Client Project / EV Charging Network Platform
An EV charging
network that
runs itself.
EdgeWeb designed and built an EV charging station platform for a client operating a network of chargers — a driver app, a station-operator dashboard and the backend connecting both to the charging hardware in real time. The client isn't named here. This page covers the problem, the architecture and the design.
The Problem
Hardware that works, software that didn't exist yet.
Installing a charger is the easy part. Running a network of them is the hard part: knowing which stations are free right now, letting a driver reserve and pay for a session from their phone, and giving the operator one place to see uptime, usage and revenue across every site — instead of checking each charger's own small screen one at a time.
The Solution
Three parts, one real-time system.
Driver App
Find nearby stations, see live availability, start and stop a charging session, and pay, all from one app.
Operator Dashboard
A web console showing every station's status, usage and revenue in one place, instead of site by site.
Charger Integration Layer
The service that talks to the charging hardware itself and keeps the app and dashboard in sync with what's actually happening at each station.
Billing & Pricing Engine
Per-session and per-kWh billing, with pricing that can vary by station, time of day or demand.
The three pieces share one source of truth: a charging session's state moves from the hardware, through the integration layer, into both the driver's app and the operator's dashboard in real time.
Key Features
Designed around how a charging network actually runs.
Live availability
Drivers see which chargers are free right now, not a static list of locations.
Reserve & start remotely
A session can be reserved and started from the app before the driver arrives at the station.
Session monitoring
Both driver and operator can see a session's progress — energy delivered, time elapsed, cost so far — while it's running.
Fault & maintenance alerts
A charger reporting a fault surfaces to the operator immediately, instead of being discovered by the next driver who tries to use it.
Flexible pricing
Rates can be set per station and adjusted by time of day or demand, without a code change.
Usage & revenue reporting
Operators see utilization and revenue across the whole network, filterable down to a single site.
Architecture & Tech Approach
Built on the protocol charging hardware already speaks.
EV chargers from different manufacturers communicate over OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol), the industry-standard for charge point management. The integration layer speaks OCPP to the hardware directly, rather than relying on each manufacturer's own closed app — which is what keeps the platform able to add chargers from more than one vendor to the same network.
Session state changes (a charger going occupied, a session ending, a fault being raised) are pushed to the app and dashboard in real time rather than polled on a delay, so what a driver or operator sees matches what's actually happening at the station. The design targets managed cloud infrastructure for the backend, with the driver app built cross-platform for iOS and Android from one codebase.
Business Model
Revenue that mirrors how charging is actually sold.
Per-session & per-kWh billing
Drivers pay for what they use, billed either per session or by energy delivered.
Time & demand-based pricing
Rates can flex by time of day or station demand, set by the operator per site.
Subscription tiers
An optional plan for frequent drivers, priced separately from pay-as-you-go sessions.
Multi-operator ready
The platform is designed so more than one station operator could run on it, each seeing only their own stations and revenue.
EdgeWeb's Role
From problem to running architecture.
On this client project, EdgeWeb's role covered the product strategy, the system architecture, the UX/UI design for both the driver app and the operator dashboard, and the pricing model. It reflects the same approach we bring to any real-time, hardware-connected platform: start from how the physical system actually behaves, then design the software around that. See our Custom Software and AI & Automation services for how that approach applies more broadly, or our parking management case study for a related real-time infrastructure build.
FAQ
Is this a client project?
Yes. EdgeWeb designed and built this EV charging platform for a client operating a charging network, who isn't named on this page. It's presented here as product strategy, architecture and design work.
What is OCPP, and why does it matter?
OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) is the industry-standard protocol most EV chargers use to communicate with management software. Building the integration layer on OCPP, rather than a single manufacturer's proprietary system, keeps the platform able to work with chargers from more than one vendor.
Can EdgeWeb build a similar platform for a different kind of hardware network?
Yes. The underlying pattern — connecting physical hardware to a real-time app and dashboard, with billing on top — applies to more than EV charging. Talk to us about what you're connecting.
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Have a hardware
platform to build?
If you're running or building out a network of connected hardware — charging stations, meters, kiosks, sensors — talk to EdgeWeb about the software that runs it.