Building a New EV Charging Platform While Maintaining the Legacy System

The Client

For more than 14 years, this European company has been a leading provider of charging systems for electric vehicles. Their key solutions include designing and manufacturing charging stations, developing management software for charging networks, and providing critical services to support electric mobility adoption. They had also operated their own charging network of over 3,000 stations across Europe until it was sold to a global energy company in 2023.

The responsiveness and implication of the team is great.

They take any feedback or request seriously and find efficient solutions to improve the situation or solve issues.

Head of Software Engineering

EV charging solutions provider

Building a New EV Charging Platform While Maintaining the Legacy System-1 Europe

Objectives

As a manufacturer of EV charging stations, our client had previously provided separate software applications for Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and EV drivers. The CPO system, built over ten years ago, had not undergone significant upgrades since then. Maintaining and expanding the functionality of this aging system was becoming increasingly inefficient and burdensome.

With growing demand and competition in this market, our client decided to gradually transition to a new web solution that would cover the needs of all user types – CPOs, eMobility Service Providers (eMSPs), and EV drivers.

Additionally, there was a need to implement the Open Charge Point Interface protocol (OCPI) to ensure interoperability between various charging station management systems.

The client sought a partner who could efficiently collaborate with their internal development team and supplement their expertise with the Windows technology stack. After a brief evaluation period with Binary Studio and another provider, the client chose to work exclusively with us.

01

CPO management platform maintenance

Before the new platform is fully released, it was decided to continue updating and expanding the functionality of the existing application while simultaneously preparing for a smooth transfer of the most critical services to the new solution.
02

Building an EV charging management platform

After a thorough review of the existing CPO system, our client concluded it would be more efficient to develop a new EV charging management platform from scratch.

Greentech Software Development Services

Whether you operate charging stations, provide e-mobility services, or serve EV drivers directly, we'll ensure the implementation of a smart software solution.

Learn more

Solution and Outcome

The project unfolded in two distinct stages.
First, we focused on updating and maintaining the existing CPO management platform.

Angular

ASP .NET

.NET Core

RabbitMQ

MS SQL

PostgreSQL

Redis

Identity Server 4

Entity Framework

ASP .NET Core MVC

At the second stage, the expanded Binary Studio team built the new EV charging management platform from scratch using cloud-native architecture and a modern tech stack. We designed a scalable, cloud-based system aligned to contemporary standards.

Stage 1
We have incrementally upgraded the CPO platform to keep it functionally operational while the new EV charging management platform was being developed from scratch. These upgrades enabled the legacy system to stay workable during the transition period. The goal was to keep the old system running to maintain business continuity until the new, more robust and scalable platform built on modern technology could be publicly released to replace it.
Stage 2
To meet the evolving user needs, our team developed a set of features that enable operators to manage and monitor their charging station networks in real-time, including:
- Receiving malfunction alerts
- Managing charging stations – their locations, firmware updates, and access restrictions
- Onboarding and managing sub-operators with segmentation of assets
Additionally, we integrated with several third-party systems via API to incorporate key functionalities:
- Authentication systems for secure access
- Billing and parking systems for payment processing
- Carsharing platforms for usage tracking
We have also put a few important services into a shared state to enable using them in the new EV charging management platform eventually.
Stage 3
In close collaboration with the client’s team of product owners and engineers, we built the EV charging management platform from scratch. The app enables communication and resource management between CPOs, eMSPs, and EV drivers by utilizing the OCPI protocol for seamless interaction with any roaming provider.
As a core member of the agile development team, Binary Studio provided guidance on implementing planned features and continuously improving workflows.
The application’s key capabilities include:
- Onboarding users
- Creating organizational hierarchies for eMSP users
- Enabling eMSPs to accept CPO offers and create their own offers for EV drivers
- Allowing EV drivers to accept charging offers, charge their vehicles using the provided EV Supply Equipment (EVSE), and review charging summaries

The new platform follows a modular monolith architecture built with .NET 7. Given its broad functionality, the system comprises several components. To ensure high performance, reliability, and scalability, a message broker is used for distributed communication between application modules, along with CQRS and rigorous unit, integration, and architecture testing practices.

To ensure stable, real-time performance, we also configured AWS S3 for storing static images, employed SignalR for real-time notifications, and utilized Automatonymous to implement the saga pattern for maintaining data consistency.

Exceeding Expectations Through Shared Values

Operating as an integrated team, we rapidly delivered high-quality features leveraging specialized skills in cloud architecture and modern frameworks. Our QA engineer's early involvement enabled continuous improvement cycles to enhance product stability and user experience. This disciplined approach allowed us to meet every milestone while bringing creative ideas to the table. Above all, our developers displayed tireless dedication to the client's vision – contributing as true partners, not vendors. As we look ahead, we are eager to continue applying our experience to drive future innovation in EV charging experiences.

About Binary Studio

Binary Studio is a boutique software development company, regularly praised for its unique blend of engineering excellence and product ownership that enables its clients to build robust and scalable software products.
With our development team made up of top 0.5% international tech talent, we build web and mobile platforms using Node.js, .NET, React Native, Flutter, and integrating AI and ML. We also offer full-cycle QA and project management services to ensure the efficient delivery.
Our clients see us as a trusted partner dedicated to turning visions into great products. This is proven by 200+ delivered projects, more than two decades of business excellence, and stellar customer reviews.

Contents