The market for electric vehicles is growing steadily – as are the requirements for energy supply and fleet management. For a leading oil company, the question was: How can this change be actively shaped? The answer is: new business models that redefine the entire value chain in the energy sector, making it more efficient.
Fleet Management Transformation Requirements
A few years ago, X-INTEGRATE was commissioned to advise the group, which operates as an e-mobility service provider (EMSP). The aim was to govern its business and IT processes via an e-mobility platform. What's more, the solution should not only provide public and private charging services with many new products and services, but also an optimized charging infrastructure for e-vehicle fleets. The oil company uses it to handle a total of 50 business processes in the electric vehicle business. The initial situation illustrates the enormous challenges associated with the switch to electric mobility in fleet management.
X-INTEGRATE was faced with the task of expanding the company's existing business models. In addition, the processing of public, private and business charging should be optimised to meet the increasing demand for charging infrastructure.
To better understand the dimension of the development of a scalable and transaction-proof e-mobility platform, it is important to know that the oil company operates globally and offers mobility products and services for large fleets of up to 200,000 vehicles. It provides fuel and charging cards, handles toll and vehicle-related services and enables all related transactions (e.g. billing). More than 500 charge point operators (CPOs), including municipal utilities, energy providers, and private companies across Europe, also needed to be seamlessly integrated into the infrastructure and business processes.
Solution for agile strategy development and secure payment processing
X-INTEGRATE handled the entire strategy development for the business modeling, supported the process modeling and designed the IT architecture of the platform. With the introduction of a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), the Cologne-based digitization specialist has created an agile project structure that makes it possible to react flexibly to market changes and new requirements.
Together with their customer, X-INTEGRATE implemented the requirements of the various charging stations and the integration of over 400,000 charging points throughout Europe.
A key focus was on the integration of managed services that ensure automated payment processing and refund processes on a transaction-secure platform. Compliance with BaFin regulations was particularly important in order to ensure smooth refunds – even in the event of changes to the payment information of end customers.
"So far, everyone has been doing their own thing technically. Aggregators, CPOs, and EMSPs often face significant challenges in coordinating their IT architectures, resulting in interface failures and poor data quality."
Matthias BauerCTOX-INTEGRATEPlatform combines technical standards and creates added value
Thanks to strategic consulting and platform implementation by X-INTEGRATE, the oil company was able to expand its electromobility services and implement new business models. The development of a scalable IT infrastructure and the connection to Europe-wide charging points ensure a significant increase in efficiency. The implementation of the new business models leads to greater transparency in processes and rapid adaptation to new market requirements.
As an EMSP, the Group is also securing additional market share in the e-mobility business because it was able to integrate many CPOs to make their services available nationwide. In turn, CPOs create access to their charging stations via more EMSP networks – be it via apps, websites or station finders. End customers in fleet management can thus find charging stations more easily.
By closely monitoring industry technical standards, X-INTEGRATE can continuously incorporate them into the platform. This ensures a seamless and user-friendly charging experience—from identification at the charging station to activating the charge point and completing the charging process.