The CPO runs the charge point, the EMP issues the card.

CPO stands for charge point operator.

The CPO installs the station, keeps it running and buys the electricity.

EMP stands for e-mobility provider.

The EMP holds the contract with the driver and issues the charging card. Owning charge points is optional for that.

Both abbreviations come from the charging trade and appear in every contract about it.

An example: a hotel puts two charge points in the guest car park. That makes it a CPO.

A guest holds the card of their electricity provider against it. That provider is the EMP.

Anyone carrying a charging card has a contract with an EMP.

The two roles meet at the charge point.

The station reports the presented card to the operator’s backend.

The backend recognises the provider behind the card and releases the point.

From there, two sides count. The operator counts the energy at its charge point, the provider counts it on the driver’s account.

Both figures have to agree at the end of the month.

Once they drift apart, somebody goes through the logs looking for the missing session.

Anyone running charge points is a CPO. Two wallboxes in a company car park are enough.

As a CPO you carry the station, the electricity and the uptime.

Anyone issuing their own cards takes on part of the EMP role as well.

As an EMP you carry the card, the driver and the driver’s invoice.

Both roles need the same figure: how much was charged, where and by whom.

CPIM is the operator’s tool.

Each organisation manages its own cards and charging groups and sees the sessions at its own points.

Charging providers are a role of their own. They see their master data, their cards and the energy charged on them.

Organisations and providers stay apart in the reports.