According to the relationship "Public recharging infrastructures in Italy" elaborated by the MOTUS-E association, 2020 was very important for the development of the national refueling network dedicated to electric vehicles. Indeed, installations grew by an average of 39% between February and the end of the year, going respectively from 13.721 to 19.324 charging points (+41%) and from 7.203 to 9.709 charging infrastructures accessible to the public (+35%).
These data take on particular significance if we also evaluate the increase in the number of electrified vehicles (BEV + PHEV) in circulation: in February 2021 there were 113.787, compared to 46.203 twelve months earlier. A factor that can help the expansion of electric mobility it is the diffusion of interoperability.
In the value chain of the charging service there are two types of players who make charging available to the end customer: the Charging Point Operator, i.e. the person who deals with the installation, management and maintenance of charging points, and the Mobility Service Provider, which deals with the provision of the top-up service to the end customer.
Indeed, interoperability represents the possibility of carrying out energy replenishment at stations belonging to different Charging Point Operators, which thus integrate their platforms with Mobility Service Providers to provide the service to end customers in an increasingly widespread manner. This is a technology that can greatly simplify the life of electric motorists, avoiding the adoption of numerous recharging cards, each one usually capable of activating a limited number of recharging points belonging to the same owner.
There are various offers on the market who can help in this regard. Enel X, through the JuicePass application (available free of charge on the App Store and Google Play Store), allows access to over 90.000 top-up points throughout Europe. This range of action is possible thanks to interoperability (for example with the Hubject, Smatrics and IONITY platforms). In addition, the company has stipulated specific agreements with some operators, including Hera and Neogy. Another opportunity is represented by BeCharge (which allows access to the evway, Nextcharge and Duferco Energia networks).
It can therefore be imagined that interoperability will play an increasingly important role in supporting the growth of electric mobility. However, it will be necessary to carry out a review of the legislation in force to meet the new needs of "intelligent" top-ups, with a view to streamlining and simplifying processes. Furthermore, the directive 2014/94 / EU, relating to the "creation of the recharging infrastructure for alternative fuels", already called for the definition of standards for "ensure interoperability and connectivity between electricity supply points and electric vehicle chargers".
The search for a standard is not limited to compatibility between operators for recharging. MOTUS-E itself is in fact working to ensure that a Single National Platform (PUN) is established "which conveys all the information relating to public infrastructures present at national level within a single official database that can be consulted”. The intent is to build a reliable and accurate picture of the geographical distribution of charging infrastructure. An important aspect not only for electric mobility users, but also for Charging Point Operators (CPOs) who can therefore satisfy an increasingly broad and widespread customer base.
