Allego and Deftpower bring cashback as a driver-loyalty tool to 1,100 chargers in France and Germany

Increasing utilisation starts with steering the driver's choice

Expanding infrastructure remains essential in public charging, but improving the performance of chargers already in the ground matters just as much. As the pace of deployment slows, charge point operators now face the challenge of increasing utilisation across their existing networks. The way to achieve this is by influencing when and where drivers choose to charge.

The cashback programme, launched with partner CPO Allego, addresses this by giving drivers a direct incentive to charge at selected chargers. From the planned launch on 15 October to 31 December 2026, eligible chargers are highlighted in the Allego app and participating apps. Cashback is calculated automatically from the energy charged and paid straight to drivers, who can put it towards a future session or withdraw it to their bank account.

Precise demand for the operator, real savings for the driver

The appeal for Allego, or any CPO running a similar programme, is the power to pull demand towards the chargers that need it and when they need it, rather than leaving utilisation to chance. Instead of offering network-wide discounts or reworking public tariffs, it can now target chosen chargers, set the incentive period and measure the rewarded sessions and energy that follow. The MSPs whose apps carry the offer benefit too, gaining a differentiated driver reward without building the settlement infrastructure behind it.

For drivers, the benefit is even more direct. The savings are real and immediate, with no vouchers, subscriptions or sign-ups, and at €0.20/kWh a typical 20 kWh charge hands back nearly €4. The programme also reaches fleet and company car drivers, who have long been hard to influence because they don’t pay their own charging bills and so have little reason to care about the tariff at any given charger. A cheaper rate is invisible to someone who never sees the invoice, but cashback can be claimed by drivers and gives them a personal reason to choose participating locations.

A partnership that turns every charge into shared gain, no matter what the objective

The collaboration with Allego is part of Deftpower's broader CPO 2.0 strategy, which reframes the relationship between MSPs and CPOs as a mutually beneficial partnership to orchestrate demand. CPOs know where and when they need it and MSPs can steer where drivers charge. Deftpower links the two as an independent layer for infrastructure, rewards and settlement, turning network objectives into simple incentives across participating apps.

The same configurable infrastructure can support other CPO objectives, such as seasonal campaigns or off-peak charging, without a new system required for every new objective. The result is a reinforcing cycle: drivers pay less, MSPs offer a stronger proposition and CPOs improve loyalty and utilisation through the chargers they already run.