Table of contents
To answer this question, we first explain how the electric ecosystem is structured in Europe today.
What is roaming?
Roaming makes it possible to use your MobilityPlus charging card to also charge at charging stations not managed by MobilityPlus. And vice versa, to allow third-party charging cards to charge at MobilityPlus charging stations.
Via roaming, the existing charging infrastructure can be shared. This allows the different communication protocols of various charging station operators to communicate with each other. It allows you as an EV driver to charge on as many different charging networks as possible with 1 charging card.
This benefits the user experience of EV drivers and is an important element in building an electric ecosystem in Europe.
How does roaming work?
Roaming comes about through cooperation agreements between Charging Point Operators (CPO) and eMobility Service Providers (eMSP, charging card issuers). The CPO manages the physical charging stations. The eMSP allows drivers to charge at those stations via a charging card (or via the app).
You can compare it to your mobile phone. Your network provider has agreements with other providers, allowing you to call and surf even outside your provider's coverage area.
In some cases there is a direct agreement (peer-to-peer) between the CPO and the eMSP, but in most cases there is an intermediary involved, a roaming hub. The latter facilitates the various roaming agreements and ensures standardised communication between all parties involved. Around four roaming hubs operate in Europe.
How is the price of a charging session composed ?
The price of a public charging session consists of two components:
- Transaction fee
The price you pay to the charging station - Service fee
The price for using the charging card/charging station and/or the price for (indirect) use of a roaming hub
A transaction fee is set by the charging station owner. The Charging Point Operator (CPO) shares this rate with the eMobility Service Provider (eMSP). The transaction rate includes the following elements:
- Starting fee: a fixed amount for each charging session
- Energy cost: a fixed amount per kWh charged
- Time cost: a fixed amount for the duration of the charging session, whether or not from the start of the charging session.
Service fees are set by the CPO and/or the eMSP for handling the charging transaction. The fee can be a fixed amount per charging session, a certain percentage of the cost of the session, or both, and is added to the total charging cost.
When communication between CPO and eMSP is established through a roaming hub, this also carries an additional service cost
Example 1
When you start a charging session at a MobilityPlus charging station (CPO) using your MobilityPlus charging card (eMSP), you pay the price set at the charging station. In this example, €0.30. This is in accordance with our no-uplift policy. This is also the price displayed in the MobilityPlus app.
Example 2
In this example, you charge with your MobilityPlus charging card (eMSP) at a 3rd-party charging station (CPO). The price per kWh is 0.30 €. The CPO charges 0.05 € (uplift) for service costs. In the MobilityPlus app, you see 0.35 €.
It uses a roaming hub that charges a service cost of 0.014 €.
The total cost received by MobilityPlus (eMSP) is 0.364 € and we charge this one-for-one on the invoice, in line with our no-uplift policy.
Example 3
In this example, you charge with a 3rd-party charging card (eMSP) at a MobilityPlus charging station (CPO). The charging station displays 0.33 € as price/kWh.
The MSP charges 0.05 € (uplift) for service costs. The total cost for the charging session is 0.38 €.