CPO:
Charge Point Operators and Charge Point Owners are commonly referred to as CPOs, even though their roles aren’t entirely similar. We can interpret a CPO in two ways:
Road is a CPO, we offer a Charge Point Operating platform and we take care of the billing and provide a platform to the Charge Point Owner to
Our customer, Charge Point Owner, installs and maintains chargepoints so drivers can charge their electric vehicles.
(e)MSP
This is an abbreviation for (electric) Mobility Service Provider. An eMSP is a company that enables the charging network from the CPO’s. They provide EV drivers with access to the network of charging stations. The goal of an eMSP is to facilitate a CPO and to help them run a successful charging business. Road is an (e)MSP, we are offering our customer the possibility to charge with their charge card at any charging station of our connected CPO’s. A (e)MSP is also the responsible party to take care of the billing. The CPO invoices the MSP and the MSP invoices the customer/ user/ driver.
Roaming
A MSP can provide access to 3rd party charging networks through roaming. Roaming capabilities are essential as they considerably improve the end-user experience. Just as you can keep using your phone when travelling abroad — and connect through local networks — EV roaming lets EV drivers charge their vehicles through other EV charging networks.
A roaming agreement between a CPO and (e)MSP contains of agreements about the connection between those parties, payment terms, responsibility, data protection and more!
Roaming Hub (Like Eclearing)
To create a connection between CPO and MSP’s a roaming hub can be used. A roaming hub is an platform different parties connect with to make sure you don’t need to connect with al the parties individual. Those roaming hubs have some disadvantages as les possiblities to share data, less stabel than direct connections and high prices.
OCPI
Not to be confused with the EV charger communication protocol OCPP, OCPI stands for Open Charge Point Interface. OCPI allows for automated roaming between various EV charging networks. The Open Charge Point Interface protocol (OCPI) supports connections between eMobility Service Providers who have EV drivers as customers, and Charge Point Operators who manage charge stations. This protocol is free to use and independent. It can work both bilateral as well as in combination with roaming hubs.
Roaming-Fee
We charge a roaming fee for guest usage to cards from outside the Road Infrastructure. This means that the tarif a Charge Point Owner has set will me raised with a roaming fee of €0,03 excl. VAT. per kWh if the users uses a card from another MSP. If the user uses a card from an provider within the Road network (a resellers or whitelabel customer, like Vissers or Heijmans) the tarif won’t be raised with the roaming fee.
POI
Point(s) Of Interest, this is the data we share within the roaming, it’s about the location, availability, and more information about a charging location / station like the facilities (petrol station or a restaurant) nearby.
EVSE
Refers to equipment that exists to supply electrical energy for charging electric vehicles. It can be residential (such as an at-home charger) or commercial (such as chargers at malls, workplaces, rest stops, etc.)
kWh (Kilowatt-hour)
The kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy equal to one kilowatt of power sustained for one hour and is commonly used as a measure of electrical energy.
Example:
When you charge for one hour and the power of the charging station is 11 kW you will charge 11 kWh after one hour.