ABC: How to Build a National Charging Network EV Drivers Can Rely On

ABC is one of Finland’s major fuel retailers, which operates a nationwide network of service stations under the S Group umbrella. Across the country, its locations combine fuel with restaurants, convenience stores and car wash that support people travelling every day.

EV charging has long been part of that network as well, with 380+ charging sites and over 2,700 chargers (with the number continuing to grow), making it a core part of ABC’s nationwide offering.

Given the size of the network, ABC’s EV charging operations require high levels of reliability and expected charging power to meet EV Drivers’ high expectations. A vast majority of the thousands of charging sessions are initiated from the ABC mobile application, ABC-mobiili, every day across the network, so charging, payments, and energy management must work consistently and without disruption.

This means that, for ABC, reliability and agility are non-negotiable across every operational process, as this secures customer satisfaction and retention.

Operational Reliability Under Continuous Load

Drivers across the whole country trust ABC as a reliable stop on long journeys and in daily travel. Three million charging sessions ran through ABC’s network in 2025, which translates into over 8,000 sessions every day. With that kind of network load, day-to-day operations leave no margin for instability. ABC’s charging services must depend on an EV charging platform built to run reliably under continuous service load and agile enough to support new use cases.

“For us, it’s fundamental that all operations work and that our customers can trust them. That trust is part of the S Group identity,” says Erno Ratia, Head of IT at ABC.

At the same time, the platform’s setup cannot be too rigid. The Finnish EV market has its own dynamics, and approaches that work in other countries do not always apply. ABC wanted to have the ability to influence on the platform development as the technical capabilities and market expectations continue to evolve rapidly.

“Rather than a simple provider, we were looking for a partner who wouldn’t just hand over a fixed, end-to-end solution,” Erno adds. “We needed something that could evolve with our use cases and adapt as our requirements changed.”

These requirements shaped how they assessed available EV charging platforms on the market.

"Rather than a simple provider, we were looking for a partner who wouldn’t just hand over a fixed, end-to-end solution. We needed something that could evolve with our use cases and adapt as our requirements changed.” - Erno Ratia, Head of IT at ABC

Choosing a Platform Built for Flexibility and Scale: The Modular Approach

With a nationwide network running under constant load, ABC’s EV charging setup could not be treated as a static or standalone system. Charging sits inside ABC’s wider operations, where it needs to support on-site services and contribute to indoor sales, while also connecting to customer-facing systems such as ABC-mobiili.

Operations, integrations, and pricing therefore needed to evolve over time, often in response to local market conditions and internal priorities. That ruled out locked-in EV charging platforms with fixed rules and limited flexibility. What ABC needed was a platform built for long-term collaboration, where the technology could be shaped and adjusted as the business changed, without breaking how charging fits into the rest of ABC’s core operations.

eMabler met these requirements through its modular structure. Instead of forcing a predefined setup, the platform allowed ABC to adopt only the components that aligned with their existing systems and operational model. This modular approach made it possible to evolve specific parts of the charging setup over time, whether integrations, pricing logic, or operational workflows, while keeping the rest of the setup unchanged. For a nationwide operation with no tolerance for disruption, that level of control and agility was a must.

“We’ve been happy with eMabler’s flexibility, and we feel definitely in control of our business,” says Erno. “eMabler gives us freedom to select what we need, and not all providers can do that.”

"We’ve been happy with eMabler’s flexibility, and we feel definitely in control of our business. eMabler gives us freedom to select what we need, and not all providers can do that." - Erno Ratia, Head of IT at ABC

A Smooth Onboarding Built on Close Collaboration

Once the platform decision was made, the priority shifted to execution. Migrating a nationwide EV charging network with no tolerance for downtime required careful sequencing, tight coordination, and a shared understanding of how ABC’s systems operated. Charging needed to be integrated into existing processes without forcing operational changes or introducing instability during the transition.

Throughout onboarding, collaboration between the teams was hands-on and continuous. Work progressed through ongoing alignment thanks to direct communication between developers on both sides.

Antti Välijärvi, Tech PO at ABC, highlights the value of working without intermediaries. Teams could discuss implementation details directly, resolve issues quickly, and make decisions without waiting for formal handovers.

“It was the smoothest migration process I have ever been involved in,” comments Antti.

The migration was completed without disruption to the charging network, supported by close collaboration between technical teams from start to finish. From ABC’s perspective, this success was the result of clear ownership, fast feedback, and shared responsibility throughout the process.

"It was the smoothest migration process I have ever been involved in." - Antti Välijärvi, Tech PO at ABC

Platform Capabilities That Support Controlled Growth

At ABC’s scale, some platform capabilities matter more than others. Two, in particular, were key to running and expanding the charging network in a controlled way.

Standard OCPP accessis central to how ABC connects chargers. Multi charger hardware vendor OCPP support made integrations easier to plan and understand, with clear visibility into charging sessions, statuses, and errors across systems. That reduced risk when adding new charger hardware brands, simplified vendor coordination, and allowed the network to expand without custom fixes or lock-in.

eMabler's Energy Management is just as critical. With chargers spread across hundreds of sites, charger load control is part of daily operations.

Dynamic load management affects site stability, grid limits, and electricity costs across the network. ABC needed direct control at site level to balance charging demand with available capacity as conditions changed. In addition, the system enables ABC to react to rapid changes in the energy market and thus improve the charging service margin. As Erno Ratia points out, from a business and regulatory perspective energy load management is definitely one of the key areas to control in this business, especially when looking forward.

Looking Ahead: Running EV Charging on ABC’s Terms

Looking ahead, ABC’s focus is on keeping its EV charging services aligned with how the business operates, delivering a smoothly integrated customer experience alongside the other core services. As the network grows and requirements change, the priority is to make adjustments without disrupting existing processes or increasing operational risk.

The cooperation with eMabler is built around that reality. ABC brings a large, live network where changes are felt immediately and at scale. New hardware, updated protocols, or shifts in energy conditions show their impact quickly. eMabler’s role is not only to deliver a fixed roadmap, but to work alongside ABC as those realities change, while guaranteeing the platform continues to support how charging is actually operated not forgetting continuous OPEX cost improvements through automation. Close alignment on standards, technical detail, and real usage data allows both teams to evaluate new requirements pragmatically and decide what to implement, and when, without putting the wider network at risk.

This way of working is why Erno and Antti recommend eMabler to operators who need a setup that fits their reality, without being locked into one rigid way of running EV charging. From ABC’s perspective, the value comes from a product platform that stays modular and standard-based, yet still adapts as requirements evolve. It gives ABC the flexibility to refine how charging works over time, while retaining full operational control internally.

In Erno’s words: “I can recommend eMabler for its flexibility, agility, and their team’s responsiveness.”

All in all, eMabler allows ABC to build EV charging business processes using the same systems already in place for other process flows, such as sales and customer operations, making charging a natural extension of the existing business rather than a separate layer. Combined with a modular, product-based architecture, this approach has enabled ABC to operate EV charging as a stable, day-to-day part of the business today, while remaining ready to adapt as market conditions and technology continue to evolve.

"I can recommend eMabler for its flexibility, agility, and their team’s responsiveness." - Erno Ratia, Head of IT at ABC

About ABC

• Overview: Finnish service station network under the S Group, offering fuels, convenience stores, restaurants, EV charging and car wash services.

• Founded: 1998

• Focus: Developing and operating a nationwide network of service stations.

• With eMabler since: 2025