User-Centric Charging Services for Electric Vehicles

The first part of the project has focused on understanding the needs, drivers and barriers of users for electric car charging. The insight is gathered through interviews, user observations and field studies with a user-centred design research method. Six customer profiles have been identified, including key drivers and barriers as jobs, pains and gains for each profile using Strategyzer's Value Proposition Design. The main barriers are linked to the charging experience itself, where the various providers offer their own solutions on how to charge and pay. They have to accept a large number of mobile apps, payment solutions and different ways of interacting with the charging point operators (CPO) or e-mobility service providers (eMSP). The insight has been used for a value map and a summary of the end users' needs. A service plan is designed to describe a more streamlined charging experience for the end user. These, with the addition of an app prototype, have been the tools for testing a user interface. Business models in today's ecosystem are the topic of WP2. The work has centered around understanding how each individual player operates, their business models and how the overall charging infrastructure ecosystem is interconnected in a system that provides charging to users in different locations. Many business models have been found that each actor has motives to pursue, but the overall system is far too complex for the users. Up to 20 different providers have been identified with an app each, and up to 13 different payment solutions, none of which is a traditional bank terminal. Some players combine charging point operation (CPO) with e-mobility services (EMSP) to make money, while others specialize as separate CPOs and EMSP services. The latter allows for roaming solutions which they consider to be central to increasing the utilization of their chargers. The integrated CPO/EMSPs, for their part, say that they can provide better services and that this model makes it easier to build out nationwide networks as internal cross-subsidisation is possible with good and poorer locations. 22 actors in this ecosystem have been interviewed. Ease of use is considered poor, especially for ad-hoc payment and access. The future can move in different directions. Business as usual is unlikely since the system is far too complex and more actors will emerge. Longer range will reduce the en route need and increase the destination charging need. The future will also depend on what car manufacturers do in terms of charging access through navigation systems and own EMSP services and potential regulations that national authorities or the EU introduce to make the market work better. Giants like Google and Apple can enter the market, as they are already an option for navigation in car manufacturers' navigation systems, and they have the other parts required to make it work. The work of WP2 has been published in a TØI report covering most of the themes identified for today's ecosystem. An extract from the report has also been published in the World Electric Vehicle Journal https://www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/13/10/185. In WP3, the project has concentrated on exploring possible solutions that can solve some of the challenges pointed out in the insight phase in order to establish a business model and technical solution that can be commercialised. The main focus has been to actively use insights from the two previous work packages to understand where Spot-On can contribute to an increase in value in the market. To identify possible future business models, the project has regularly met and worked together in workshops. Here we have outlined ideas, opportunities and challenges, and then sharpen and conceptualised the potential models. In addition, competitor, partner and value stream analyzes have been carried out. This has given us deeper insight into a number of actors and how these can be placed in Spot-On's network. The work has been carried out through a "Lean Startup" and "Design Thinking" method in a dynamic process where each step is evaluated to meet the needs of end users and actors. Processing this has led to the selection of a solution including customer segment, problem formulation, value proposition and outline for a product proposal. In WP3.4, the design of the MVP is designed. Legal framework and possible obstacles to implementing the business model mapped. The conclusion is that there are no legal frameworks or requirements that prevent the commercialization of Spot-On's solution. Under WP4, a contract model including temp plates has been proposed for the solution.

The outcome of the spot-On project is a MVP design solution for a network platform which will be build and tested in the market late 2022/early 2023 by Powerzeek. The solution is an open and independent network enabling easy charging for EV drivers and optimized usage for charge point owners. The majority of global EV chargers are inaccessible to the public while the scaling of charging infrastructure remains a challenge for the high EV penetration. Powerzeek aims to optimize the utilization of existing charging infrastructure by promoting sharing economy and transparency. The solution brings together charge point owners, users and car sharing companies in an open ecosystem where value creation is shared through integration and interaction.

Today, potential EV-users hesitate to buy EVs because charging seems too complicated. EV-users?meet?a?high number of charging providers, which each has their own system for charging, payment, localization and route planning. To fix this and go beyond, Spot-on aim to design, test, validate and pre-commercialize a user-centric network ICT-platform for the EV charging industry. By adopting new knowledge from research regarding end-user adoption, network platform business models and requirements for standardization and regulation, the project partners ambition is to utilize the Norwegian head start in electrification of the transport sector to develop a new industry and new value creation which has a global potential. The project is research-oriented and will enable new orchestration of the energy-providers and the end-users at the same time. Spot-on will be carried out by Powerzeek AS as main partner with Bouvet AS, Norges Automobil-Forbund (NAF), Q-Free Norge AS, KNOWIT EXPERIENCE BERGEN AS, Kluge Advokatfirma AS and Transportøkonomisk Institutt (TOI)- as a research supplier. ITS Norway is a sub-contractor to Powerzeek. Oslo Municipality and Kopla support the project (LoIs) to ensure testing and piloting in a real industry/user-environment. The partners and ITS Norway covers all aspects of the project application. Spot-on will run for 18 months and is divided into 5 work packages. WP1 will identify the key drivers for consumer adoption of EVs and charging services now and in the future. WP2 will identify the prevailing business models and suggest new platform-models. Based on input from WP1 and 2, WP3 will design and test the the platform and user adaptation. WP4 will analyse current regulations/standards-frameworks in the light of the future needs for orchestrations of the ecosystem. Based on all WPs, WP4 will suggest new regulations and areas for new standardization. The project management is done in WP5, and will be led by Powerzeek with help from ITS Norway.