eMSP / CPO Loyalty Benchmarking Study 2024

eMSP and CPO Loyalty Benchmarking: Market shares and reasons for using charging services, payment methods and potential for tariff development

Competition in the market is increasing significantly. This is why USCALE is conducting the eMSP and CPO benchmarking study for the fifth time in a row.

The study analyses which CPO and eMSP charging services EV drivers use and why. The results show the market shares of the provider groups and the most important eMobility service providers. It also provides the key reasons for using the service and the reasons why users become disloyal to their most frequently used provider (churn).

A second focus is on payment methods and possibilities for the further development of tariff systems.

The eMSP/CPO Loyalty Benchmarking Study has been conducted online in August and September 2024 among 2,688 EV drivers in Germany.

The study will also be conducted with 500 EV drivers in each of 5 other European markets (FR, UK, IT, ES, NL) during August and October 2024.

DOWNLOAD 2023 STUDY EXCERPT

CONTENTS AND ADDED VALUE OF THE eMSP/CPO LOYALTY BENCHMARKING STUDY

Contents of the eMSP / CPO Loyalty Benchmarking Study

Segmentation criteria:

  • Vehicle (make, first registration, private vs. company car, employer contribution to charging costs)
  • Vehicle technology (AC/DC charging capacity, range)
  • Driving habits (mileage per year and per weekday)
  • Charging behavior (charging locations, charging frequencies, charging preferences)
  • Living situation (type of house, type of city)
  • ‘Charging types’ derived from charging behaviour, living situation and driving habits (by means of a statistical cluster analysis)
  • Demographics (age, gender, income)

Use of eMSP charging services:

  • Actively used (eMSP) charging services
  • Preferred charging services (derived from this: Market shares of the most important providers or provider groups national energy suppliers, municipal utilities, CPOs, roaming providers, OEMs, retailers, employers).
  • History: Development of market shares of provider groups since 2020
  • Criteria for preferred eMSP usage
  • Criteria for the use of non-preferred providers, i.e. reasons for using others than the preferred eMSP
  • Churn during the last 12 months, reasons for churn

CPO relevance:

  • General preference of CPOs
  • Attractiveness of the most important CPOs (Allego, EnBW, EWE Go, Fastned, Ionity, Pfalzwerke, Tesla, Charging hub of own car brand (if offered))
  • Criteria for deciding which CPO to chose if possible

Feature use of charging apps:

  • Most important functions of charging apps
  • Most important information and filter options for charging
  • Relevant information in the vicinity of a charging

Payment and payment / authorisation methods:

  • Currently used vs. desired payment methods
  • Preferences for ad-hoc payment options (Girocard/CC + PIN, Girocard/CC contactless, smartphone “wallet”, QR code, via cell phone bill)
  • Differences between AC and DC charging
  • Satisfaction with payment (authorization and payment with P&C, RFID/card, charging app, ad-hoc, prices, price transparency, billing).
  • Comparative evaluation of the 5 main payment methods (Plug&Charge, RFID/card, charging app, Girocard/CC, smartphone wallet):
    • Usage drivers: Advantages + most important advantage per payment method
    • Usage barriers: Disadvantages + most important disadvantage per payment method

Public charging tariffs:

  • Willingness to pay depending on charging capacity
  • “Switching personality” (constantly / occasionally / never check or compare rates).
  • Tariff model used (with / without basic fee, flat rate…)
  • Variable tariffs: general interest (for deep dive see UScale Smart Charging Study)
  • Parking / blocking fees: general opinion
Target group of the survey

Only owners and drivers of fully battery-electric e-cars were surveyed for the study. The average holding period of the respondents was 2 years. All respondents regularly charge in public spaces.

Value added and benefit for CPOs and all providers with an eMSP service

The study is mainly aimed at business developers, product managers and marketing experts at charge point operators (CPOs), providers of eMSP services and car manufacturers or importers with their own eMSP offering.

The study shows eMSP provider groups and large individual providers how their market share has developed. For each provider group, the study shows the most important reasons for use and when or why customers switch to another provider. This provides product managers with a qualified basis for developing or revising their own offers and tariff structures.

Dashboard for analysis

Many exciting findings only become apparent when the results are evaluated separately according to important customer groups. This allows providers to target their offers to different user segments in a differentiated way. Thanks to the high sample size, subscribers to the study can split the results in the interactive dashboard as they wish and analyse them in detail.

USCALE focus studies: User studies on electromobility

Since 2018, USCALE has been systematically surveying EV drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. You can find an overview of all USCALE focus studies HERE.

We show extracts from other studies in the LinkedIn articles by USCALE and Axel Sprenger, our company founder.

If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.