As announced at ICNC 2023, the EV charging market is entering a new phase characterized by increased profitability, shifting away from endless investments with no near-term market return. According to the latest WRI report, global sales of electric vehicles are nearing 10 to 80%, signaling that we are entering a transformative phase.

From the perspective of the EV charging network, we are entering a scaling phase where the number of charging points and transactions are crucial. We believe that achieving this scale requires offering the best service, attractive prices, and a healthy cost base. Regarding products, while we acknowledge the need for more intelligence in energy management, we also recognize that it remains a commodity. Therefore, the focus is on products that drive transactions. In this context, here are our commercial trends for 2024.

1. More access and payment mean greater availability!

A charging station located in a public area should be accessible to anyone, much like an ATM is available to any debit card holder. In the EV charging world, accessibility entails providing contactless payment methods for non-subscribers or, for subscribers, using your network or another network through eRoaming. Direct payment methods without registration are crucial, especially in some US states or countries such as the UK or Germany.

QR – Web-based payment

Scan a QR code, add your credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay on a webpage, and click ‘Start Charge.’ This straightforward QR web direct payment method eliminates the need for registration. It is a low-cost solution with no maintenance fees, making it ideal for guest parking areas.

Payment terminal

The physical payment terminal is operated by payment software and facilitates contactless payments through NFC technology. This solution, offered by companies like Payter or Nayax, has been widely embraced by numerous charging station Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). While it is a recognized consumer solution, it comes with a significant cost both in terms of acquisition and maintenance, similar to Level 2 chargers. However, it proves most effective for DC Super-fast chargers (DCSFC)

Plug and charge – ISO 15118

The plug and charge principle, well-known for Tesla super-fast chargers, is now accessible across all networks through the ISO 15118 standard. Simply plug in your car, start charging, and your account will be credited automatically. The key principle involves integrating the network subscription within the car through a smart contract, enabling recognition of the EV driver in any network. This integration necessitates alignment among the car, the charger, and the operating network (CPO and EMP). As seamless as making a phone call, this method represents the future of EV charging!

2. Dynamic Pricing, Load Pricing to Stimulate Charging Events

Load management is a complex process that necessitates behavioral changes in charging practices. Rather than imposing strict capacity restrictions, we believe that optimizing load is best achieved through incentivizing when to charge. This involves introducing dynamic pricing models that vary based on both time and power consumption.”

EV Driver load pricing, the ‘pay for what you need’ principle

This feature enables offering EV drivers various prices for different charging capacities, allowing users to pay a premium for full power instead of waiting with lower power. For instance, if you’re planning an extended trip and need your car fully charged overnight, you may choose to pay more for a full 11 or 22 kW, while other residents might prefer the lowest tariffs for their daily commute. The concept is to assign value to the power output.

Dynamic pricing

This function aims to provide varied prices based on the grid capacity. When the electricity network has surplus capacity, a lower price will be offered. Conversely, during periods of limited capacity, higher prices will be applicable. This approach encourages EV drivers to adjust their charging behavior, thereby supporting the capacity of the electricity grid. It represents a win-win solution for all parties involved: EV drivers, charging networks, and grid operators.

3. Advertising & Promotion – Attracting EV Drivers to Your Locations

The success of public/commercial chargers’ business model hinges on maximizing EV transactions. This goal can be accomplished by promoting your network through special prices and commercial offerings.

Attract EV Drivers to Your Location with Advertising

For retailers, restaurants, hotels, and other commercial establishments, charging infrastructure presents a valuable opportunity to draw customers to their premises. Charging vouchers, coupled with other promotions such as coffee or meal discounts, serve as tools to guide customers to choose their charging locations over others, as discussed in this article. We develop geo-advertising tools to promote their locations through advertisements on both their smartphone applications and the screens of their charging stations

Let’s shift gears and gear up for the hockey stick growth!

The key to supporting this surge lies in delivering the right charging services, propelling revenues and growth to new heights. At Saascharge, we are looking forward to working together towards this objective.

All customers providing commercial EV charging services utilize a platform known as the back office. This platform serves as the central hub for operating charging stations, handling tasks such as support, authorization, billing, and energy management. The majority of market players opt for one of three approaches: developing a proprietary platform in-house, purchasing an existing platform from the market, or utilizing a Software as a Service (SAAS) platform. Each of these approaches comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses but what is the best approach?

