How charger-level pricing changes driver behaviour

Last time, we looked at the problem with network wide pricing.

A single discount, premium or flat rate cannot be right for every charger in a network, but the challenge has been acting on that variation consistently. Predicting demand for every charger, every hour, isn't something a pricing team can do by hand, so pricing gets set at network level instead.

So what changes when the manual constraint disappears? 

Pricing can respond to predicted demand at individual-charger level, rather than applying one broad rule based on the network average. That’s what Smart Pricing makes possible.

Pricing can respond to each charger

Smart Pricing predicts expected demand at charger level and automatically applies the relevant tariff, using 20 operational variables, including historical utilisation data, to classify each charger into one of five expected utilisation bands:

1. Idle
2. Low usage
3. Standard usage
4. Sustained usage
5. Congested

The CPO sets a pricing strategy for each band, for example a 30% discount on Idle chargers and a 25% premium on Congested ones. Once that's set, Smart Pricing automatically applies the right tariff to each charger based on its unique station profile, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

By removing the operational burden of constant tariff changes, Smart Pricing turns price from a blunt network-wide setting into a precise, always-on tool for shaping demand.

‍Price is the most effective lever CPOs can pull

Price cannot change the fundamentals of a location, but site selection is a decision that’s already been made; the infrastructure is already in the ground. Once that’s true, CPOs have relatively few scalable ways to influence driver choice.

Pricing, as we see time and time again, is one of them.

• UK Octopus Electroverse found:
  
  • 15% price reduction increased charging activity by 30%
  • 40% reduction increased it by 117%
  • Price signals create demand at discounted chargers during periods of high renewable generation, rather than displacing demand from other available charge points

• German USCALE research
  
  • >80% of surveyed EV drivers regularly or occasionally considered switching charging providers
  • 40% citing price increases as a trigger for considering a change

Used intelligently, it can make a quiet charger more competitive, attract drivers who may otherwise choose another location, and test whether demand can be unlocked. It gives an existing site its best commercial chance, without needing to invest in the site itself.

And if a site still does not respond, that’s useful information too. Smart Pricing does not just help improve performance, it helps operators understand where price can influence demand, and where more fundamental decisions may be needed.

How TEAG Mobil put Smart Pricing into action

TEAG Mobil was looking to encourage charging during periods of lower demand to make better use of its charging infrastructure. To do so, they employed Smart Pricing.

With their strategy in place, Smart Pricing classified each charger according to predicted demand, then applied the relevant tariff automatically.

‍Early results showed a sharp increase

To assess the immediate impact, we compared the 14 days before and after Smart Pricing went live, (14-27May 2026 vs. 28 May-10 June 2026).

The results were clear:

• Sessions grew 4.3×
• Energy delivered grew 4.3×
• Charging revenue grew 3.5×

The effect continued, and demand spread across the day

The impact was sustained beyond the initial launch period.

Comparing the two months before and after go live (28 March-27 May 2026 vs. 28 May to 27 July 2026):

• Sessions grew 7.0×
• Energy delivered grew 6.7×
• Charging revenue grew 5.5×

Demand became less concentrated

The change was not only in the total volume of charging, it was also when drivers chose to charge. Before Smart Pricing, TEAG Mobil's charging was predominantly at 17:00 during the evening commute. Roughly 1 in 6 charging sessions happened in that single hour.

After Smart Pricing, the picture changed substantially.

17:00 remains TEAG Mobil’s busiest hour, but now accounts for roughly 10% of sessions, down from 16%. This is a fundamental change in when TEAG Mobil's network gets used: a charging pattern defined by a spike at 17:00 is now defined by steady demand across almost the whole day.

A better shaped network is more valuable

As grid capacity tightens, operators in Germany increasingly face demand charges linked to peak draw from the grid. By moving charging away from one concentrated evening peak and spreading it across the day, Smart Pricing can help lower that draw, without additional hardware.

When the manual constraint disappears, CPOs can move beyond blunt, network wide pricing rules and use it to influence both which charger is used, and when, automatically.

It gives CPOs a practical way to improve the performance of the sites they already have, while building clearer evidence about where pricing can make a difference. That is the value of charger-level automation: not the promise that every site can be fixed with a different tariff, but a more systematic way to test where price can influence demand, and where more fundamental decisions may be needed.

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*The TEAG Mobil comparisons cover the same TEAG Mobil network before and after Smart Pricing was introduced. There were no material changes to network size or marketing activity during these comparison periods outside the introduction of Smart Pricing. Seasonal effects cannot be completely ruled out. 

In addition, the figures stipulated cover charging sessions, energy delivered and charging revenue driven across Cariqa's network of demand partners and the Cariqa app, not TEAG Mobil's business performance overall.