Learn about popular eMobility concepts through bite-sized videos. Transcript included. 

Experienced content writer with over 4 years of experience in the energy sector and many industry-related publications released.

Gabriela Stawiarska

 series known from our blog, we’re now taking another step forward in delivering EV-related knowledge. This time, we come forward with a slightly more concise and compact format. In the upcoming series of short videos we’ll aim to unfold and clear up some of the most popular eMobility terms and issues that were previously covered by articles of PDFs.

Charge Point Operator (CPO) vs eMobility Service Provider (eMSP) - what’s the difference?

A great complementary piece to the video is our article 

As the electric car industry accelerates, more and more technical terms appear, leaving many people unfamiliar with the market’s lingo. In this booming business, especially two names are now widely mentioned. These are the key players that have emerged in the line of eMobility business: Charge Point Operators (CPO) and eMobility Service Providers (eMSP) in question will be our focus for the next couple of minutes.

Charge Point Operators are the cornerstone of maintaining a reliable charging infrastructure. Through data-driven connectivity they plan, construct, install and maintain these electronic fueling points to make sure that EVs have a steady source for energy supply. Unlike eMobility Service Providers, Charge Point Operators focus on the technical aspects of hardware maintenance and installation, which places them at the forefront of those responsible for the growth of the charging network.

With most of the chargers available 24/7, CPO’s main point of interest lies in keeping them up and running while responding to potential malfunctions in real-time. In order to facilitate that, they use a special software often referred to as CPO platforms. With those, Charge Point Operators can remotely view their chargers' state (for example: which devices are currently occupied or which do not seem to be working properly).

With the technology moving forward at a skyrocketing pace, more and more functionalities are being added, leaving mighty capability in CPO’s hands. For example: the Dynamic Load Management mechanism allowing CPO’s to shift the energy load depending on demand.

eMSPs are in charge of making sure that EV drivers have access to easy-to-use charging services and apps, so they can locate a station with ease. Additionally, these companies manage the monetization side of the equation for operators by establishing tariffs and payment methods as well as providing real-time billing options. eMSPs are essentially responsible for the first-hand driver’s experience with the use of a charging station.

Being the customer-facing side of the EV charging maintenance, the apps offered by eMobility Service Providers serve quite a few fundamental purposes. They allow their users to locate, reserve, remotely start or stop the charging stations as well as settle the payment up for the charging session.

Set side by side in just a few words, Charge Point Operators are those who manage the hardware aspects of EV charging, whereas eMSP's are the vital link in ensuring that CPO’s products are ready for EV drivers to make use of.

eMSPs and CPOs are working hand in hand to make eMobility a reality. With the help of an app delivered by eMobility Service Providers, electric car drivers can find charging stations quickly, conveniently and with ease. Meanwhile, CPOs ensure that this infrastructure is properly connected for safe usage - allowing all drivers to access reliable charging options.

Smart grids

Get our comprehensive PDF packed with knowledge on eRoaming, hubs and protocols!

Being an eMobility leader in various projects across multiple startups, Piotr was responsible for OCPI and OCPP integration as well as EMP and CPO platforms development. With extensive expertise in the open standards field and eMobility tech solutions, he is leading teams of experienced developers and contributing with invaluable knowledge and experience.

Piotr Majcher

Certainly, roaming is something known to everyone at this point. However, what that has to do with eMobility?

Being a broad term for services allowing for connection outside of the usual network, roaming turns out to be an on-point solution for EV charging. With many players in the eMobility game (i.e. Charging Point Operators, eMobility Service Providers), some type of a connector is a must. Here’s exactly where eRoaming comes into play allowing for multi-dimensional connection between operators and EV drivers.

In short, eRoaming can be established via the use of hubs and protocols. A hub here can be an open platform which, after subscribing, can be used by many operators, who operate on common terms. This all happens in such a way that a certain charging pool introduced to a common hub can then be easily used by clients (EV drivers) of different providers. Such a solution allows electric vehicle users to charge their car across cities/countries with limited hussle.

In order to facilitate such a solution, the hubs developed their own open protocols, which are essentially responsible for the connection. They also define the functionalities of each eRoaming platform.

