The End of Flat Rates: Smart Pricing Arrives at Mer Charging Stations

A Smarter Way to Charge: Cariqa and Mer Launch AI-Powered Dynamic Pricing Pilot

At Cariqa, we believe EV charging should be simple, transparent and smart. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our newest partnership with Mer Germany and Mer Austria, two of the leading players in sustainable EV charging across the DACH region.

Together, we’re launching a pilot project for AI-powered Smart Pricing at Mer charging stations in Germany and Austria. For the first time, EV drivers will experience charging prices that actually reflect the real world - adapting to demand, time, and local conditions.

‍

Say goodbye to flat rates

Until now, most EV charging prices were static fixed tariffs that ignored whether a station was busy, empty, peak-time or off-peak. That’s not just inefficient for operators; it prevents savings  for drivers.

With our AI-powered pricing engine, we’re changing the game.

Smart Pricing uses historical data, predicted demand, and local factors like traffic or time of day to adjust prices dynamically at each Mer charging station. When demand is low, prices go down, encouraging smarter behaviour and improving station utilisation across the board.

More than 20 factors are considered. And because Cariqa powers the entire pricing and payment layer for Mer in this pilot, every price update is instantly visible to EV drivers through the Cariqa platform.

‍

Real benefits for real people

The best part? Drivers benefit immediately with flexible, transparent pricing and exclusive promotions for Cariqa users at selected Mer locations.

“The era of flat-rate EV charging is over. Together with Mer, we’re introducing a smarter model – one that adapts to real-world conditions” said Issam Tidjani, Co-founder and CEO of Cariqa. “Our AI pricing engine makes charging more transparent and equitable for drivers, while helping operators like Mer scale their networks efficiently. This partnership is a key step towards building a smarter, more user-centric charging ecosystem.”

"Through our pilot project with Cariqa we want to test another possibility for our customers to charge cost-efficiently and sustainably in our charging network," said Anton Achatz, Managing Director at Mer. "AI-based smart pricing enables us to gather even more experience in the area of dynamic pricing and utilization control, so that every EV driver can benefit from flexible and fair charging prices."

‍

Why It Matters

Today's EV charging landscape is overly fragmented. Drivers must juggle multiple apps, cards, and navigate wildly different pricing structures - even at a single station, they might encounter up to 50 different prices set by various operators. Meanwhile, operators depend on third-party intermediaries to boost utilization.

Cariqa’s platform cuts through this complexity by offering a unified solution for pricing, billing, payments, and compliance. Plus offers features like dynamic and smart pricing to increase utilisation. This integrated approach not only puts charge point operators (CPOs) in control but also ensures that drivers always know exactly what they’re paying, regardless of the touchpoint. With our platform, dynamic and smart pricing strategies can be seamlessly passed on to the user.

Our pilot with Mer is not merely a trial for the industry - it’s a bold step toward a future where smarter pricing and a more cohesive charging infrastructure benefit everyone.

‍

About Mer Germany

As a leading provider of charging solutions for electric vehicles, Mer is committed to accelerating the expansion of electromobility and enabling more efficient use of renewable energy. Whether it’s charging infrastructure solutions for public spaces or businesses – Mer’s mission is to make electromobility easily accessible to everyone.

Mer’s offering includes the planning, installation, and operation of public and company-owned charging stations, as well as the provision of hardware, proprietary apps, and portals. Both business and private customers have access to a constantly growing public charging network of more than 45,400 proprietary charging points powered by 100 percent green electricity, and access to over 580,000 charging points and hubs across Europe – all backed by Statkraft, Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy.

‍