This article provides a short explanation of tariff codes and how to add them to a Charge Station or a connector in EV Portal. Tariff codes are IDs that Charge Station Operators (CPOs) must set for every Charge Station. For in-depth information about designing a tariff structure, you can Wholesale Billing Engine and wholesale tariff configuration for an understanding of how tariffs are set.
What is a tariff code?
A tariff code is an identifier of the current charging tariff structure set on a charger in the GreenFlux platform. A tariff code determines the currency and rate at which drivers will be charged at a respective Charge Station, in accordance with agreements that are in place between CPO networks and e-mobility service providers (EMSPs).
It's important to understand that a tariff code in itself is not a price; it is used to help identify which billing rule to select for a given session, along with other details like who the parties involved are, what the date and time are, etc. All of these elements form a billing rule and together they determine the price of a charging session.
Adding or updating a tariff code on a Charge Station
Adding a tariff code to a new Charge Station
When you add a Charge Station to the EV Portal - you can read the Charge Station Creation for more information - the Charge Station creation wizard opens:
In the Billing section you need to select the tariff code that is to be applied to that Charge Station. The tariff code that you select there will be considered the default for that Charge Station.
Note that the tariff codes that appear in the dropdown will have to be set up in combination with billing rules beforehand. An explanation of how to create your tariff and billing rule structure is beyond the scope of this article. To learn more, please check How to create a (wholesale) tariff or update an existing tariff
Modifying a tariff code on an existing Charge Station
At some point you might need to change the tariff code that has been applied to a Charge Station.
To do this, go to CPO → Assets → Charge Stations: right click a Charge Station and hit edit:
In the Charge Station editor, you can then select the desired tariff code in the Billing section (similarly to the charger creation stage illustrated above) and click Save. From here on onwards the new tariff code will be applied to transactions on that Charge Station.
The new tariff code will not be applied retroactively to existing CDRs for that Charge Station.
Adding a tariff code to a connector
If you add a tariff code on Charge Station level this will be automatically applied to each connector. Some use cases call for different tariff codes per connector, for example an AC connector and a DC connector. For that purpose you can set a tariff code on a connector, which will override the default tariff code previously set on the Charge Station.
When you get to the end of the Charge Station creation wizard as you are adding a new Charge Station, you have the possibility to select a tariff code per connector.
First, select the hardware template under the Hardware section, then at the bottom you can override both the tariff code and the reimbursement tariff code (if applicable).
