BU Catalog — Who Is in the Model¶
Phase 4, step 4.1 (reviewed). The catalog of business units ("roster" in earlier drafts) that appear in our models. One BUFM per participant; the base case is OVRB (ADR 0003). Each unit has an explicit boundary, buy/sell transactions, and driver KPIs — per the modeling contract.
Scope note: this is an initial sweep, not the totality. The e-mobility ecosystem has more participant types than listed here (insurers, financiers, fleet aggregators, second-use processors, regulators…). The catalog grows as modeling needs them; a new participant enters by the same contract — boundary, buy/sell transactions, KPIs.
The catalog¶
| Code | Business unit | Owns (balance sheet) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIDER | Rider (OVRB) | vehicle | base case — modeled |
| BCS | Battery Asset Owner | battery fleet | base case — modeled |
| SNS | Swap Network Operator | stations, slots, chargers | base case — modeled |
| CNS | Charging Network Services | charge outlets, chargers, grid connections | registered — not yet modeled |
| EPS | Energy Supplier | generation / grid contract | base case — modeled |
| VSP | Vehicle Service Provider | vehicle fleet | registered, not modeled (rent-vehicle cases only) |
Framing: each BUFM is a standard business type with an existing home sector (EPS = solar; SNS = LPG canister exchange and battery-swap cabinets à la NIO/scooter networks; CNS = public charging networks common in China and the US) — we adopt those sectors' terms and gauges. BUs are separated for insight (where profit is made, what ROI is sensitive to), not as a corporate strategy; integration gains efficiency but must not hide waste. See Framing.
Unit definitions (what each business owns, buys, sells, and answers for)¶
RIDER — rider, OVRB modality¶
- Boundary: one delivery-rider business; vehicle owned (balance sheet), battery access rented via swaps
- Buys: vehicle (one-time, cash or financed — ADR 0004 parity), swaps at $/kWh normalized
- Sells: delivery services (outside ecosystem scope — income is exogenous)
- Drives: swap demand (swaps/day), price sensitivity vs petrol
- KPIs: TCO vs ICE, daily energy cost, payback, income uplift, affordability check
BCS — battery asset owner¶
- Boundary: battery fleet, rotation and retirement; batteries on its balance sheet
- Sells: charged-battery availability to the swap network (per-swap or per-kWh interface)
- Buys: batteries (CAPEX incl. duty), replacements at EOL
- Carries: SOH/degradation risk, residual/second-use value (eMe function — deviation register)
- KPIs: LCOB, fleet utilization, batch retirement cadence, IRR, residual value
SNS — swap network operator¶
- Boundary: stations, slots, chargers, staff; does NOT own batteries (buys availability from BCS)
- Buys: energy (EPS), battery availability (BCS), labor, property
- Sells: swaps to riders
- Carries: utilization risk on fixed station capacity (integer rack/slot constraints)
- KPIs: swaps/station/day, margin per swap, utilization + break-even utilization, payback
CNS — charging network services (registered)¶
- Boundary: network of charge outlets; owns outlets, chargers, grid connections; does NOT own batteries or vehicles
- Serves qualified riders only — the rider's own vehicle/battery must meet compatibility requirements
- Two service modes, typically separate outlet classes:
- AC charging: rider brings their own charger, plugs into an AC outlet — CNS sells the outlet session (electricity + outlet time)
- DC charging: CNS supplies DC power directly to the qualified vehicle/battery via compatible protocols and charging connectors — CNS sells kWh delivered, protocol/connectors are the qualification gate
- Vs SNS: SNS exchanges batteries (seconds, no wait-at-outlet); CNS charges in place (tens of minutes to hours). Different customer promise, different real-estate economics, different grid connection sizing
- Buys: energy (EPS), land/outlet rent, maintenance, connectivity
- Carries: outlet utilization risk, peak power demand charges, protocol/compatibility risk
- KPIs (sector-adopted, charging industry): outlets/day utilization, kWh/outlet/day, margin per kWh, time-to-breakeven per outlet, peak demand cost share
EPS — energy supplier¶
- Boundary: grid connection + backup generation
- Sells: kWh to SNS and CNS
- KPIs: anchor-load value, energy margin
VSP — vehicle service provider (registered only)¶
- Required when vehicle tenure = rent (RVRB, RVOB modalities)
- Same income+risk pattern as BCS, for vehicles
Coupling principle (how the businesses connect)¶
Every transaction appears twice — buyer's cost is seller's revenue, at one shared price and quantity. Each such link is a business transaction interface: it transfers value and shapes profit pooling between the two units. Prices normalize to $/kWh delivered (convention 1). Utilization (the normalized demand / supply ratio) is the shared state variable linking all units.
Naming note: CNS was previously coded FCS (Fast Charging) in the legacy model pages; FCS is retired as an alias.
Next: 4.2 transaction map → Delivered: Transaction Map