Mark Smith, Operations Director at Sevadis, discusses the importance of smart back-office management integration for EV charging point projects.
The electric vehicle industry is experiencing a significant growth period, despite the challenges OEMs face with supply issues. Drivers are actively making the switch to electric, whether that be for personal or professional reasons. With the increase in EV adoption, there exists a requirement for the roll-out of a national charging infrastructure, that not only provides a seamless charging experience, but also incorporates modern technologies.
For organisations seeking to implement an electric vehicle charging policy for their employees and customers, one of the key considerations when making that decision is how the network of EV charging points will be managed. From reporting to monitoring energy consumption, through to billing and user behaviour, incorporating a smart back-office management system plays a pivotal role in operating a network of EV charging points.
A smart back-office management system is crucial for the day-to-day operations of the business’ charging infrastructure, whilst also important for planning and preparation for future objectives, such as understanding whether the infrastructure requires expansion to cater for the growing demand for EV charging facilities.
Recouping costs
With the increase in EV adoption, one of the key elements of smart back-office management systems is the ability to provide EV charging at a cost, enabling businesses to a) recoup the costs of chargepoint investment and b) generate additional business revenue, in turn, benefitting from profit as the adoption of cleaner and greener vehicles surges and becomes the norm.
For installers, whether that be small or large-scale, familiarising yourself with the diverse range of smart back-office management systems in the market is crucial to providing a robust installation service to clients. Customers require confidence in the complete solution on offer – the knowledge and education behind the EV charging software is just as important as the EV charging hardware.
Whilst many smart back-office system providers offer similar features, there are key differentiating factors that will determine which smart back-office management system a client opts for. For example, a business may require the need for telematics reporting, whilst another may require the ability to provide EV charging at various price points, depending on the driver group.
But, it’s not only the clients that can benefit from opting for a smart back-office management system, installers too can reap the fiscal rewards with the likes of industry leading providers, Monta.
White-labelling a back-office management system via the Monta platform enables installers to further diversify their portfolio by becoming an EV chargepoint operator, providing clients with a complete turnkey electric vehicle charging solution – from install of hardware, to integration of software solutions, through to providing a platform for clients to manage their network of EV charging points within.
Smart solutions in the EV charging landscape are becoming a must and one of our main pieces of advice on integrated smart back-office management solutions is to ensure that you are well equipped with the knowledge of the various providers. This will ultimately provide you, as an installer, with a choice per user-case whilst generating greater confidence from your clients.
Second to this is, for installers wanting to diversify their portfolios further than installation and maintenance, opting to become a chargepoint operator via white-labelling solutions will allow for an additional revenue stream, which will create ample opportunities in the future.
To browse the Sevadis range of EV charging equipment, click here
