Hubject and Localiser have announced a data partnership that will integrate charging utilisation and point-of-interest data into EV charging infrastructure planning and operational analysis.

Under the agreement, Hubject will provide Localiser with data from its global eMobility network, which the companies say covers more than 1.1 million charging points across more than 75 countries. Localiser will incorporate the information into its platform for analysing potential charging locations and optimising existing infrastructure.

The partnership addresses one of the less visible challenges facing Europe's electric vehicle transition: utilisation.

Installing a public charging station is relatively straightforward compared with determining whether a location will attract enough drivers, whether additional chargers are justified and how an existing site compares with surrounding infrastructure. Poorly located or underused charging assets can weaken the economics of charging networks while leaving high-demand areas underserved.

Hubject's network data is intended to give Localiser's customers access to observed charging behaviour rather than relying exclusively on forecasts.

"Charging infrastructure only serves drivers if it's built where it's actually needed," Hubject CEO Christian Hahn said in the company's announcement.

That approach puts charging utilisation data closer to the centre of infrastructure planning. For a CPO evaluating a potential location, for example, aggregated utilisation at comparable sites could provide another input alongside traffic patterns, EV registrations, competitor locations, local amenities and grid availability.

Localiser specialises in site analysis for EV charging infrastructure. The company says its platform is used for more than 35,000 site evaluations each month, indicating the scale at which data-driven planning is already being applied to the charging market.

The partnership is designed to address both sides of the infrastructure lifecycle. During the planning phase, network data can help evaluate prospective locations. Once a charging site is operational, Localiser's platform can use market information and benchmarking to help operators understand performance relative to aggregated network activity.

From Charger Expansion to Network Optimisation

The change is important because Europe's charging industry is moving beyond the initial race to deploy hardware.

The European Union's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) is pushing the development of publicly accessible alternative-fuel infrastructure and includes requirements around electric vehicle charging infrastructure along major transport corridors. The regulation is increasing pressure for a more coordinated charging ecosystem while the EV market continues to expand.

That creates a more complicated commercial environment for CPOs. A network can grow rapidly on paper while individual locations deliver very different utilisation rates.

The Hubject-Localiser partnership therefore reflects a broader move toward data-driven EV infrastructure planning, where investment decisions increasingly depend on measurable demand and operational benchmarks.

The concept also resembles developments taking place elsewhere in mobility technology. Platforms such as Google Maps and other location-intelligence ecosystems already aggregate information about places, traffic and mobility patterns. In EV charging, however, actual charging-session behaviour can provide a more direct signal of infrastructure demand.

For municipalities, the value could be different. Public-sector planners are often balancing accessibility, coverage and transport policy rather than maximising the return from individual charging sites. Aggregated network data could help identify underserved areas and compare existing charging availability with observed demand.

Investors can also use utilisation benchmarks as another input when evaluating the commercial potential of charging infrastructure.

What the Data Partnership Changes

Hubject's role is particularly relevant because the company operates across the eMobility interoperability ecosystem. Its network connects charging infrastructure and mobility service providers, giving it visibility across a large international charging environment.

Localiser brings the site-analysis and optimisation layer. Combining the two creates a feedback loop between where charging infrastructure is planned and how comparable infrastructure is actually being used.

Localiser CEO Oliver Arnhold described this as part of a broader professionalisation of the charging industry, with CPOs increasingly shifting their attention from initial planning toward operational optimisation.

The resulting dashboards and reports are expected to allow operators to track market developments and benchmark their own utilisation rates against aggregated network data.

There is an important caveat: network-level utilisation data does not automatically predict the performance of an individual charging location. Local conditions such as grid capacity, charger speed, pricing, nearby amenities, parking restrictions, road access and local EV adoption can materially influence demand.

Still, adding observed network behaviour to conventional site-selection models can reduce reliance on purely theoretical projections.

Market Landscape

The EV charging market is becoming increasingly data-intensive as operators seek to improve asset economics and governments work to expand charging coverage.

The European Commission has identified the deployment of sufficient charging infrastructure as a key requirement for the transition to zero-emission mobility. AFIR also establishes minimum requirements for charging infrastructure along major European transport corridors. 

That creates opportunities for companies operating between physical infrastructure and digital intelligence. Hubject's interoperability network and Localiser's analytical platform occupy complementary positions in that stack: one provides network-level connectivity and data, while the other turns location and utilisation information into planning and operational insights.

Competition, however, is likely to move toward richer datasets. Traffic intelligence, vehicle registrations, payment information, grid constraints, land-use data and real-time charger availability could eventually be combined to produce increasingly sophisticated infrastructure models.

For CPOs, the strategic question is shifting from "Where can we install a charger?" to "Where will charging demand support a sustainable asset?"

Strategic Outlook

The Hubject-Localiser partnership is ultimately less about adding another data feed and more about changing how charging infrastructure investments are evaluated.

As EV adoption grows, charging networks will need to balance geographic coverage with utilisation, reliability and profitability. Data partnerships that connect actual charging behaviour with location intelligence could become increasingly important in making that balance work.

The next stage of Europe's charging market is likely to reward operators that can optimise existing assets as effectively as they can deploy new ones. That makes charging utilisation data, benchmarking and predictive site analysis increasingly central to the economics of eMobility.

Top Insights

• Hubject's charging-network data gives Localiser real-world utilisation signals, helping CPOs evaluate prospective locations against observed demand rather than relying only on forecasts.
• The partnership shifts EV infrastructure planning toward measurable utilisation, potentially improving investment decisions for operators, municipalities and charging-network investors across Europe.
• Localiser's operational dashboards could help CPOs benchmark charger performance against aggregated network activity and identify opportunities to optimise underperforming charging sites.
• Europe's expanding charging requirements are increasing the need for better location intelligence, making data-driven infrastructure planning an increasingly important layer of eMobility technology.
• The partnership illustrates a broader industry shift from simply deploying chargers toward managing charging networks as data-driven, commercially optimised infrastructure assets.

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