EV charging software development for charge point operators and mobility providers.
EV charging software is two products sold as one: the charge point management system an operator runs its estate from, and the app and account layer a mobility provider sells to drivers.
Which one you need follows from who owns the hardware. We say which on the first call, including when the honest answer is to buy a white-label platform.
- 120+Projects delivered across 12 countries since 2012
- 100+Senior in-house engineers, six countries
- 5.0Unified rating across 61 client reviews on Clutch
- 2 to 4 weeksTypical time from signature to start
- ISTQBCertified QA inside every sprint
- ISO 27001Certified security practice, audited by Quay Audit UK
01Overview
What EV charging software is, and which half of it you need
EV charging software is the pair of systems behind a charging network: a charge point management system that connects to every charger over OCPP and turns sessions into billable records, and a driver-facing app and account layer, joined by OCPI roaming so a session on someone else's charger still settles. A charge point operator (CPO) needs the first, an e-mobility service provider (eMSP) the second, and some need both. unicrew builds either as a custom platform or as integrations into the stack you already run.
- Run the estateEverything that keeps a charger online, configured and billing what it should.
- OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1
- Firmware and configuration
- Uptime, faults and alerts
- Sell the sessionThe driver's whole experience, most of it on hardware you may not own.
- Driver app and live map
- Authorization and start
- Payment and receipts
- Settle across networksThe half that decides whether a cross-network charge ever becomes money.
- OCPI and roaming hubs
- Charge detail records
- Tariffs and reconciliation
- Fit the gridCharging is a load on somebody's connection, and something has to manage it.
- Smart charging profiles
- Site and connection limits
- Demand response signals
02Compare
CPO, eMSP or both: pick the product before you pick the stack
Nearly every charging brief is one of five situations, and what separates them is who owns the hardware. Each row is the situation, what getting it wrong costs, and the route that fits. One ends in buying a platform, not building one.
| Where you are | What it costs you | The route that fits |
|---|---|---|
| “We own the chargers and run them from the vendor’s portal.” | One vendor’s hardware, for as long as the estate lives | Your own management system, speaking OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1, so the next hardware purchase is a commercial decision and not a rewrite.How we build custom systemsOr book a meeting |
| “We sell access to drivers and own no chargers at all.” | A map that lies, and a refund every time it does | An app and account layer over OCPI feeds, where the engineering is live availability, session state and a payment path that survives a failed charge.Mobile app developmentOr book a meeting |
| “We have a dozen chargers and a spreadsheet.” | Nothing today, and a platform build would | Buy a white-label CPMS and put the money into siting and uptime. Build when tariffs, roaming or load is what you compete on.Get a second opinion firstOr book a meeting |
| “We do both, and one team carries both roadmaps.” | Two half-finished products instead of one | Split the platform at the OCPI boundary and staff each side, so the estate and the driver app ship on different clocks.Platform development and integrationOr book a meeting |
| “It all works until a roaming session has to be billed.” | A monthly reconciliation somebody does by hand | Integration work on charge detail records, not a rebuild: one settlement path, tariffs translated once, partner figures reconciled automatically.Data and integration engineeringOr book a meeting |
03Platform
The pieces a charging platform is actually made of
Six pieces. Which you need follows from whether you operate chargers, sell access to drivers, or do both, so every card names the side it belongs to.
The control plane: OCPP connections to every charger, firmware and configuration, authorization, transactions, tariffs, and the station-health view a field team works from.
- Sits with
- The charge point operator
OCPP 1.6 is what most deployed hardware speaks. 2.0.1 adds device management, smart charging and ISO 15118. Mixed estates run both.
- Sits with
- The charge point operator
Finding a charger, trusting it works, starting a session and paying. Native or React Native, wired to live status rather than a nightly export.
- Sits with
- The mobility provider
Peer-to-peer OCPI, or a hub such as Hubject or Gireve. The work is charge detail records, tariff translation, and reconciling a partner's figure against yours.
- Sits with
- Both, at the boundary
Session rating, invoicing, account billing and ad-hoc card payment, plus the metering rules that make a kWh charge legally defensible.