EV charging backend growing market requirements

The era of relying on an OCPP driver providing CDRs (charging data records), basic pricing plans with an operational console along with an app for initiating transactions, has passed. Today, a competitive EV charging backend is required to provide complex pricing mechanisms, accommodate various tiers of customers (Charging station operator, Site owner, locations…), and manage billing processes involving the integration of diverse payment gateways (e.g. Stripe, Payter, TRX, among others). Next to that, we have to integrate energy management protocols such as OSCP or OpenADR, assimilate different eRoaming protocols (such as OICP, OCPI) and hubs (e.g. Hubject, Gireve), and ultimately merge all of this seamlessly into a company’s operational environment (e.g. ERP integration). This requires knowledge and a state-of-the-art EV platform.

EV charging backend market models

1. House-made development: This entails the necessity of recruiting or establishing a comprehensive IT and product team to fabricate a competitively viable platform.
2. Purchasing an existing market solution: These pre-constructed solutions are retailed by companies specializing in commercial EV Charging backends, often offering room for certain customizations.
3. SAAS solution: This involves acquiring a fully prepared and hosted market-ready backend and application through a licensed arrangement, typically based on charging points with system integrations facilitated by APIs.

Make, buy, or lease an EV charging software? Let’s compare!

Here is a short estimated comparison for 1’000 to 10’000 charging points with development costs that includes all charges for a complete charging service setup: (Analysis, Development, testing, White labeling, configuration…). The yearly management costs include hosting (server), service support, and market adaptations (new functionalities).

The optimal approach depends on your company’s structure, strategy, and timeline for achieving your objectives. Based on this analysis, it appears that the most suitable model would be to begin by utilizing a competitive SAAS solution until you have reached a certain number of charging stations (e.g., 10,000). At that point, it could become financially viable to develop your own platform. However, this decision goes beyond a mere ‘make or buy’ cost analysis. Establishing your own platform would necessitate assembling a comprehensive team of market experts, analysts, and developers, solely to create a standard version. This expertise is readily available with a SAAS solution, and additionally, you gain the flexibility to customize your platform by integrating key systems (e.g. ERP for invoicing, ticketing system, CRM…) with APIs.

What if you could customize and adapt your model progressively?

It’s evident that every emerging EV charging business undergoes a learning curve. By commencing with a SAAS solution, you can create an attractive product, pricing, and distribution model, and subsequently refine the approach on a step-by-step basis by integrating key applications. This is possible through a modular and evolutive platform such as Saascharge with its API catalog.

At Saascharge, we have noticed that around 30% of customers (including CPOs or EMPs) tend to start by gradually integrating essential business applications. Then, they explore the possibility of developing more significant Smartphone Apps or other user-facing applications.

The benefit to invest and develop in what truly matters

The foundation of a great EV charging solution lies in delivering reliable and cost-attractive charging services. There are core service elements that you can hardly differentiate from other EV charging software. It’s all about specifics! For example, integrating with an external Energy Management System (EMS) for load management or linking with an ERP to automate invoicing for fleets, rather than relying on standard ‘credit cards’ payments. This holds greater significance than attempting to replicate existing features. You can also build specialized business applications for hotels, Fleets, Real estate management or Retailers…

Start Your EV Charging Journey with a Competitive SAAS Model and Evolve through Selective API System Integration

Despite weighing the pros and cons of various models, a backend inherently offers a range of shared functionalities. Initiating your journey today using a competitive SAAS model with API integration is a pragmatic approach to adapt your model as you grow (e.g. more EV Drivers, charging points…). This is an opportunity to create a unique EV charging product built upon your proprietary applications! Make or buy an EV charging platform? Don’t compromise, let’s get the best of both!

The electrification of medium-duty transport fleets or let’s say Delivery Vans is growing fast! Driving range, efficiency and costs of these EVs are ideal for retailers. Amazon recently ordered 100,000 from Rivian and Walmart 4,500 from Canoo but how does it work for any company to start electrifying their fleet?

How is it to own and run a fleet of electric delivery vehicles?

This episode of the SNGLR Group podcast with smart mobility experts discusses the benefits and challenges of medium-duty transport fleets electrifications:
–      How is it to own and run a fleet of electric delivery vehicles?
–      What do you need to charge these EVs?
–      How secure are these charging infrastructures?

What are the EV Charging challenges of electric delivery vans?

