ChargeTec 2026 puts billing at the centre of EV charging

At the ChargeTec Conference 2026 in Munich, experts discussed the ramp-up of charging infrastructure not only as a technical challenge, but as an economic one. The key message was clear: charging networks will not become profitable through hardware alone. Operators also need automated systems that manage contracts, pricing, invoicing, taxes, compliance and revenue distribution across customers, partners and markets.

Why is the IT behind the charge point moving into focus?

Discussions about charging infrastructure often focus on hardware: fast chargers, grid connections or MCS, the Megawatt Charging System for electric trucks. CPMS platforms, meaning Charge Point Management Systems for controlling charging stations, are also a common part of the debate. Jürgen Schmiezek, Chief Growth Officer at Instellix, shifted the focus at ChargeTec to a less visible but increasingly decisive layer: billing automation and contract lifecycle management.

For Schmiezek, automated billing and contract management should not be treated as functions that simply come with the CPMS. They are becoming strategic infrastructure. This matters because the commercial logic of charging is growing more complex, especially as operators move beyond simple public charging models and into fleet, logistics and cross-border business.

Instellix specialises in monetisation, billing and order-to-cash processes, supporting pay-as-you-go, subscription and hybrid revenue models in more than 70 countries. That background explains why Schmiezek’s perspective fitted ChargeTec: the conference addressed not only charge points, grid access and megawatt charging, but also the question of how operators can turn charging infrastructure into a profitable business.

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What makes e-truck charging so complex?

Charging heavy commercial vehicles creates different requirements from conventional passenger-car charging. Logistics companies and fleet customers need tariffs that reflect route, location, time of day, charging speed, utilisation and peak-load behaviour. Reservations, driver services and partnerships with retailers, depots or parking operators can add further layers of complexity.

This changes the required system architecture. According to Schmiezek, the new model can no longer be product-centred. It has to be contract-centred. In practice, that means the commercial relationship becomes just as important as the charging session itself. Operators need to know which customer, tariff, partner, tax rule and revenue share applies in each case.

For e-truck charging, this is especially important because the cost structure is more demanding. High charging power, predictable availability and route-based planning all affect the commercial model. Without flexible billing and contract logic, operators risk building infrastructure that is technically capable but commercially difficult to scale.

Why is a simple kilowatt-hour price no longer enough?

In earlier charging models, many scenarios could be handled through a simple structure: one customer, one operator and one tariff. B2B charging creates a more complex network of participants. A single charging session can involve CPOs, or Charge Point Operators, fleet customers, site partners, payment providers and service providers.

Each party may have its own conditions, revenue shares and invoicing rules. This is where profitability is often decided. If the commercial backend cannot handle these relationships automatically, growth can become trapped in manual processes, delayed billing cycles and operational friction.

The challenge is therefore not just to sell electricity by the kilowatt-hour. It is to manage flexible pricing, partner settlements and customer-specific agreements in a way that remains scalable across countries and business models. For charging operators, the backend becomes part of the core business model.

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Why is compliance becoming a competitive factor?

Regulatory pressure is also increasing. E-invoicing and ViDA, the EU’s “VAT in the Digital Age” initiative, are changing what platform operators need to handle in tax, invoicing, reporting and accounting. These requirements cannot be added at the end as isolated compliance tasks. They need to be built into the charging business architecture from the start.

Schmiezek pointed out that even moving from Germany to the Czech Republic can trigger different tax and accounting checks. For operators with cross-border ambitions, this creates a clear need for automated compliance logic. The more countries, partners and tariff models are involved, the harder it becomes to manage billing manually.

Compliance therefore becomes more than an administrative requirement. It influences how quickly operators can launch new products, enter new markets and settle transactions correctly. In a fragmented European market, that capability can become a competitive advantage.

What should operators take away from this?

Schmiezek’s message at the ChargeTec Conference 2026 was ultimately an architectural one. Anyone scaling charging infrastructure also has to scale the monetisation layer behind it. Manual workarounds in billing can cost revenue, delay new tariff models and increase compliance risk.

The decisive question is therefore not only how many charge points are installed. It is whether operators can introduce new pricing models within weeks rather than months, bill them correctly and manage them across several partners and countries. As EV charging becomes more commercial, international and B2B-oriented, the business model depends increasingly on the systems behind the socket.

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ADT editorial team