Fortum Charge & Drive India has collaborated with Charge+Zone to strengthen and combine EV (electric vehicle) charging network.

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"Fortum Charge &a Drive India Pvt Ltd (Fortum C&D), a leading Electric Vehicle (EV) charging service provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Charge+Zone, a tech-driven EV Charging infrastructure company (based in India), to provide an EV user access to larger EV charging networks of two companies," a statement said.

According to the statement, through this unique solution, a customer will be able to access Charge+Zone's charging points through Fortum Charge & Drive India mobile app and vice-versa.

This would complement and combine the strengths of both the CPOs (charge point operators), and provide its customers with an optimal and increased pan-India EV charging network.

This is India's first of its kind project, which will open access to EV charging stations across the country.

Through this peer-to-peer roaming arrangement between CPOs, EV vehicle owners will be offered a hassle-free charging experience, no matter where they drive without requiring to download too many apps, which is one of the pain points of the end customer.

Known as peer-to-peer roaming, the framework of this collaboration is to provide customers with an optimal user experience by uniting and creating a roaming network of charging service providers.

"Our overall goal through this partnership is that most charging stations become accessible with just one consumer-facing mobile App. This partnership with Charge+Zone enables the consumers to access the large network of EV charging infrastructure, thus making their EV driving much more pleasant.

"With Fortum's vision of democratising the Charging network across India by onboarding Franchise Partners, this collaboration would help set the platform for aggregating charging points on one single App which will make EV charging experience smoother for the end-user," Awadhesh Jha, Executive Director, Fortum Charge & Drive India said.

The intent to come together is to offer true interoperability to EV users by complementing the strength of two charge point operators. It is expected that this platform would grow by having more and more CPOs coming onboard.

"Demand for electric vehicle infrastructure continues to grow both in size and complexity. As the number of EV drivers grows, service providers are being forced to adapt to the demands of their customers. 

Given that the market is still relatively new, service providers are experimenting with multiple roaming strategies.

"Through our collaboration with Fortum C&D, we hope that our customers will be able to view multiple charging locations through the touch of a button. With just one click, EV vehicle owners will know where local charging stations are located, along with their price and availability," Kartikey Hariyani, founder and CEO, Charge+Zone, said.

Both parties -- Fortum and Charge+Zone -- are charge point operators and have their respective e-mobility providers (EMPs) to serve their customers.

It is expected that the peer-to-peer roaming model would allow non-interfering and complementing strengths to provide larger network access to end customers. It will also open the doors for a larger public charging network.