Ecosystem for digital charging including CPO Platform and eMSP App
ZimiCharge is building EV charging infrastructure in South Africa, a market at an early stage of electrification where operators are establishing networks and driver habits at the same time.
They needed both halves of a charging business at once: a platform to commission and manage stations, and a branded application through which drivers find those stations, charge and pay. Because the market is still forming, interoperability mattered from the outset – the ecosystem had to be ready to connect with other networks rather than remain a closed system.
In a nutshell
A complete digital charging ecosystem for the South African market, combining a Charge Point Operator platform with an eMobility Service Provider application. It connects station commissioning and management with the driver side – starting sessions by RFID or app, and paying for them – and, thanks to open standards, was ready for roaming connections from day one.
Challenges
The Zimi project was another opportunity to put our own digital products to work. Our eMobility team created customised versions of the eMSP application and the CPO platform to match ZimiCharge’s identity, then rolled them out to the market. The application is available on the App Store and Google Play, while the CPO administrative console runs on the client’s own cloud infrastructure.
For drivers, the app locates the nearest charging stations and allows searching and filtering by attributes that actually matter in the moment – power rating, distance, price and connector type – with payment details stored for Apple Pay, Google Pay and credit or debit cards. On the operator side, the platform covers commissioning and day-to-day management of the network. Knowing how much open standards decide about a network’s future, we made sure both products speak OCPI 2.2, to each other and to other companies in the market.
Our approach
Our focus was on bringing ZimiCharge’s own branding into the application rather than shipping a visibly generic product. Because our products are developed to be customisation-friendly from the outset, we were able to deliver an app that reads as ZimiCharge’s own, and close cooperation with their team gave drivers a consistent experience across every touchpoint.
Open standards in this market were still maturing, so beyond implementation we carried out OCPI testing for third-party connectivity and supervised the process of establishing roaming connections. The relationship did not end when development did – we continue to support and maintain the ecosystem.
Ready for roaming from the first day
Linking the CPO platform and the eMSP application over OCPI 2.2, rather than a private interface, means ZimiCharge’s network was never locked to its own drivers. Roaming connections were established under our technical supervision, so growth into partner networks became a configuration exercise instead of a development project.
Outcomes
An advanced migration to our CPMS system backed by custom development and ongoing maintenance. Migration involved 9000 charging points. A particularly complex aspect was ensuring the integration of the current EMP system, including mobile app users and the OCPI partners already connected.
Comprehensive custom CPMS system and effective migration, seamlessly integrating with GreenWay’s existing digital ecosystem to future-proof their high-volume EV charging network across the CEE region.
Entire digital ecosystem for EV charging including Charge Point Operator Platform, eMobility Service Provider application and customly developed software tailored to IECharge®’s unique needs.
