Christian Hahn from Hubject: Why roaming is still key to customer experience

It might have been (very) hot on the field of Berlin’s old Templehof Airport, but that did not stop companies and visitors from attending the intercharge network conference (icnc24). Christian Hahn, CEO of Hubject, an international interoperability specialist and host of the icnc24, is happy with the turnout and says it shows that the industry is growing, albeit not as fast.

But maybe even more importantly, Hubject announced a subsidiary called Hubject Financial Services in Berlin to complement its roaming platform. “All markets are facing one big challenge, and that is getting invoices paid between CPOs and EMPs,” says Hahn. “One of the reasons is that there are so many companies out there.” Hubject Financial Services will allow companies to create and transfer invoices and transfer money. “Cash flow is key, which is why we believe that this solution comes at the right time.”

Still, he is not concerned that Hubject’s core business of providing a roaming platform will become obsolete, as customers can pay using credit cards at more and more charging stations across Europe – also making invoices between CPOs and EMPs a thing of the past. That is because the two still need to be connected in the future to enable EV integration into the grid or bidirectional charging. “From my point of view, it is simple to then also allow roaming, which makes it much more scalable.”

Moreover, Hahn believes that customers need to have choice and can opt for whatever works best for them—whether that is using direct payment or a charge card. He sees customer experience as still one of the main topics in the EV charging industry, as is reliability. “We are all geeks and believers and will try a charger five times for it to work,” Hahn explains. “But a mass-market customer expects that it works the first time.”