The collaborative project enables ABB’s charging points to use the Microsoft Azure cloud, in turn meaning networks can communicate across the globe, new units can be added easily and there are opportunities for machine learning – such as predicting usage patterns and maintenance requirements.

Pekka Tiitinen, president of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion Division, said: “This partnership gives us the solutions, scalability and global agility to support expanding demand for EV charging infrastructure in the world’s major automotive markets, which is a key focus of our Next Level growth strategy.”

Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of business development, Microsoft added: “Today we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and this is ever apparent in the global electric vehicle market. Our partnership with ABB aligns to one of our company ambitions to build the intelligent cloud platform, and we look forward to our technology and services becoming a differentiator for ABB’s solutions.”