Introduction
A Charge Point Operator (CPO) may want to apply more than one price model during the session, while charging the EV Driver based on a cost per minute scheme, i.e. this feature foresees price models that do not charge the driver for the energy he consumes.
Use Case example: some operators define their pricing model according to the time of day the EV Driver is charging. Thus, a concrete example could be that a CPO defines its costs (wholesale costs) as follows:
- 0.0240 €/min, between 9 am and 9 pm
- 0.0092 €/min, between 9 pm and 9 am
So far, our billing engine could only apply one price model for any given session. The default, without Dynamic Time Based (DTB) feature enabled, is that the billing engine will look at the price model that applies at the beginning of the session, and will compute costs accordingly.
Dynamic Time Based Tariff feature: behaviour and price computation
With the introduction of this new DTB feature, CPO customers can now apply multiple price models instead, and the cost calculation will consider all price models that may apply throughout the session.
Let’s consider the following tariff, which represents the price model exemplified in the intro section:
And now, let’s consider a session that runs from 20:30 to 21:30, in a charger with the above tariff assigned to it.
Let us now look at the outcome of the session, for two configuration scenarios:
- Scenario 1: Setup GreenFlux supported until now – without DTB enabled.
- Scenario 2: Setup with DTB feature enabled.
Scenario 1 – without ToU:
w
Scenario 2 – DTB feature enabled:
As follows, we summarize the main differences of the same session for the two scenarios above:
Scenario 1: NO DBT | Scenario 2: DTB enabled | |
Price visualization* | Price shown to the EV Driver is the one applicable at the moment of consultation | Price shown to the EV Driver will be the applicable price(s) in the upcoming 24 H |
Start and stop of session | Identical for both | |
Price computation | Billing engine will pick the billing rule applicable at the start of the session and compute the costs | Billing engine will consider all applicable billing rules throughout the session, according to the time restrictions |
kWh meter reading utilized | NA: This tariff price model does not charge for consumed energy, thus meter values information is ignored by the billing engine | |
Charger special configurations required? | No | Yes, see next section |
Technical details
Configuration steps – checklist
In order to work smoothly, this use case requires the following set of configurations:
- All internal CPO customers whose charging stations are managed by GreenFlux can use this feature.
- The DTB feature works only for Tariffs whose billing rules do not contain energy price component (NO €/kWh). DTB is conceptually different from Time of use tariff as for DTB, system will not use any meter values but time.
- To enable this feature, the EV Portal Super Admin needs to enable the flag at the Charge station level (go to a charge station, edit it and go to miscellaneous section, as per below)
- Billing engine will evaluate change in tariff only based on time.
In case DTB flag is enabled on a CS and customer have set a tariff with billing rules (also) based on price per kWh, then such rules will be ignored for the matter of cost calculation.
Happy Flow and Exceptions
When all the configuration settings (above) are in place, and the charge station sends clock aligned meter values, then GreenFlux will compute the costs accordingly.
Situation 1 (exception): The operator has DTB feature enabled and has chosen a tariff which contains energy price component:
In this situation, the billing engine will calculate the costs, but will ignore the energy price component. In an hypothetical scenario where the CPO:
- Enables DTB feature in a charge station;
- Chooses a tariff which is 0.43 €/kWh, with no additional price component.
Then, all the sessions will yield a wholesale cost of 0€, since the billing engine ignores the energy price component, when DTB feature is enabled.
When the operator wants to apply more than one price model across the same session, using kWh based pricing, then Time of Use functionality must be used
White label app support
App supports dynamic time-based tariffs, allowing CPOs to reflect real-time pricing within the app. Users are presented with the applicable rates for the next 24 hours, helping them make informed charging decisions.
To ensure clarity, an explanation section is included on the screen where tariffs are displayed. This helps users understand the logic behind the pricing, especially in cases where energy consumption is not the basis for charging costs.
By providing both visual and textual context, the app enhances transparency and user confidence when interacting with dynamic pricing models.