Amongst the existing hubs, we can differentiate three major ones. They all come with their own open standards and unify hundreds of CPOs and EMPs as well as millions of EV drivers.

The three biggest hubs and their protocols are:

(eMobility Inter-Operation Protocol - eMIP)

Apart from the proprietary protocols coming from hubs, it’s worth mentioning that there's also an independent one - 

Open Charge Point Interface Protocol (OCPI)

. It allows for eRoaming between the hubs as well as peer-to-peer connection.

To learn more about eRoaming, hubs & protocols, their importance and functionality as well as the future of eMobility - take a look at our exclusive paper covering all that needs to be covered on the topic!

eRoaming Hubs explained

Get our informative PDF on smart charging and see how it works!

Krzysztof is our Head of Products and he leads the technical development behind the suite of our ready-made solutions. Throughout the years in Solidstudio, he gained an invaluable insight into the eMobilty industry’s requirements and is now more than qualified to share his knowledge with others.

Krzysztof Ciombor

As we move towards an era where oil will likely become less accessible or even regulated in some way due to global warming concerns and other issues such as pollution caused by fuel sources like coal fired power plants, 

electric vehicles are to become the transport of the future.

 With such a massive shift across all transportation branches, all hands on deck in terms of innovative solutions are needed.

Luckily, such industry ameliorations can be observed in every aspect there is to eMobility. From ever-enhancing electric cars with prolonged-battery lives to all kinds of charging facilities, eMobility is entering a whole new level.

Amongst these solutions, a big part is played by software and digital products. Namely, eRoaming, connected car data and smart charging are all here to stay and are only advancing at a speedy pace.

We have already covered eRoaming in one of our downloadable PDFs. To see more click 

A few definitions can be found in terms of what smart charging really is. Some of the widely circulating ones say:

Smart charging is a cloud-based technology that makes it possible to adjust how much energy is used by EVs based on the current state of the energy grid.

But what does it really mean in practice? One must look at smart charging as a complex, inter-connected ecosystem that enables real-time data exchange between:


Through smart charging, the charging stations may monitor, manage, and restrict the use of charging devices to optimize energy consumption. The optimization happens on the basis of collected data which gathers information such as:

renewable energy availability or lack thereof

Future-proof nature of smart charging allows for free-choice maneuvers in terms of the quality and quantity of features, leaving the room for any necessary add-ons. All that to ensure EVs will not pose a threat to the grid in times of high charging demand that’s likely to grow directly proportional to the growing popularity of electric cars.

careful monitoring of the energy consumption and thus, transferring the charging loads across available energy sources and adjusting the power accordingly. 

The shifts are to ensure the continuity of (untouched) energy flow for its other consumers, such as homes and facilities nearby.

All about Smart Charging

Download our paper on Demand Response and learn all about it!

Lately, there has been quite a lot of debate about the capacity of the grid all over the world. With tensions rising, many people are voicing their concerns in terms of the potential grid overburdening. However, while speaking about it, one must remember how complex the whole ecosystem is.

The global energy system is a vast and complex network that supplies energy to homes and businesses across the entire planet. It includes everything from power plants and transmission lines to distribution systems and end-use customers. At the heart of this system is energy management. This is the process of planning, controlling, and optimizing the use of energy resources to meet specific objectives. It involves countless operations making sure that the entirety runs smoothly.

Demand response is one of the technologies involved in grid’s proper operation. 

Per definition, demand response is a change in electricity consumption by consumers to help keep the supply and demand of electricity in balance. This can be done by either reducing or increasing their electricity usage depending on the needs of the grid.

Through demand response, utilities can reduce the need for investment in new generation capacity, as well as improve grid stability and resilience. For consumers, demand response programs can offer financial incentives and other benefits.

The whole technology, however slightly complicated at first glance, brings a whole plethora of benefits for both - energy consumers and the grid itself.

In our downloadable PDF, we shed light on all the important aspects of demand response:

What are the main branches of the energy system?

What’s the role of the grid in the ecosystem?

Examples of demand response in practise (including eMobility solutions)

How does demand response impact the energy system?

Video Guide: CPO vs eMSP

16 MARCH 2023 • 4 MIN READ