Etrel OCEAN Alternative: How to Migrate Without Downtime

Use this article if you:

• operate chargers that are managed on the Etrel OCEAN platform today
• installed OCEAN for clients who are asking what happens next
• run any CPMS and want an exit plan ready before you ever need one

Etrel OCEAN is not shutting down. Landis+Gyr announced its exit from EV charging in EMEA on 11 February 2025 and sold the business to KD Group on 13 March 2025, with service continuity. Your chargers keep working today, and if you decide to move, you can migrate to another OCPP backend in six steps, without downtime.

The anxiety behind that search is still real. One operator put their hardware maker’s platform this way: “We got the platform free with the stations. We are locked to their hardware only, the support is weak, and the platform is rudimentary.” A platform owned by a hardware maker or corporate parent follows the owner’s strategy. When the strategy changes, what happens next depends on whether you have a plan.

If your renewal is close, you can start a 30-day free trial of ELVO and connect your first stations today, no setup fee, no sales call.

What actually happened to Etrel OCEAN, as of July 2026

Landis+Gyr announced on 11 February 2025 that it would exit the EV charging business in EMEA. On 13 March 2025 it signed a share purchase agreement selling that business, formerly Etrel, to KD Group, with contracts and service commitments continuing. As of July 2026, the OCEAN platform remains in operation.

Date	What happened	Source	What it means for you
11 February 2025	Landis+Gyr announced its exit from the EV charging business in EMEA	Landis+Gyr announcement, electrive coverage	The owner stopped investing in the platform you run on
13 March 2025	Share purchase agreement signed: the EV Solutions business, formerly Etrel, sold to KD Group, “ensuring business continuity”	Landis+Gyr announcement	Contracts and service commitments carried over to a new owner
13 March 2025	Etrel announced the investment concluded the liquidation process, with operations continuing under the same team and brand	Etrel announcement	The shutdown scenario was real enough to require a rescue, and the rescue happened
July 2026	The OCEAN platform operates under OCEAN EV Charging, with an active product site	oceanevcharging.com	No shutdown deadline; urgency should come from your contract, not headlines

Etrel was acquired by Landis+Gyr in 2021 and sold on in 2025: two owners in four years. Chargers kept charging, yet a liquidation was started and then averted, and industry pages still claim the platform is disappearing. Panic and complacency both fail the facts. The lesson: a CPMS can change hands with your contract on it, so keep the ability to leave at a time you choose.

How to migrate from OCEAN, or any CPMS, in six steps

A CPMS migration is an inventory, a data export, a small pilot, an endpoint change, a validation pass, and a decommissioning, in that order. Chargers keep charging throughout: stations move in waves, the OCPP endpoint switch takes minutes per station, and each wave is verified with a handshake, heartbeat, and a test session.

1. Inventory your stations (you). List every station with model, serial number, location, connectors, firmware, OCPP version, and configuration. Record who owns each SIM or network connection: vendor-owned connectivity is the one dependency an endpoint change cannot carry over.
2. Export your data (you, with the current vendor). Request stations and configurations, users and RFID cards with identifiers (UID or serial, status, user or company association), tariff definitions, and session history. Machine-readable formats such as CSV keep the import clean.
3. Test the new platform on a pilot (you, with the new vendor). Put two or three stations on a free trial before committing the fleet. The vendor imports your data; you check it for consistency: sites, tariffs, users, and roles should look like yours, not like a fresh install.
4. Repoint the OCPP endpoint, in waves (you or your installer). Change each station’s backend address to the new platform’s secure WebSocket (wss) URL, reconfiguring or restarting where a model requires it. This is the operator’s move, not the vendor’s, and each station is offline for minutes. The new backend confirms each arrival: handshake, heartbeat, then a test charging session.
5. Validate end to end (both sides). Run real sessions in the field: RFID authorization, app start and stop, payments, notifications, permissions. Check that imported cards were deduplicated and access rules survived. Fix and re-test against acceptance criteria written down before the first wave.
6. Decommission the old contract (you). Only after validation, close the old account on its notice terms and archive your final export. Migrating before decommissioning, never the reverse, keeps the process reversible at every step.

Q: Do my chargers stop working while the platform’s ownership changes hands? A: No. An ownership change happens at the company level and does not touch the OCPP connection between stations and backend. The exposure is contractual and support-related: the answer is a planned migration, not a panicked one.

What to check in the next backend so you never migrate under pressure again

The point of leaving a platform you did not choose to re-evaluate is to land somewhere you would choose again. Five checks matter: who owns the vendor and what funds it, OCPP certification you can verify, brand-agnostic hardware support, a contractual right to export your data, and a trial you can run before signing.