- Sits with
- Both, in different halves
Smart charging profiles that keep a site inside its grid connection, shift load into cheaper hours, and answer a demand-response signal over OpenADR.
- Sits with
- The charge point operator
Charging software is three products wearing one name. Own the hardware and the problem is the estate: chargers dropping offline, firmware drifting, faults you must see before a driver does. Sell access and you live on payments, roaming and whether the app finds a working charger. Do both and staff it as two products. Answer that first; everything else follows.
Andrii BurdaSenior Engineering Manager, unicrew04Proof
Where our EV charging experience actually comes from
Three things: named React Native work in this sector, published energy builds next door, and the certifications a charging operator's procurement asks for.
- React Native work in EV chargingLADE is one of the React Native engagements we have shipped, in a sector where the driver's app is the only interface most people ever see. Droniq and Triathlon Ireland are the others we name, and mobile app development carries that work in full.LADEan EV charging client we can name
- Energy systems next doorOur published energy work is trading and risk: a platform build for a commodity trader, and the ETRM and CTRM integration behind the energy and utilities page. What transfers to charging is settlement: reconciling what one system says a transaction was worth against what another one billed.ETRMthe parent vertical's published ground
- The certifications procurement asks forunicrew holds ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 9001:2015, renewed through a multi-stage audit with Quay Audit UK, and delivery runs with ISTQB-certified QA engineers inside the sprint. That matters most where a session record becomes an invoice.ISO 27001with ISO 9001, audited by Quay Audit UK
05Questions
EV charging software: frequently asked questions
OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) is the open standard between a charger and the management system that operates it, so one platform can run hardware from several vendors. The version matters: 1.6 is what most deployed hardware speaks, and 2.0.1 adds device management, smart charging and ISO 15118. Most estates run both, so the gap between them is a cost line in the build.
Buy, unless you can name the specific thing a platform stops you doing. On a small estate with standard tariffs the money goes further on siting and uptime. Build when tariff logic, roaming terms or load management is what you compete on, when the estate mixes hardware a platform will not fully support, or when your driver app needs session data it will not give you.
Yes, and it is most of the work here. On the charger side we implement OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1 across a mixed-firmware estate. On the roaming side, peer-to-peer OCPI or a hub such as Hubject or Gireve, with charge detail records and tariff translation. On the money side, payment providers and session data into your ERP. Send your hardware list, protocol versions and roaming partners, and we will say what is realistic.
Most engagements start within two to four weeks of signature. In our delivery experience a CPMS core with OCPP connectivity, authorization and session records reaches a usable first release in a few months, with smart charging, OCPI roaming and ISO 15118 plug and charge phased in after it. We size each phase during discovery, because one awkward firmware family moves an estimate more than the feature list does.
Three engagement models: time and materials billed hourly and quoted per project, fixed price quoted per project against an agreed outcome, and team extension billed monthly per team member. Which fits depends on how firm the scope is, and we recommend one at the end of discovery. We do not publish a project price band, because one OCPI integration and a full charge point management system are nowhere near the same number. There is no recruitment fee on team extension.
It depends where the chargers are. In Germany, calibration law (Eichrecht) governs what makes a kWh bill legally defensible. Across the EU, AFIR requires new publicly accessible recharging points of 50 kW and above to accept ad-hoc card payment. In the US, NEVI-funded ports carry an annual uptime obligation. GDPR covers driver identity, location and session history. unicrew holds ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 9001:2015, audited by Quay Audit UK, with ISTQB-certified QA in delivery. We do not hold SOC 2.
Tell us which of the three you are building
A call with a senior engineer who has shipped in this sector, not a sales qualifier. You leave with an opinion on CPO, eMSP or both, and on whether a build is the right answer at all.
What happens after you contact us
- We reply within one business dayA senior engineer reads your message, not a bot.
- A call about the networkWho owns the chargers, what firmware they run, and who bills the driver.
- Route and engagement model, in writingBuild, integrate or buy, priced as time and materials, fixed price, or team extension.
- NDA, then discoveryMost engagements start within two to four weeks of signature.