50five: “Partnership with Last Mile Solutions crucial for our further European growth”
50five e-Mobility is the ‘one-stop-shop’ for individuals and businesses looking to install charging stations. The company, based in Den Bosch, has grown in just a few years to become one of the three largest e-mobility service providers in the Benelux. The upcoming years will focus on further European expansion. “We owe our rapid growth largely to the solid and flexible solutions provided by Last Mile Solutions,” says Boudewijn Boeve, Manager of New Business at 50five.
50five began in 2016 with five employees, selling smart home products online. Since 2020, the Den Bosch-based company has fully focused on e-mobility solutions for electric vehicle charging. The company not only provides charging stations to customers through sales or leasing (charging as a service), but also handles the complete on-site installation by experienced experts. After installation, 50five remains involved by handling the technical maintenance and management of the charging infrastructure. For customers who require it, the company also offers additional energy management. To complete the package, 50five manages the financial settlement of all charging sessions. “Due to the rapid growth in both the number and diversity of customers, the financial complexity quickly increased,” explains Boeve. This is where Last Mile Solutions stepped in to help.
Diverse end-user EV transactions
An employer, shopping center, gas station, or business park, for example, may want to power the (freight)vehicles of their employees, customers and vistors. “One person may have a charging card from their leasing company or employer. Another prefers to pay via an app, payment card, credit card, or QR code. Every user must be able to charge and pay effortlessly,” says Boeve. “Since we wanted to focus on our core business, we sought a partner who could fully unburden us and think with us about future growth opportunities.”
This search led 50five to several service providers capable of handling all types of transactions. Boeve states, “However, Last Mile Solutions was the only company that could also send invoices on our behalf and do so in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations across Europe. By taking that extra step, we immediately felt that this company understood our challenges and could proactively respond to them. Their years of experience as pioneers in this sector make this possible. They know exactly how the e-mobility landscape has developed, how the industry operates, and what opportunities and challenges arise.”
See the image for the 50five branded platform, the custom mobile app, and the token.
Top 3 in the Benelux
Employers actively working to electrify their fleet are an important target group for 50five. With charging stations and cards for both office and home use, 50five provides a total solution. Last Mile Solutions processes all charging transactions, sends invoices, arranges reimbursements for home charging, and manages the charging revenue for employers. 50five automatically receives its compensation as a Charge Point Operator (CPO) and e-Mobility Service Provider (e-MSP). “Last Mile Solutions even handles the VAT,” laughs Boeve. “This way, both our customers and we are completely unburdened.” Thanks to its sharp focus on its core business, 50five has grown to one of the top three e-mobility service providers in the Benelux in just a few years, with over 35,000 installed charging stations. “For those who don’t want to handle it themselves, we now also finance the entire charging solution,” says Boeve. “We ensure that hundreds of the same customer’s vehicles are charged on time, whether with electricity from their solar panels or only with electricity purchased during off-peak hours. These complex settlements are also no problem for Last Mile Solutions.”Overcoming infrastructure hurdles
The rapid growth of e-mobility often encounters technological, policy, or infrastructure challenges. A current example is the so-called grid congestion, which can limit the available electricity in a region. Boeve says, “Last Mile Solutions alerted us to this challenge at an early stage and immediately introduced its EDGE Smart charging solution. It integrates all charging stations from various brands into a local network. Solar panels, batteries, and other available energy sources can also be added.” Thanks to the EDGE solution, customers can maximize charging within their contracted capacity. This solution requires a lot of complex calculations. To make this possible, EDGE uses edge technology. To minimize processing time or ‘latency,’ the required calculations are performed locally (and not in the cloud). The local presence ensures ultimate security on-site. It functions at all times, even if the cloud connection is lost for any reason. This is especially important for large company locations with critical business processes. This real-time approach makes it possible to set dynamic limits on charging stations, allowing the charging capacity to be expanded without costly grid reinforcements. “This makes our services faster, more efficient, and more sustainable,” concludes Boeve. Edge technology is just one of a series of innovations that Last Mile Solutions has introduced to Boeve and his employer over the past years. In many cases, 50five was able to improve its services to existing customers. “This innovation-oriented approach is also crucial in securing large new customers,” says Boeve. “They always respond very positively when we talk about the innovative solutions we might roll out in the future. It gives us an important extra opportunity to differentiate ourselves from the competition.”
