What is Benchmarking And Why Should CPOs Do It?

As the Electric Vehicle (EV) market continues its rapid expansion, Charge Point Operators (CPOs) play a crucial role in enabling/empowering the future of mobility. However, to stay competitive and ensure sustainable growth, CPOs must engage in rigorous benchmarking at the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) level. This practice is not only beneficial for individual businesses but also essential for driving the overall user trust, success and maturity of the EV charging industry.

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your business processes and performance metrics with industry best practices, the markets or even the performance of other companies in the same sector. It involves identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that are critical to your business’s success, gathering data on these KPIs, and then comparing how your business positions against the competition or industry standards. The goal of benchmarking is to continuously identify areas where you can improve, set realistic performance targets, and implement strategies to achieve these goals.

Why Should CPOs Benchmark Their Business on KPI Level?

Benchmarking KPIs is especially important for CPOs, as it provides critical insights across several key areas, among others financial health, operational excellence, customer satisfaction, rollout efficiency, and business sustainability. Let’s explore how benchmarking in these categories can propel your business forward:

  1. Financial Health

In an industry where margins can be tight, maintaining a strong financial footing is essential—particularly in turbulent periods, where key business variables like EV sales experience significant changes. KPIs such as revenue per charge, cost per kWh delivered, and station profitability should be regularly benchmarked against industry norms. This practice helps CPOs identify areas where costs can be reduced or revenues can be optimized, leading to better financial performance and long-term viability.

  1. Operational Excellence

Operational excellence is at the heart of a successful CPO business. By benchmarking KPIs like station uptime, average charge duration, and maintenance costs, CPOs can uncover inefficiencies in their operations. This insight allows for the optimization of maintenance schedules, better resource allocation, and improved overall system reliability, which are critical for maintaining a competitive edge.

  1. Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a key driver of repeat business and brand loyalty in the EV charging sector. Benchmarking KPIs such as customer feedback scores, average available power level, charging success rate, and charge point availability helps CPOs enhance the user experience. Improving these metrics not only leads to higher customer retention but also attracts new users, contributing to sustained business growth.

  1. Rollout Efficiency

As demand for EV charging infrastructure grows, the speed and efficiency of rollout become crucial. KPIs related to rollout, such as the number of new stations deployed per quarter, average time from planning to operation, and deployment cost per station, should be closely monitored and benchmarked. Efficient rollout processes ensure that CPOs can scale rapidly to meet demand without compromising on quality or financial stability.

  1. Business Sustainability

Benchmarking sustainability KPIs such as energy sourcing (e.g. renewable vs. non-renewable), and lifecycle environmental impact can help CPOs align their operations with industry best practices and consumer expectations. This benefits the environment while enhancing the brand’s appeal to eco-conscious customers.

Sustainability has become a critical necessity for both regulatory compliance and brand reputation. Sustainability in the CPO business goes beyond environmental impact to include financial and societal aspects as well. Benchmarking sustainability KPIs helps ensure your business is resilient and responsible.

  • Financial Sustainability: Monitor long-term profitability and cost efficiency to ensure your operations are economically viable, allowing for continued growth and investment, and enabling other sustainability targets.
  • Environmental Sustainability: Track carbon footprint and energy sourcing to minimize environmental impact, aligning with global sustainability goals and appealing to eco-conscious customers.
  • Societal Sustainability: Evaluate community engagement and equitable access to demonstrate your commitment to social responsibility, which strengthens your brand and fosters customer loyalty.

“To find signals in data, we must learn to reduce the noice” Stephen Few

Practical Insights from My Experience

In 2012, I had the pleasure with at the time just a few colleagues to take the lead of the development of Fortum’s Charge & Drive business. We became the leading operator in Norway – already at that time the leading EV market in the world.

We mostly had the opportunity to do things “first”. Nothing to compare to, no definition of what is good. We just needed to act based on our intuition and accumulated experience. We did not know, if our performance was good or bad – there was nothing to compare to. The customers and the outcomes of our actions taught us.

As the market has matured, you can still draw on your plans and your history. But most importantly, you have the opportunity to benchmark—defining what is good and measuring your performance against that. This will give you an advantage in prioritization, focus and development, which we at that time did not have. Effective benchmarking will ensure your competitiveness and increase customer trust in charging. Benchmark and benefit!

Conclusion

In the fast-evolving EV charging industry, benchmarking at the KPI level is not just a good practice—it’s a necessity. For CPOs, this means staying vigilant about financial health, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, rollout speed, and business sustainability. By regularly comparing these KPIs against industry standards and the markets, CPOs can identify areas for improvement, enhance competitiveness, and ensure long-term success.

Ultimately, as more CPOs adopt KPI benchmarking, the entire industry benefits. Higher standards will drive better service, more efficient operations, and a stronger commitment to sustainability, thus increasing customer trust and positioning the EV charging sector for continued growth and innovation.