Circle K deploys Plugsurfing for roaming offering
The petrol station chain Circle K is expanding the public charging offering of its eMobility platform beyond its own network. Thanks to Plugsurfing, customers are set to gain access to more than one million charging points across Europe in future.
The technical foundation of the partnership is Plugsurfing’s Roam-OCPI solution. According to Plugsurfing, Circle K can thus implement roaming connectivity via existing infrastructure and established processes, reducing integration effort and accelerating rollout across multiple markets.
Circle K customers will soon be able to access charging points from other operators within Plugsurfing’s roaming network – beyond the fuel retailer’s own charging stations. Plugsurfing states that its network includes over one million charging points in Europe, including those from Ionity, Fastned, and Allego. However, the announcement does not specify in which countries or when Circle K will offer expanded charging access through its charging service. “By connecting customers to a broader charging network, we are making it easier to charge confidently at Circle K locations and beyond,” says Elin Bøe, Commercial Director of eMobility at Circle K Europe.
“More charge point operators are also becoming eMSPs and looking for ways to offer drivers access beyond their own infrastructure,” explains Tom Rowlands, Managing Director of Global EV Solutions at Corpay. With Roam-OCPI, Plugsurfing handles part of the backend tasks for such offerings, meaning partners do not need to establish and operate connections to other charging networks themselves.
Circle K, meanwhile, belongs to the Canadian retail and mobility group Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates nearly 17,300 locations in 27 countries and regions. In Europe, the brand is present in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland. In June, the company reached a milestone: 100 fast-charging sites in Germany. In Sweden, the company claims to be the preferred charging provider, with over 1,000 charging points. Across Europe, its charging network most recently comprised more than 4,400 charging points.
For Plugsurfing, Circle K is not the first major partner to adopt Roam-OCPI. In May, charging platform provider Ampeco integrated the managed roaming solution. Plugsurfing handles tasks such as relationships with CPOs, consolidated monthly billing, and validation of charging data sets. At the end of June, Monta followed as another customer.
The collaboration with Ayvens is slightly different: the leasing provider uses a white-label solution from Plugsurfing for its charging offering, Ayvens Power. The rollout began in the Netherlands in February, with further markets such as Germany to follow later this year. Unlike the Roam-OCPI integrations, Plugsurfing here not only provides the roaming backend but also forms the basis for a charging service under the partner’s brand.