Electrification requires charging infrastructure -- and charging infrastructure requires someone to own and operate it. Charging as a Service is the model for municipalities that want to contribute to the transition without taking on either financial risk or operational responsibility.
Electrification of the transport sector is a stated national goal. Municipalities play an important role in that transition -- they own land, parking lots and facilities that are natural locations for charging infrastructure. But owning the land is one thing. Financing, installing and operating the charging infrastructure is quite another — and there is a model that makes it possible to contribute without burdening the municipal budget.
E.U. Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), imposes binding requirements on Sweden to ensure an accessible public charging infrastructure throughout the country. It is the state that bears the formal responsibility -- but in practice it is the municipalities that sit on the land, the parking lots and the facilities that decide whether the targets are met.
According to M Sweden Review 19 Swedish municipalities fail to meet the AFIR requirements by 2026. These are municipalities where the charging infrastructure has not been expanded at the same rate as the number of rechargeable vehicles has increased — and where the consequence may be formal comments from national authorities or the European Commission. It's not a problem that solves by itself. The number of electric cars on Swedish roads is expected to exceed 500,000 in 2026, and demand for charging in municipal facilities continues to grow.
The traditional route for a municipality that wants to offer charging is familiar: procurement, investment, installation, operation. It requires budget funds, internal expertise and an organization that can handle ongoing maintenance and support. It is a process that takes time, costs money and burdens management.
For many municipalities, it is precisely those resources that are lacking -- not the willingness to offer charging. And even those municipalities that have invested in charging infrastructure face the same challenge as property owners and energy companies over time: operational responsibility requires continuous technical expertise that is rarely found naturally in a municipal organization.
Charging as a Service from ChargeNode reverses that logic. Instead of the municipality investing and operating the charging infrastructure, ChargeNode invests and operates — on the municipality's land. The municipality provides the parking space through a right-of-use agreement. ChargeNode finances the installation, owns the equipment and assumes a 10-year overall responsibility for operations, support and maintenance.
This means zero capex on the municipal budget and zero operational overhead for the administration. Citizens get access to professionally powered charging with 99.7% uptime and round-the-clock support with a response time of less than 90 seconds. And the municipality can demonstrate a concrete contribution to electrification.
An often overlooked benefit of the model is what it means for the administration's administrative burden. Traditional charging infrastructure under municipal management requires procurement processes for maintenance, operating agreements to administer, and internal resources to handle fault reports. It is work that competes with the municipality's core mission.
With ChargeNode as the operator, the administrative burden disappears. Troubleshooting, firmware updates and on-site technologies — all handled by ChargeNode's own service technicians throughout Sweden. The municipality does not need to get involved when something needs to be fixed.
ChargeNode is Sweden's largest charging operator with over 60,000 active charging points and 30% market share. With our own service engineers throughout Sweden and a proprietary platform with 99.7% uptime, we take a holistic responsibility that includes everything from investment and installation to operation, support and future expansion.
Do you want to offer charging in the municipality without burdening the budget? Contact us for a free briefing — without obligations.
What is AFIR and what does it mean for municipalities?
AFIR is the EU regulation on alternative fuels infrastructure and sets binding requirements for Sweden to expand public charging infrastructure. The formal responsibility lies with the central government, but municipalities that own land and parking spaces play a central role in whether the targets are met in practice.
Does the municipality have to invest in charging infrastructure to contribute to electrification?
The No. With Charging as a Service, ChargeNode invests in and operates the charging infrastructure on the municipality's land. The municipality provides the parking space — ChargeNode takes care of everything else.
What happens to the operation when ChargeNode takes over?
ChargeNode is responsible for all operations, bug fixing, firmware updates and support. There is no need for municipal administration — citizens get access to professional charging with 99.7% uptime and 24/7 support.
Is a procurement process required to sign a contract with ChargeNode?
It depends on the specific procurement rules of the municipality. Contact us and we will review what applies to your situation and what the process looks like.
What happens when the 10-year contract expires?
ChargeNode sees the 10-year agreement as the start of a long-term collaboration. Before the end of the agreement, a dialogue is held on the extension or new structure of the agreement.
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