In the EV Portal, Groups (also known as Access Groups) are the foundation of your network’s security and organisation. They define the "territory" a user is allowed to see and manage. Groups can be organised by business entity (CPO vs. eMSP) and follow a hierarchical structure that allows for high-level management or granular control.
1. Group Types: CPO vs. eMSP
Depending on your business model, you can create groups for the two primary roles in the ecosystem:
- CPO Groups (Charge Point Operator): Used for managing physical infrastructure, such as charge stations, technical maintenance, and hardware status.
- eMSP Groups (e-Mobility Service Provider): Used for managing the driver-facing side, such as customer accounts, RFID tokens, and roaming agreements.
2. Understanding the Hierarchy
Groups can be nested to mirror your organisational structure. Access granted at a higher level automatically includes all sub-levels, while access at a lower level remains restricted to that specific branch.
The hierarchy typically flows from broad to specific:
- Level 1: Business Type (e.g., eMSP Network or CPO Network)
- Level 2: Contract Level (e.g., eMSP Contract: GreenEnergy UK or CPO Contract: North-West Grid)
- Level 3: Specific Asset/Entity (e.g., Specific CPO or Specific eMSP)
Pro Tip: If you want a Regional Manager to see everything in the UK, assign them to the Contract Level group. If you want a technician to only see stations for a specific partner, assign them to the Specific Asset level.
3. Steps to Create a Group
- Navigate to the Admin category in the sidebar and select the Groups tab.
- Select where in the existing hierarchy you want to create a new group (depending on the type of group you need).
- Click "Add Group" (from the ‘…’ icon):
- Name: Give the group a clear, hierarchical name (e.g., "CPO - London Central").
- Save: Once saved, this group will appear as an option when assigning access to Users.
4. Managing and Editing Groups
- Updating Assets: You can add or remove stations from a group at any time. This instantly updates the view for every user assigned to that group.
- Deleting Groups: Before deleting a group, ensure no users are currently assigned to it, as this will revoke their access to those assets immediately.