The image is easy: the company created by the inventor of the airship, Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, ZF, is going to give CarPay-Diem a boost. The Luxembourg startup Kwalyo announced “a strategic investment by ZF, which consolidates CarPay-Diem’s leading position in the mobile refuelling and in-vehicle energy payment market,” without specifying the amount of this investment. At the end of February, however, it had announced a capital increase of €3.9m, although it was not clear who had subscribed.

Since its launch in 2019, more than three million in-car refuelling transactions have been processed by the Luxembourg-based solution.

CarPay-Diem is building Europe’s largest network of fuelling stations and electric vehicle chargers for mobile transactions. ZF’s investment will facilitate the integration of the payment solution with apps in the vehicle’s infotainment system. “Thousands of connected vehicles will be able to use digital fuel cards to instantly activate fuel pumps and electric vehicle chargers,” said the press release.

A top 3 global automotive supplier

“The digitalisation of the fuel and charging industry for electric vehicles is a key element to accelerate the energy transition and we are proud to share this view with our partner. ZF offers CarPay-Diem access to thousands of connected vehicles across Europe, which will make significant savings on fuel expenses--thanks to the winning combination of ZF telematics and CarPay-Diem services,” commented Kwalyo CEO Frederic Stiernon.

For its part, the German company, founded 107 years ago and now one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers (with a turnover of almost €45bn) explains a twofold interest. “With this investment, we can make another strategic addition to our network of partnerships with the aim of enabling customers to manage their fleets efficiently, optimise their costs and significantly reduce their carbon footprint,” commented ZF Aftermarket head and ZF Group executive vice president Phillippe Colpron. “For ZF, the investment in a digital energy payment system is a key enhancement to the already active data sources we have, in order to develop further valuable services for our fleet customers--together with our partners.”

And if the motorist can pay from inside the car before going to put the nozzle in the tank or plug in the power socket, it won’t be long before that second part is robotised. At the end of February, the Danish company Autofuel showed off one of the world’s first articulated arms capable of handling this part. According to British analyst firm Insight, robotic refuelling is a growing business and the European market alone is expected to be worth around $50bn by 2028.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.