Medium-duty transport vehicles have batteries that go from 100kWh to 300kWh. Charging these vehicles is not a matter of  2-5 minutes but rather 30 minutes to 6-7 hours depending on the type of vehicle, type of chargers and the available capacity.

Capacity: How much do you need?

All suddenly your parking becomes a gas station! How much infrastructure and energy do you need to supply to charge your fleet? Do you have sufficient capacity to provide 100 to 200 kWh per EV, do you need to get them charged at any time? Professional EV charging service providers can measure and discuss your EV charging pattern to define the needed capacity.

Scheduling: When and how much energy?

This is the planning part of the charging. How do you organize the fleets to get them constantly ready to be on the road and deliver? This requires some organizations to get the right vehicle with enough battery to go ahead. Reaching 80% is fast, getting to the last 20% can take double the time but do you need to? An efficient charging scheduling can be achieved with a Smart load management system with scheduling capabilities such as the Saascharge EV charging platform.

Travelling: Where can I charge and how?

How can you travel further away than the necessary range of the battery? Can we just charge anywhere? Good news, it’s electricity! Now some networks exist, for example, fast networks such as Electrify America in US  and IONITY in Europe. Also, the capacity to charge at the customers’ site while you are unloading is a possibility.

How to plan your EV charging needs for your electric vehicle fleet?

1. Plan the first installation

This is the most challenging as you have no data and requires an engineering company to realise these actions:

1. Understand usage profile: Some analysis about the mileage of your vehicles and planning. When and how much charging is needed?
2. Charging infrastructure sizing: Depending on the analysis you may need fast chargers to get your fleet back on the road immediately or night charging with Level 2 chargers could be sufficient for your daily use.
3. Site survey planning: This is the ground analysis to define the necessary capacity requirements for the cabling and prepare the necessary permit to get your installation running.

2. Install charging station

These can be performed by the same company that does the design or not.

1. Project management to coordinate all different jobs and permit requirements
2. Construction work with tranching and cabling
3. Charging station installation

Credit

Jim Castelaz, CTO & Founder of Motiv Power Systems

Prasad Ramakrishnan, COO at Motiv Power Systems & mobility Partner at SNGLR Group

Richard Albrecht CEO & Founder of Saascharge.

This podcast was produced by SNGLR Group with the moderation of Luca Sambucci

Saascharge is part of 10 Selected startups that are employing subscription or recurring revenue models to fight climate change

Washington, D.C., (August 2, 2022) – Village Capital, with support and grant funding from leading cloud-based subscription management platform provider Zuora®, announced that 10 startups were selected to take part in Sustainability Subscribed, an accelerator program for startups creating solutions to fight climate change and preserve the world through subscription models.

The open call had a focus on startups employing recurring revenue models, such as subscriptions and moving the needle towards greater sustainability and net zero emissions.

More than 50 entrepreneurs from 16 states applied to be a part of the accelerator. The final cohort is composed of the top 10 companies, 40% of the cohort is headquartered outside of US tech hubs (NY, CA, MA), 40% have a BIPOC member of the founding team or C-Suite and 70% have a female member of the founding team or C-Suite. These companies are creating solutions around greenhouse gas emissions, access to clean energy, resilience, and sustainability of food and water systems, circular economy and sustainability, and climate change.

Here are the 10 startups working to employ subscription or recurring revenue models to fight climate change in the US:

• Akeptus (Mars, PA) is making smart technology more accessible by making a low-cost solution that helps homeowners of all income levels cut their energy use.
• Ampliphi (Atlanta, GA) is a data-driven sustainability-as-a-service platform that helps brands and retailers amplify a circular economy.
• Benchmark Labs (San Diego, CA) offers asset-specific environmental forecasts to high-value asset managers to increase opportunity costs and operating margins.
• FloVision Solutions (South Bend, IN) reduces food waste in cafeterias, fast food, and quick service restaurants through computer vision and machine learning.
• Haystack Ag (Boston, MA) provides cost-effective and high-accuracy soil carbon verification solutions for landowners and carbon markets.
• IncentiFind (Houston, TX) is the nation’s go-to database of green building incentives,  they are transforming US real estate to become sustainable through $70 billion in incentives.
• Saascharge (New York, NY) enables anyone to enter the electric vehicle charging market thanks to an open, scalable, and interconnected platform.
• Scope Zero (San Francisco, CA) is building a platform to facilitate a new employee benefit called a carbon savings account, which reduces employees’ CO2 footprints and boosts corporate sustainability goals.
• Sortile (New York, NY) provides AI-driven solutions that make textile waste valuable by enabling fiber-to-fiber recycling.
• Voltpost (New York, NY) is retrofitting lamp posts into smart electric vehicle charging stations to decarbonize mobility and democratize charging access.