• Ownership and independence. A backend owned by a hardware maker or corporate parent inherits their strategy, as this story shows. Ask who owns the company and what revenue keeps the product alive.
• Verifiable OCPP certification. Look the vendor up on the Open Charge Alliance certified companies registry. An entry names the certified system, OCPP version, and scope. “OCPP compatible” without one is a self-declaration.
• Brand-agnostic by design. The next platform should connect the stations you already own, from any manufacturer that implements OCPP 1.6; see our guide to choosing an OCPP backend.
• Data portability in the contract. The export from step 2 should be a right, not a favor: sessions, users, RFID cards, tariffs, configurations, machine-readable, no exit fee.
• A trial you can run yourself. A platform you can test on two stations this week, without a sales process, is a platform you can also leave.

Two reflexes to resist. “It works today, I will not hurry” means doing this exercise during the next announcement, on someone else’s calendar. “Switch immediately, anywhere” is how operators land on another single-brand platform.

Q: Is a free platform bundled with new stations a safe landing after OCEAN? A: It reproduces the structure you are leaving: a backend tied to one hardware maker’s strategy and catalog. Whatever you pick, confirm it runs other brands and lets you export your data.

A real migration: a European energy operator moved off OCEAN

A European energy operator ran its charging network on OCEAN and re-evaluated after the ownership news. The decision was not panic: two owners in four years made continuity a real risk, and the operator chose to move on its own schedule.

The migration followed the sequence above. The new platform was prepared and validated first. Stations, users, and RFID cards were exported, mapped field by field (identifiers, status, user and company associations), then imported and deduplicated. The operator’s own team repointed the OCPP endpoint wave by wave, the receiving platform confirming each wave: handshake, heartbeat, test transaction. Validation ran in the field with real sessions, real cards, and real payments before the old platform was switched off. Drivers charged throughout.

The detail worth copying is the order: nothing was decommissioned until everything was validated, so a working platform stood behind the stations throughout.

Q: How long does a migration like this take? A: It scales with fleet size and data quality. A single station moves in minutes; a fleet moves in planned waves over weeks. The long pole is usually export and mapping, which is why steps 1 and 2 come first.

ELVO as a landing zone for an OCEAN migration

ELVO is a vendor-neutral CPMS certified by the Open Charge Alliance for OCPP 1.6-J Full and OCPP Security, with station links secured by TLS over WebSocket (wss). It runs 700+ charger models in production as of July 2026, including Etrel chargers, and connecting a station takes minutes: point its OCPP endpoint at ELVO.

For an operator arriving from OCEAN, the claims that matter are verifiable. The certification is on the Open Charge Alliance registry, not on a slide. Etrel chargers are connected to ELVO in production today, and Etrel Inch models speak OCPP 1.6, so the connection is guaranteed by the standard, not by a list taken on faith. Imports are bulk: stations, users, RFID cards, and tariffs land from your export files, deduplicated on the way in. Dynamic load management is included, which matters where EPBD Article 14 duties apply; see our EPBD Article 14 compliance guide. And because ELVO is independent and sells software, not hardware, the roadmap does not depend on charger sales.

The same OCPP neutrality that gets you in also lets you leave: stations, sessions, and data stay exportable and repointable.

Q: Are Etrel Inch chargers supported on ELVO? A: Yes. Etrel Inch chargers implement OCPP 1.6, ELVO is certified for OCPP 1.6-J Full and Security, and Etrel chargers are running on ELVO in production as of July 2026. Repointing the endpoint is a configuration change.

What not to do in a CPMS migration

Most migration damage is self-inflicted, and avoidable. The failure modes repeat: moving under panic, moving everything at once, abandoning history, and trading one dependency for an identical one. Each has a cheap countermeasure you apply before the first station moves.

• ❌ Panic-switch to the first vendor that emails you. ✅ Run the six steps; a pilot wave costs days and removes most of the risk.
• ❌ Move the whole fleet in one night. ✅ Migrate in waves, each validated by handshake, heartbeat, and a test session.
• ❌ Leave your session history behind. ✅ Export everything first; history is your billing evidence and your utilization data.
• ❌ Land on another hardware-tied backend. ✅ Verify brand-agnostic OCPP support on the OCA registry before signing.
• ❌ Forget who owns the connectivity. ✅ Check SIM and network ownership in step 1; replace what belongs to the old vendor.

Questions to ask any CPMS vendor about continuity

Ownership changed hands twice in this story, so ask continuity questions before they are urgent. Seven cover the risk surface: ownership, funding, data fate, export rights, certification, exit procedure, and a testable trial. If a vendor cannot answer them clearly, that is your answer.

