Originally published here.

As EV adoption accelerates, robust infrastructure is key. But how can digital and smart solutions optimize grids, enhance reliability, and meet growing demand?

This statement by our Managing Director Crispin Leick is based on the conviction that the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) will accelerate. For us, it’s clear: EVs are the better product. They are more cost-effective in the long run because the initial purchase costs amortize and are offset by future savings. Plus, they produce zero local emissions. And Infrastructure development and regulation will further help.

100% electric is a bold claim, but Norway shows it’s possible: 8,954 new car registrations in January 2025 were electric. This means EVs accounted for 95.8%, up from 92.1% during the same period last year.

However, this acceleration of the e-mobility sector requires digital solutions. In this blog post, we're going to take a closer look at what strategies already exist, what we can learn from them, and where they're limited.

The Roles of EMSP and CPO

EMSP stands for E-Mobility Service Provider and refers to a company that offers a charging service for electric vehicles. This can be provided, for example, through an app or by offering charging points within a supply area at fixed rates.

A Charge Point Operator, or CPO, provides the charging infrastructure within such a supply area. The company manages a pool of charging points that it operates and maintains. This includes responsibilities like installing and servicing the charging stations.

While a CPO is responsible for the charging infrastructure, an EMSP connects it with demand - namely, electric vehicle drivers. In essence: An EMSP acts as the bridge between charging stations and EVs, helping the CPO monetize the charging stations they provide.

So far, many CPOs rely on proprietary software solutions for their charging stations. We, however, believe in a cross-platform, hardware-agnostic approach. After all, only an open system enables true interoperability, simplifies the integration of new technologies, and ensures a seamless user experience - today and in the future.

Maximizing Efficiency with Smart Infrastructure

Are Our Power Grids Ready? With the growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads, electricity demand is increasing, which in turn impacts the power grid. A study by BCG suggests that by 2030, an estimated 200 million EVs will be on the roads worldwide. In Europe alone, EV sales will nearly quadruple.

Charging electric vehicles should always be immediate and reliable for everyone. The goal is to ensure that a location’s grid connection capacity is not exceeded while distributing the available power efficiently across all devices. This is why innovative solutions must be developed, especially in areas with heavily burdened power grids.

One way to manage the growing EV demand is through load management. This ensures that charging stations only draw electricity when sufficient capacity is available on the grid. The load management system also connects various charging stations, ensuring the optimal utilization of the available grid connection. For instance, charging power can be reduced, or vehicles can be charged in a specific sequence. This eliminates the need for increasing connection capacity or even installing a new transformer.

There are two types of load management:

• Static Load Management

• Dynamic Load Management

With static load management, the available grid connection capacity is fixed and distributed across the charging points. The maximum allowed power is set at a master charging station and communicated via data lines to the slave stations of the same manufacturer.

Dynamic charging, on the other hand, monitors the building’s current power consumption and compares it to the grid connection’s maximum capacity. In the future, we also see the integration of photovoltaic systems and batteries into a modern load management system. Because in order to avoid overloading the grid, different assets need to be orchestrated.

The remaining available power is then distributed across the charging points. Charging power varies depending on consumption and is dynamically adjusted as needed. In the future, we also see the integration of PV systems and battery storage, which also help to avoid overloading the grid connection. Therefore, a modern load and charging management system must orchestrate various assets.

Navigating EV Travel

With the growing adoption of electric vehicles, effective route planning is becoming increasingly important. It helps address challenges including range anxiety and driver behavior, while taking into account factors such as charging station availability and charging times.

For efficient route planning, vehicle-specific parameters must be considered, such as, power, speed, size of battery, specific consumption of the vehicle, weight of freight.

Driver behavior also plays a critical role. Traffic conditions, for instance, can significantly impact the overall efficiency of a journey and should therefore be tracked in real-time. This is particularly relevant for electric trucks. European regulations require trucks to take a 45-minute break every 4.5 hours of driving, which dictates a specific driving pattern. Analyzing and incorporating these patterns into route optimization is crucial.

Approaches to route optimization can be categorized into single-objective and multi-objective strategies, each addressing specific needs of EV drivers. Single-objective optimization focuses on achieving one primary goal, such as minimizing travel time or energy consumption. It offers a straightforward solution to meet a specific requirement but may not account for other important factors. Multi-objective optimization, on the other hand, seeks to balance multiple goals simultaneously, such as reducing energy use while also minimizing travel time. A commonly used method for this is the weighted-sum approach, which assigns different levels of importance to each objective and calculates the best overall outcome. By considering these strategies, drivers can plan more efficient routes tailored to their needs.

V2G

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) allows energy from EV batteries to be fed back into the grid. This means that EVs function as mobile energy storage units. V2G allows electric energy from electric vehicle batteries to be fed back into the energy system. This means that electric vehicles can not only consume electricity but also feed it back into the grid. V2G essentially uses electric vehicles as mobile energy storage.

Stay tuned - more to come!

What are we looking for at ENV?

After all, a robust infrastructure isn’t just built; it’s empowered. That is why we want to invest in technologies that

So, do you have a charging or battery management software solution, a battery storage solution, or another e-mobility software solution that needs funding?

We’d love to hear from you.