Charging company cars electrically: New solution for easy home charging of company cars

The requirements of modern electric mobility are diverse and too complex to be fully covered by a single provider. Companies and fleet customers are looking for holistic solutions rather than isolated individual solutions. To achieve this, digitalization, infrastructure, energy, and billing must be conceived and developed as a networked overall system.

More and more companies are turning to electric vehicles to promote sustainability and environmental awareness and reduce operating costs. But electric cars also need to be charged, and that requires an internal process. Employees usually have a fuel card (charging card) that they use to bill for the trips they have made.

Since it takes some time for an electric vehicle to fully charge, many drivers take advantage of the opportunity to do so overnight at home. Until now, however, the energy costs have been borne solely by the driver, which is a significant disadvantage and reduces the acceptance of electric company cars. In order to fully exploit the advantages of electric vehicles, a fair solution for home charging is therefore needed. For accurate expense tracking, the kWh and charging location must be recorded and offset against the electricity costs. Flat-rate billing is not very helpful in this regard.

The challenges for companies are considerable: high costs for public charging have a negative impact on the total cost of ownership (TCO). Added to this are complex expense and cost accounting as well as high investment costs for wall boxes. The charging infrastructure and its availability also pose hurdles, while a lack of acceptance among drivers makes the switch to electric mobility more difficult.

To overcome the obstacles to charging, the new FleetPlug@Home product was developed by AEW eMobility, Partino, Last Mile Solution, and AZOWO GmbH. The solution is already running successfully in Switzerland and is now being expanded further. To avoid the need for an expensive charging station and integration into a third-party backend, Plug@Home transmits the data from the car to the owner or provider and bills the company that owns the vehicle and employs the employee. The solution also makes it easy to handle employee changes, completely eliminating the need for costly uninstallation and reinstallation of a smart charging station.

Drivers charge their vehicles conveniently from home. Digital registration and validation prevent misuse. Reimbursement is automatic, clear, and transparent on a monthly basis. For fleet managers, this means minimal effort, as cost control is simplified by a clear overview of charging processes and reimbursements. Flexible rates and multiple residences are also possible.

The data comes directly from the vehicle manufacturers, and only relevant charging data is transferred. Data transfer starts when the charge status changes. The solution offers companies significant cost savings compared to public charging and supports CO₂ neutrality. Automated billing and simple administration create a clear competitive advantage. The convenient charging option at home also strengthens employee loyalty and increases the acceptance of electric vehicles in the fleet.

The partnership aims to create an innovative ecosystem for fleet e-mobility with the shared goal of sustainably improving charging infrastructure and charging processes in Europe. The focus is on simplified processes, greater transparency, and scalable technologies. Expertise and resources are being pooled to develop market-ready solutions more quickly.