From August to November 2022, selected startups will participate in three online workshops and one in-person workshop on improving investment-readiness. Each company will have the opportunity to work closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners to develop the networks they need to scale their impact. The top two peer-selected companies will receive USD $50,000 each in grant funding.

All startups in the program will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s global online network that helps entrepreneurs analyze and structure their businesses for investment. The network also matches them with the right investors and resources.

For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital (sofia.candano@vilcap.com)

About Village Capital

Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 110 program graduates.

About Zuora, Inc.

Zuora provides the leading cloud-based subscription management platform that functions as a system of record for subscription businesses across all industries. Powering the Subscription Economy®, the Zuora platform was architected specifically for dynamic, recurring subscription business models, and acts as an intelligent subscription management hub that automates and orchestrates the entire quote to cash and revenue recognition process. Zuora serves more than 1,000 companies around the world, including Box, Ford, Penske Media Corporation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Xplornet, and Zoom. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Zuora also operates offices around the world in the U.S., EMEA and APAC. To learn more about the Zuora platform, please visit www.zuora.com.

Customers Re-fueling their car after shopping has become an after-sales standard which is why many retailers operate gas stations. However, with the growth of electric vehicles, they have to think differently! EV charging is more than just a “potential full tank” after shopping; It is a chance to attract new customers, build loyalty, and valorize a forgotten asset; Car parks! This by just installing a few EV charging stations per store and – crucially – connecting these stations with their loyalty management systems to offer the best “shop and charge” experience.

Why is EV charging so interesting for Retailers? 

There are many benefits to provide EV charging services next to the obvious market transition from gasoline to electric.

1. Perfect location

Retailers have the 3 most critical success factors to make an EV charging network successful:  Locations (the stores), Drivers (the shoppers) and an Occupation while charging (shopping)

2. Attracting more customers at stores

In today’s online delivery era, having new reasons to get consumers onsite for an in-store experience is more important than ever (10 times more sales than online according to entrepreneur)

3. Generate new revenues with EV charging

Sales start at the parking, with $10 to $30 revenue per charging session!

Make or buy: Shall retailers provide or outsource EV charging services?

It is a legitimate question since electric vehicles represent only ~2% of cars on the road and specialized EV companies are willing to install chargers at “no costs”. These outsourcing models similar to a “Vending machine” proposition can be attractive if we manage a few drawbacks:

• Direct relationship with consumers: Managing EV drivers offers the benefit to engage and push targeted cross-marketing actions (product advertising, promotions…)
• Full access to charging data: Direct access to charging data (Who, when, how long, how much…) is a necessity if Retailers wants to develop their own “shop and charge” strategy
• Charging income model: Whether it is a revenue share or commission model, getting access to $10’000 to $50’000 annual income per charger shall not be underestimated

Now if retailers can operate gas stations, providing EV charging as charging station operator and eMobility provider shall not be much of a challenge. Especially as they can mandate engineering companies to install and maintain chargers while using a white label EV cloud-based platform (e.g. Saascharge) to operate and commercialize charging services (authorization, eRoaming, billing…).

What kind of EV charging strategy can retailers adopt?

Offering EV charging services while shopping is only a beginning. The real opportunity is to steer EV drivers to selected shopping sites. For this, three different aspects need to be considered:

• Integration of EV charging with loyalty and store data
• Development of commercial strategies to attract and stimulate EV drivers
• Establishment of key partnerships to valorize your EV charging assets

1. Use the power of data

EV drivers in need of a charge require a smartphone application, RFID cards (e.g. retail loyalty card) or in-car systems (Plug & Charge) to find and start charging sessions. These systems collect valuable traffic data (Consumer ID, location, usage, time, state of battery….) that can be combined with consumers and real-time retail data (e.g. store frequentation, promotions, inventory…) to create a powerful customer journey:

The principle is to feed these charging, loyalty and inventory data with advanced recommendation engines, such as reinforcement learning algorithms to push the right product to the right customer at the exact location!

2. Develop a commercial strategy to engage with EV drivers

This is about how Retailers can engage with the “Shop and Charge” experience to increase retention and convert occasional shoppers into regular ones.

