The Charge Point Podcast is an EV charging podcast featuring expert insights....

At ICNC26 in Berlin, this year's theme — "Collaboration at Scale: Establishing the Open Smart Charging Ecosystem" — played out in real conversations on the show floor. In this special multi-guest episode, Christophe sits down with four people building that open ecosystem from different angles: Joakim Arvidsson (Peak Energy) on untangling grid costs, Bradford Crist (ChargeMate) on AI-driven driver support, Oumaima Bounouadar (OCPP Lab) on true end-to-end interoperability testing, and Jaap Burger on bridging the gap between CPOs and regulators.

Grid congestion is forcing CPOs to rethink how they power fast-charging sites, and co-located battery storage is quickly becoming central to that shift. In this episode, Michel Verschuere, founder of Belgian balance service provider Yuso, joins Christophe Lephilibert to explain why classic ancillary services like FCR and aFRR rarely fit public charging, why the "duck curve" is becoming a "canyon curve," and where real flexibility value lies today - peak shaving, day-ahead optimization, and imbalance markets. He also details a live three-way partnership between FLEXECHARGE, Yuso, and Intercell.

In this episode, Marvin Bechtel from ORLEN explains how one of Europe’s largest energy and mobility companies is scaling its EV charging network. We discuss ORLEN’s transition from fuel retailer to integrated energy and mobility provider, and the critical role of site selection, grid capacity, standardisation, commissioning and operational excellence. Marvin also shares why charging speed alone will not define tomorrow’s leading CPOs—and how convenience, customer experience, smart energy management and reliable infrastructure will shape the future of public EV charging.

In this episode of the Charge Point Podcast, Ryan Fisher from BloombergNEF joins Christophe Lephilibert to discuss how cheap batteries are reshaping EV charging infrastructure. Based on BloombergNEF’s latest research, they explore why co-located BESS is becoming increasingly relevant for fast-charging sites, from reducing grid constraints and peak-demand charges to enabling higher charging power and supporting truck charging. The conversation also connects battery storage with BloombergNEF’s 2026 EV Outlook and what it means for the future charging business case.