How OKQ8 Uses Batteries to Improve EV Charging Experience_ Video interview INTERFACE Nordics

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How OKQ8 Uses Batteries to Improve EV Charging Experience_ Video interview INTERFACE Nordics

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As EV charging networks mature, simply installing chargers is no longer enough. The next challenge for Charge Point Operators is delivering reliable charging experiences while optimizing energy costs, site performance, and profitability.

In this interview recorded at INTERFACE Nordics in Copenhagen, Daniel Bogdanoski, Product Manager at OKQ8, shares how battery storage and intelligent energy management are becoming critical enablers for the next phase of electrification.

Key topics include:

• Why customer experience remains the top priority for charging operators
• How batteries can support charging performance beyond grid constraints
• Scaling EV charging networks after initial deployment success
• The transition from charging sites to integrated energy hubs
• New business models enabled by flexibility markets and battery storage
• Heavy-duty transport electrification and operational reliability
• The need for stronger software integration across the EV ecosystem

Daniel explains that future charging locations will increasingly operate as energy hubs, combining chargers, battery storage, energy optimization, and flexibility services into a single integrated solution. As utilization grows, operators will need intelligent software platforms that balance charging performance, energy costs, uptime, and customer satisfaction.

He also highlights the growing importance of collaboration across charging operators, fleet managers, software providers, and energy stakeholders to create scalable solutions for the next generation of EV charging infrastructure.

Watch more interviews from INTERFACE Nordics and discover how FLEXECHARGE helps CPOs optimize charging infrastructure, integrate battery storage, and unlock flexibility revenues through HARMON-E.

Learn more about FLEXECHARGE: https://www.flexecharge.com

View transcript

I think there's several reasons for that. The primary, I would think, is to engage in the dialogue between potential partners and other colleagues in the business, to share ideas and also understand what has worked, what doesn't work, what kind of issues or challenges are we facing and how we can solve them together. I think that is the most concrete reason. For sure, the kind of optimization aspect, kind of the things that FlexiCharge enable. And I think for me, as a product manager for our energy solutions, my area is looked as an enabler for the electrification. So how could we enable that with batteries and with smart solutions to optimize that for the end customers benefit? To be perfectly honest, our public network, to the best of my knowledge, I don't think we have that big of an issue. But then again, we're looking at sites where we can electrify, I mean, deploy DC charters. So you begin where it's a possibility and then you look at the more complex sites later on. And I think that's kind of where we are right now. We've built the largest network in terms of locations. And now how are we going to scale that further or optimize it? And that's when the battery aspect comes in. And one of the aspects, I think it was Robert, your CTO, that mentioned, it's not always perhaps about grid constraints. It could be about enabling the full capacity of the charging experience. And I think for us, not only growing in terms of utilization, it's about customer experience. And to retain the customers, you need to have the perfect kind of user experience. I think in everyone's mind, when you come to a fast charger, whether it be under 50, 200 or 400 kilowatts, it's about, okay, it's going to take roughly half an hour. I have time to buy an ice cream, do whatever. But then if you come back and it's not ready after 30 minutes, and you have another 15 minutes left of charging, that user experience has already received kind of a dent. And we don't want to be in that position. So we have a strong brand. We want to keep it that way. What is the right story? I think it's about kind of telling the right story. If you leave the public network to decide and look at, you know, logistic companies and transport in general, and their journey, primarily in Sweden, we have a low adoption right now of heavy duty trucks, electrified trucks. And for them to make the journey, you have to tell the right story. And I think in the beginning, the early adopters, they understood that, okay, we need to enable electrified mobility. And there's a business aspect to that. But now it's about the next era or the next generation of this kind of landscape. And I think optimization now is, I don't know if it's a correct English term. In Swedish, we say Hygiene Factor. A Hygiene Factor, exactly. So I want to charge, but I also want to charge as cheaply as possible with low kind of downtime or no downtime, because my operational kind of functions need to operate all the time. So how do you enable that? You can't just put down a charger. You need to have this software solution in place. Without a doubt, it's a necessity. Like I said, a Hygiene Factor. I think there won't be for that much longer, like only charging sites. We need to start to look at these as energy hubs. And I think the discussion is ongoing. And I think that market is starting to understand that. But then it's very fragmented in terms of suppliers and functionalities. And we're talking smart charging and we're talking kind of flexibility services and how to kind of merge that into one single solution. I think that's kind of where we are. And I think there will be consolidation in the future. But for sure, batteries, it's not an if, it's a when. Absolutely. And with the batteries, I think in terms of what you can do with energy savings or flexibility revenue streams, it also enables new business cases for our CBO. You can tweak the kilowatt hour price. You can do so many things now to increase the user experience, but also kind of your potential earnings. I think the thing is that we're kind of not at the part where it's mature enough. Well, Robert was talking about this kind of how do we get the data from the fleet management, the scheduling and the route planning aspect of it. And I think that's an area where we need to find solutions. And it's encouraging to hear that FlexiCharge is working on that. And yeah, and I feel that that sentiment is shared across like the entire spectrum, that we need to integrate more, we need to collaborate more, because there won't be a singular solution that just incorporates everything naturally. We need others.

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