How Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer optimised its charging infrastructure with vaylens' EV charging management software
With the strong expansion of its EV charging infrastructure, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer quickly reached the limits of manual billing. These processes quickly became a bottleneck in the face of its growing EV charging network and varying user requirements, especially in terms of transparency, speed and scalability.
With vaylens, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer automated its billing processes, improved monitoring with vaylens' OCPP-based system and introduced Community Charging, a new vaylens module for access and billing, which is particularly advantageous for business and private drivers. Microsoft Power BI evaluations also provide data-based analyses to create the groundwork for further development and planning.
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer was able to significantly reduce its reliance on manual administrative processes, establish more transparency for drivers and rectify faults more quickly thanks to the centralised vaylens Portal and Community Charging module. The vaylens App is now more robust, and business customers in particular appreciate the simple monthly billing.
The challenge: Develop EV charging infrastructure that grows with the business
Stadtwerke Speyer is a municipal utility company in southwest Germany, responsible for energy supply and Speyer's growing EV charging network. The organisation has been committed to the energy transition for over two decades, while being explicitly involved in the development of sustainable charging infrastructure since 2010. Today, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer, a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Speyer for urban mobility services, operates 103 public charge points, processing around 3800 charging sessions every month.
The addition of each new charging station allows SWS to increase its offering and coverage, though this also comes with technical and administrative challenges. Manual billing for using charge points takes up a lot of time, which means an ever-growing accounting backlog. The operation became a balancing act between offering a higher level of EV charging and establishing a backend that makes life easier for both the drivers and the technicians at SWS.
"We had around 200–250 customers, all of whom we had to bill manually. This was, unsurprisingly, error-prone and made it difficult to create transparency."
- Michael Nett, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer's charging infrastructure was already capable of being controlled remotely from a technical point of view, but the manual effort required for executing billing and payment requests was still too high. Naturally, the pressure to act reached its peak, with operations coming to a near standstill and service quality dipping. Clearly, Speyer needed a smoother process.
The solution: Digital control and automated processes
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer has been a vaylens customer for many years, and with the integration of the new Community Charging module into the existing vaylens Portal setup, SWS was able to take another important step to completely digitise its charging infrastructure. This included transitioning to fully automated billing, user access and station management processes.
Community Charging is a digital billing solution that allows Charge Point Operators (CPOs) to flexibly make their charge points available to selected user groups, like employees, tenants or guests on specific tariffs (though this can also be extended to public drivers if part of the business model). All administrative processes, including accounting and user access, are handled by vaylens.
For EV drivers, this means easy access to charge points with transparent tariffs and less time wasted when paying at the charging station. Operators like Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer benefit from automated billing and flexible pricing that lets them easily monetise their charging infrastructure.
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer can also use the Community Charging module to determine which user groups have access to particular charge points. The invitation and management processes take place directly on the vaylens Portal. Users register for an account on the vaylens App, where their payment information is also securely stored; all other processes, including charging and billing, are automated within the App and Portal.
For drivers, this means convenient, clearly regulated access as well as transparent tariffs and a monthly invoice. SWS benefits from a significant reduction in manual processes while retaining control over its prices. As such, EV charging management software provides relief on both sides of the charging station.
Less effort and more transparency with automated billing
With Community Charging, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer can automate the monthly billing for all charging sessions, with drivers now receiving their statements digitally so their records are easy to document and understand.
"This is an enormous advantage, especially for our corporate customers who charge regularly. They can easily prove when, where and how much was charged."
- Julian Sauther, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
Real-time technical control, analysis and monitoring
Aside from the Community Charging module, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer makes use of vaylens’ OCPP-based monitoring to keep an eye on the status of its entire network. The system detects faults at an early stage and makes it possible to rectify many problems remotely, so there’s less reliance on technician callouts. Crucially, Speyer maintains an overview of the communication between each EV and charge point at all times, which significantly contributes to the network’s high uptime and reliability.
"We can see how our stations communicate with the EVs directly in the vaylens backend; it saves us a lot of time and effort."
- Julian Sauther, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer also uses Microsoft Power BI to analyse and visualise its charging data, recognise trends at an early stage and make well-founded decisions when looking to expand its presence. This is a key aspect when it comes to intelligently managing EV charging infrastructure in the long term.
One system for everything
With vaylens, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer not only controls the technical operation of its charging infrastructure but also user access, automated billing processes and the entire customer service journey. Before the switch to vaylens, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer had to combine several systems that required a lot of effort to coordinate; this also came with inevitable gaps in communication between these systems and the extra stress of manual maintenance.
Today, Speyer's infrastructure runs centrally on the vaylens Portal. Depending on the user group, EV drivers can charge easily using the vaylens App, through direct, universal payment methods or via dedicated RFID cards.
"Now, with Community Charging, our customers have monthly billing with all the details. This is a huge advantage for us and our customers."
- Michael Nett, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
The result: Effortless EV charging management in one centralised system
Less time spent on admin
Today, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer uses the vaylens Portal to bill EV drivers automatically for their sessions, which takes away the legwork of checking individual charging processes or chasing drivers for unpaid sessions.
"We’re no longer involved in debt collection as vaylens takes care of everything. It’s a huge step forward for us."
- Michael Nett, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
More satisfied customers
Thanks to the new setup, customers experience a significantly better EV charging service. The vaylens App continues to run smoothly, and many customers are happy to be able to charge with RFID cards again.
"The vaylens App is now more robust, and the fact that RFID cards are available again has been positively received by many drivers."
- Julian Sauther, Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer
How vaylens can help your business
When every bill becomes a burden, faults are only noticed after a complaint and individual charge points can no longer be controlled, investing in EV charging management software is the next logical step.
Verkehrsbetriebe Speyer has shown how to overcome these hurdles with a digital platform that brings everything together. The combination of charging management software, monitoring, automated billing and intuitive user access creates tangible added value for operators and drivers alike.
Discover the full suite of vaylens features or get in touch with one of our experts to find out how vaylens can improve your operation.
How Community Charging can ease the access and billing management of your EV charging stations
FAQs
vaylens makes it easy to share your workplace charging stations with specific groups of drivers on customised tariffs. Tariffs are easily manageable in the vaylens platform, and we manage billing, so there's one less thing to worry about.
Yes, we use advanced security systems to protect your data and payments. Every charge and transaction is tracked, and support is available 24/7 for any issues.
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