A. Attract EV consumers by offering better charging rates

Segment customers by offering members better-charging conditions (e.g. $0.20 per kWh for members instead of $0.30 per kWh for guests…) and pushing guests to sign up for loyalty cards.

B. Stimulate EV driver sales with circumstantial offerings

Imagine a regular shopper driving home with low batteries and looking for a charging site on the store application. We now know who needs a charge; For example, a young professional with a shopping history indicates that she is an amateur of “fine food”. This information enables retailers to push promotions for fresh Italian pasta at a store located on their way home! On top of that, they can offer further promotions on “sell-by date” vegetables yielding better inventory turnover and reducing waste.

C. Make consumers stay longer with EV charging

Charging an electric vehicle can take from 20 to 120 minutes depending on the type of vehicle and charging stations. This is a great reason to motivate customers to get a longer shopping journey by upselling in-store services. Let’s take the example of a family getting a shopping break while charging their car. The store could offer coupons for restaurants or coffees to extend their stay. This is possible as we know who is charging (loyalty member), the level of the battery (state of charge) and shopping habits (e.g. coffee).

 3. Valorize your EV charging service by creating new partnerships

The number of stores that Walmart covers in the US (5’000), Carrefour (5,592) in France and Tesco in the UK (4’008) could make them among the largest EV networks by just adding 3 to 5 chargers per location. This is an ideal basis for partnerships as:

• Charging Point Operator (CPO) offering charging access to other EV market players such as car manufacturers with dedicated promotions to attract drivers of specific brands (e.g. Ford, Toyota, VW…).
• eMobility service providers (EMP) giving loyalty members access to other EV charging networks with eRoaming. This with preferential “charge and leisure” offers (e.g. wellness, golf club, hotels…) thanks to the large group of consumers they represent.

Going full EV is the only way! Start now, collect data and build up your future!

Some Retailers have already started providing charging services to follow a trend or for image reasons but being present isn’t enough! We believe that the real opportunity for Retailers is an end-to-end “Shop and charge” strategy! This is a unique chance to interact with consumers from home to shopping destinations.

355 parking spaces to be equipped with electric vehicle chargers at nine Queens, NYC Hilltop Village properties

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. and BELLE MEAD, N.J., Oct. 05, 2021 – Atom Power, manufacturer of the world’s first and only UL listed solid-state digital circuit breaker, has been selected by ESD Global, a technology solutions integrator, to provide electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to the largest single contract electric vehicle charging project for multi-family buildings in NYC. The project will help New York meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions and phasing out fossil fuel cars and trucks in 2034 by increasing access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“With EV adoption happening at an exponential pace, EV charging infrastructure needs to be scaled up and enhanced in parallel,” said Vrindavanam Murali, President, ESD Global. “According to ESD Global’s evaluation, Atom Power’s EVSE is the only product that can meet today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their requirements. This product, along with ESD-Connect integrated software, maximizes efficiency, minimizes utility expenses and enhances long term sustainability.”

Atom Power commercialized the world’s first and only UL listed solid-state digital circuit breaker in 2019. Since then, Atom Power has leveraged and adapted its technology to charge electric vehicles directly from their digital circuit breakers, enabling easy-to-use, 100 percent digital control with flexible installation solutions, while simultaneously delivering power and capacity optimization to the building owner and the grid.

“Electrification of everything in our everyday lives is a key step in the global transition to clean energy,” said Ryan Rizor, Vice President of Sales, Atom Power. “Our fully digital circuit breaker can seamlessly manage the variability that comes with renewable resources and increased EV charging without disrupting our quality of life. Simply put, our technology enables the electrification of everything.”

As corporations and governments move to reduce carbon emissions and electrify transportation, Atom Power’s digital circuit breaker technology provides a scalable, intelligent power management platform solution that will deliver up to 50 percent cost savings by centralizing the power management system, eliminating costly maintenance, and reducing equipment costs.

This solution reduces the risk of costly damage to EV charging pedestals and wall boxes as the smart technology that charges the vehicle resides inside the building (the electrical panel and digital circuit breaker). The charging pedestal or wall box does not contain high-tech electronics; they are simply metal tubes and enclosures with charging plugs and cables.

