because we want the new service worker to take over the old one immediately, we need to configure it to skip waiting. If we don’t do this, the new service worker will be available after the user navigates the refresh current page. It's not always an option since we observe some major problems with refreshing the page in the PWA mode. Visit the following 

 to understand the service worker lifecycle better.

To configure the service worker to skip waiting, we need to add some code to the default service worker implementation which is provided when we generate a sample project. To do so, we will use a tool called 

. So we first need to add a proper dependency to the package.json file along with the modification of the build command. It should look like this:

Note: The following example is valid for React application, but it will look quite similar for application build in other technologies.

You need to provide code for your custom service worker. For now, it will be very simple and will only contain the service worker skip waiting logic. This code will be appended for the actual service worker code.

It's not much code, but right now we can be sure that the new service worker will take over the old one.

How to “update” Service worker, i.e. check the availability of the latest version?

So far, it all looks quite straightforward, but we need the most important piece of the whole picture - we need to know when the changes to our web application occur. In order to do this, we need to force our service worker to “update”. The name for that operation may be confusing because it’s not update itself - rather, it’s checking whether the new version of the application is available. Let's take a look at this piece of code:

This will download the newest version of the service worker file from the server and compare it with the current version to detect any differences. It will fire an event that we can handle by 

 which was described previously. You may ask how the application “knows” that there were changes in code. When you take a look at the build directory, you can see a file like this.

If you see the content of this file, you will notice something like this:

When any file changes, then in precache file there will be different revision numbers and name of precaching file hash ( in the name ) changes. This file is included in the service worker file so if the name is changed, then the service worker file changes so the service worker can notice that change.

How to add a Progressive Web Application to the home screen in iOS?

The last thing we need to cover is determining when to check for the update. Of course, using the setTimeout() feature available in React allows to periodically check for updates of the new version. But this approach can cause some unexpected issues and unnecessary performance costs so we believe that it’s not enough.

We decided to take advantage of the PWA lifecycle and web API visibility change feature, so once users display the main screen of the application, we catch that event and force the service worker to update. Let's take a look at the following code:

Note: This approach may not work on Google Chrome. If you’re using Chrome, consider different events like scrolling or clicking a button.

We can catch the visibility change event which is fired when the application is displayed on the user’s screen. However, this event is fired when the app is shown and when it’s hidden so we need to check what the value of the hidden property is to determine if it’s displayed.

So now we have all the pieces fitting together and the final flow looks like this: The user opens PWA --> PWA catches the visibility change event and forces the service worker to update → the service worker checks if a new version of the application is available → we handle the update event by showing the refresh bar to the user → The user restarts the app (iOS) or refreshes it (Android) to get new content.

You can see that there are some differences between iOS and Android. To help you understand that better, let’s take a look at the following table.

As you can see, there are a lot of different pieces involved in the process of refreshing your PWA. But in the end, it will be very beneficial for your users. At Solidstudio Software House, we followed this approach in our product 

 to make sure that users have the latest version of the application. In our experience, Chrome seems to have a more stable and reliable environment when it comes to supporting PWA and we still need to fix some unexpected issues for iOS.

Learn how to overcome common Progressive Web Application challenges

The challenges of Progressive Web Apps

Tips how to prepare a web application for installation on a mobile device

, almost 50 percent of total Internet usage in the UK comes from mobile phones. Similarly the United States and Europe. Various reasons account for that, but essentially it's because accessing the web using a smartphone or tablet is handy and convenient, particularly for specific sorts of applications. Before I reach the clue of this article - how to add a web page to a mobile device as a Progressive Web Application - I want to clarify some related matters regarding Progressive Web Application.

And why should you be one? The term mobile-friendly has begun to appear in the media more and more often with the growing boom of these handy portable devices - smartphones, tablets and their subsequent variations. For many, initially, mobile-digital was considered just another quirk, but over time it has become a permanent fixture in the canon of being customer friendly. Creating and developing mobile versions of websites, e-commerce and marketplaces became a standard. Simply, because this meets online users' expectations. Plus, from April 2015 Google uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. In a nutshell, becoming mobile-friendly, or even mobile-first is beneficial for all parties. For users means better adoption, for business increased visibility & profits and being on the cutting edge of the Internet - mobile-friendly solutions are essential.

Taking a mobile-friendly approach, or becoming mobile-first cannot be achieved without one more factor - Responsive Web Design.

Responsive web design is an approach to web development presented in 2010- five years before PWA was introduced to the world. The general idea is that design responds to the user’s device - size, motion, and orientation. Responsiveness is achieved with the use of fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries. The approach excludes time-consuming development phases which were earlier needed to fit the different screen sizes on the market. Flexibility and the speed of development of responsive websites became a common practice. Now, almost every website you visit is responsive in its nature.


What does PWA have to do with a mobile-friendly approach?

Building a custom application for multiple platforms is usually time- and resource-consuming. In the era where most of the information search and purchases is done online, and the majority of smaller businesses must meet the market demands at the most inexpensive charge. That's where Progressive Web Applications (PWAs)  and responsive design come with help. PWA generally allows you to easily convert your web application into a native application or at least something which is more or less similar to it. PWA, thanks to its fast performance and compatibility with multiple browsers, ranks highly in Google search results. Hence, solves Google's search engine algorithm ranking issue, being mobile-friendly. Websites based on Progressive Web Application appear higher in search results. In this article, I'm going to show you how to add a web page to a mobile device as a Progressive Web Application.

How to build a Progressive Web Application?

Learn how to make usable Progressive Web Application on mobile device.

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