1. Who owns the company, and what revenue funds the product? Their strategy decides your platform’s future.
2. What happens to my data and contract if the platform is sold? Continuity should be a contract clause, not a press release phrase.
3. What can I export, in what format, and at what cost? Sessions, users, RFID cards, tariffs, configurations; machine-readable; no exit fee.
4. Is your OCPP certification on the Open Charge Alliance registry? Verify the entry yourself; do not accept a PDF.
5. What is the procedure to repoint my stations away from you? A vendor that documents its own exit procedure has nothing to hide.
6. Does your roadmap depend on selling hardware? If charger sales fall, the software follows.
7. Can I test with my own stations before signing? Everything above can be checked during a trial, on your own stations.

Build your CPMS exit plan before you need one

This is not really about one platform. Platforms are companies, and companies get sold, merged, and closed. An exit plan costs a few hours a year and has four parts: a current station inventory, an annual data export, a certification registry check, and hardware kept on open standards.

The precedent that proves the category risk: Enel X Way shut down its North American operation in October 2024, and commercial chargers dependent on its software lost functionality, as covered by Electrek. OCEAN’s story ended better, but the lesson stands.

So: keep the inventory current, with serials, firmware, OCPP versions, and connectivity ownership. Request a full export annually, so the path is tested and the archive exists. Verify your vendor still appears on the OCA registry. Keep stations on OCPP, pointed at an OCPP-certified backend. That is what makes every option in this article available on a week’s notice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Etrel OCEAN shutting down? No. As of July 2026, the OCEAN platform is in operation. Landis+Gyr announced its exit from EV charging in EMEA on 11 February 2025 and sold the EV Solutions business, formerly Etrel, to KD Group on 13 March 2025, with contracts and service commitments continuing.

Can I keep my Etrel Inch chargers if I change the backend? Yes. Etrel Inch chargers speak OCPP 1.6, so they can connect to any backend certified for OCPP 1.6. Repointing the OCPP endpoint is a configuration change on the station, not a hardware swap.

Will charging stop during a CPMS migration? No. Stations move in waves, and the OCPP endpoint change takes minutes per station. Drivers on other stations keep charging; each wave is validated with handshake, heartbeat, and a test session before the next moves.

What data should I export before leaving a CPMS? Four sets: your station list with configurations (model, serial number, location, connectors), your users and RFID cards with identifiers and status, your tariff definitions, and your charging session history. Ask for a machine-readable format such as CSV.

How long does migrating to a new CPMS take? A single station connects in minutes. A full fleet is measured in weeks, not months: inventory and export first, a pilot wave, then station waves with validation. The calendar is driven by data quality and coordination, not by the technology.

Do I have to migrate off OCEAN right now? No. There is no shutdown deadline as of July 2026. The reason to plan is ownership uncertainty, two owners in four years, and your own contract and support experience. Decide on your calendar, around your renewal date, not the news cycle.

The short version

• Etrel OCEAN is not shutting down: Landis+Gyr exited EV charging in EMEA in February 2025 and sold the business to KD Group in March 2025, with continuity. The platform operates as of July 2026.
• Two owners in four years is a reason to plan, not to panic. Migrate on your calendar, around your contract, not on the news cycle.
• The migration is six steps: inventory, export, pilot, endpoint repoint in waves, validation, decommission last. Chargers keep charging throughout.
• The endpoint change is your move; the receiving backend proves each wave with handshake, heartbeat, and a test session.
• Verify the next backend on the OCA registry, confirm it is brand-agnostic, and get data export written into the contract.

Read next

• OCPP Backend: What It Is and How to Choose One, the backend decision this migration ends in.
• EV Charging Management Software: What It Is and Who Needs It, if you are re-evaluating from scratch.
• EPBD Article 14 compliance guide, if load management duties apply to you.

Resources and references

• Landis+Gyr: strategic initiatives and FY 2024 guidance update, 11 February 2025
• Landis+Gyr: share purchase agreement for EV Solutions business, 13 March 2025
• electrive: Landis+Gyr withdraws from charging infrastructure business
• Etrel: a new chapter begins with KD Group’s investment
• OCEAN EV Charging, product site
• Open Charge Alliance: certified companies registry
• Open Charge Alliance: Open Charge Point Protocol
• EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2024/1275 (EPBD recast)
• Electrek: Enel X Way North America is shutting down

The bottom line

OCEAN survived its ownership scare; the lesson stands for every platform. Inventory your stations, request the export, and test where you would land. The fastest way is to run two stations on ELVO for 30 days: start the free trial, no card, no obligation, and make the next ownership announcement a non-event.