How fractional CTOs transform eMobility teams – from firefighting to foresight

If you’re building in the eMobility ecosystem right now, you already know how it feels – new standards, integrations, and regulations appear fast and it may be hard to keep up. But before you add more team effort, stop and check: maybe senior technical direction is your missing piece?

The conversations that sparked this post

Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with founders and tech leads from across the eMobility space – from CPOs expanding charging networks to start-ups designing smart charging apps and energy management systems. No matter the size or stage, I keep hearing versions of the same sentence: “We know where we want to go, but our tech isn’t keeping up.”

OCPP 2.0.1, ISO 15118, new payment standards – the pace is brutal. Everyone’s trying to build fast, stay compliant, and still push new features. Under such pressure many teams admit that what they miss isn’t talent but leadership – someone who can connect the dots between business vision, systems, and delivery.

That’s what made me write this piece about CTO-as-a-Service (CTOaaS) and what changes once a fractional CTO joins the picture.

The system finally starts growing with the business

The first warning sign is often subtle: what used to work, suddenly doesn’t. A charging network that handled a few hundred points now struggles at a few thousand. APIs slow down. Integrations fail.

It’s not that the team has lost its skill, but they’ve simply outgrown the architecture. An experienced CTO has seen these scaling patterns before. They can spot the weak elements early, map dependiencies, and redesign the system which should grow instead of collapsing under pressure. On day one, a fractional CTO brings the foresight that only comes from years spent scaling similar products.

“We’ll fix it later” turns into “We’ve already fixed it”

I’ve heard this line more than once: “We’ll fix it later.” Except “later” often never comes, and suddenly you’re spending every sprint patching yesterday’s shortcuts.

In eMobility, where integrations and certifications define product success, those “temporary” fixes become dangerous long-term cost sinks. Fractional CTOs help teams build systems ready for evolving standards, certifications, and integrations (not just the next demo deadline!) – a lesson some EV software companies learn the hard way.

Engineers stop guessing what matters most

I’ve met brilliant teams who are building clever features but struggling to align them with business priorities. They’re working hard but – sometimes – on the wrong things.

That’s often where fractional leadership helps to refine priorities, clarify the technical vision, and define what “good” looks like. The team’s energy is then focused into productive work on EV software development.

The leadership gap doesn’t wait for recruitment

Hiring a full-time CTO who understands eMobility’s complexity – hardware, software, protocols, regulations – can take months or more.

CTO-as-a-Service works quickly. You get the senior perspective of someone who’s already seen the pitfalls, who knows why ISO 15118 can derail a roadmap or why OCPP compliance testing isn’t “just QA”. This model of staff augmentation for eMobility buys you time and confidence until you’re ready for a permanent hire.

The roadmap starts making business sense

I once spoke with a Head of Product who said, “Our backlog looks impressive, but we’re not sure how it moves the business forward.” It stuck with me.

A CTO’s job isn’t just to decide what to build, but why. They connect technical choices with commercial strategy. When a fractional CTO joins a project, they often start by asking: What’s the goal? What’s the risk? What’s the value? Those conversations can immediately reset the team’s direction and transform e-mobility software development from reactive to strategic.

Big decisions get an experienced eye

Let’s have a look at Evyon, a Norwegian startup with the idea of turning used EV batteries into intelligent energy storage systems. To make it happen, they had to bring together hardware, real-time data, and software – and that’s when they needed an outside perspective to validate key technical decisions.

We worked together in a CTO-as-a-Service model. Our shared goal was to align technology choices, shape the software roadmap, and mentor the Evyon development team. The CTO provided the expert perspective and technical guidance the team needed to continue developing their software solution independently. And that’s the quiet power of the CTOaaS model (by the way: today, Evyon is a well-positioned company!).

A new kind of leadership for a fast-moving world

The eMobility industry doesn’t slow down for anyone: new standards, new markets, new expectations all land at once. We might chase them running faster, but it’s good to be sure we move in the right direction.

A fractional CTO helps teams do exactly that. They connect the dots between engineering, product, and business. They know when to modernise and when to hold steady. And they make sure good technical decisions stay repeatable (even when the CTOs are long gone!).

FAQ

1. Is CTOaaS just consulting by another name?

Not really. Consultants analyse from the outside; fractional CTOs work with your team and guide daily decisions.

2. Can CTOaaS work for smaller teams?

Yes, and often that’s where the impact is most significant. Early guidance helps prevent costly rework later and builds a solid foundation for growth in eMobility software projects.

3. How long do companies usually engage a fractional CTO?

It depends. Sometimes it’s a few months to stabilise systems, sometimes a year or more to lead scaling. The beauty of the model is its flexibility.

4. Can CTOaaS work alongside other outsourcing strategies?

Yes. CTO as a Service often complements other outsourcing models. With a high-level strategic guidance of a CTO, the outsourced team use right technologies, maintain quality standards, and align with the overall business strategy.