This project, which ESD Global & Atom Power are embarking on together, includes nine multi-family residential buildings situated in the community of Jamaica in Queens, New York City. It is expected that the community will benefit from increased access to charging (refueling) their vehicles and that increased access will aid in dispelling myths about the affordability of electric vehicles. A Harvard Kennedy School Study found at $200 per kWh, the EV is cheaper to purchase, own and operate than the internal combustion vehicle in every scenario by up to $4,300. ESD Global will also help the Hilltop residents obtain incentives that the federal and state governments offer for owning an electric vehicle.

About ESD Global
ESD Global was formed by veterans who worked on energy & sustainability for several years. With the advent of digital technology in the 21st century, it was inevitable to have an integrated approach to energy, sustainability, and reduction of greenhouse gases. As transportation electrification has become a global priority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ESD Global partnered with Atom Power to provide EVSE hardware with advanced API and energy management capabilities, Saascharge software, and the acclaimed veteran-owned New York contractor DVM Industries for installation. ESD Global focuses on serving the community with the best solutions that can enhance lives and have a delightful experience when we move into the newly developed world. For more info please visit www.esd-global.com or email: esd@esd-global.com

About Atom Power
Atom Power invented the world’s first and only UL listed commercial solid-state digital circuit breaker. Designed and manufactured in North Carolina, the Atom Power suite of smart electrical products includes a digital circuit breaker, a customizable distribution panel and a personalized software solution that enables complete control and customization of electrical infrastructure for commercial and industrial, electric vehicle and residential applications. By transitioning the traditional circuit breaker from mechanical to digital, Atom Power has introduced the safest and fastest circuit breaker on the market and enables infrastructure components for smart power distribution and more sustainable energy delivery. For more information, please visit https://www.atompower.com/ or contact: info@atompower.com

Cars are back on the road! It’s time to speak about the rising Demand for Public EV Charging Stations in America, which is the title of the next happy hour organised by Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and Marin Energy & Transportation Group.

What are the biggest challenges of EV charging in the US? How does public connected charging stations work? Who should lead this transformation? These are the topics that Richard Albrecht, Founder & CEO will have the opportunity to address in this session!

Get seated, prepare your refreshments and join us Thursday, July 16, 2020, at 5 pm PT for this Virtual Happy Hour! Please, book your event now! The event has a small entry fee but as friends and partners of Saascharge, you can benefit from 30% discount with this code. Please contact us for further information.

2019 was probably the most promising year for the electric vehicle sector with EV sales growth of more than 50% and many exciting announcements for 2020. Especially from established car-makers such as Ford with the usage of the iconic Mustang brand and VW with the ID3. EVs are starting to get a major role. Electric vehicle charging stations are also growing massively with national roll-out plans, but the reality is that we aren’t there yet! Not enough electric vehicle charging points and low interconnection of EV charging networks makes travelling for EV drivers challenging!

As a market actor, it is our duty to bring solutions to the industry. So, what should we wish for 2020?

1. More market players

There are many sectors which have the interest to offer EV charging services. Utilities which distribute electricity and OEM’s which produce and sell electric cars. Finally, all retail companies with parking spaces since it takes a while to charge EVs:

• Restaurant chains to attract travellers to enjoy refreshments while charging
• Retailers to keep drivers busy while charging
• Gaz stations at rest areas offering fast chargers to cope with the surge of EVs

The good news is that the EV charging sector will also become more dynamic thanks to “Plug & charge”. This standard manages EV charging authorization and billing by simply plugging EVs to chargers. This will obviously improve the charging experience for EV drivers. Unfortunately, offering charging services isn’t financially viable yet. This is due to low charging frequencies but especially to expensive service models for site owners. We believe that the market shouldn’t be managed by a handful of market players and that everyone should be able to propose charging services without intermediaries. Thankfully this is possible with an EV platform approach.

2. Mass electrification of parking

Every Parking shall be equipped with 5% to 10% of EV charging equipments. The 1 or 2 chargers per parking era is gone! You must think big with a proper electrification strategy. Especially, considering the latest EV forecast of Loren/McDonald’s with 3% sales in 2020 and 17% in 2028. It is also still the right time to be considered as a first mover. Let’s remember how it was in the 2000’s with WiFi in coffee shops. We all knew that Starbucks had a reliable internet connection. Wouldn’t you like to be recognized as THE place to charge an electric car?

3. Interconnection of American EV charging networks

Any EV driver should be able to charge anywhere with one subscription service! What is normal with a debit card on any ATMs in the world shall be possible with EV chargers too. eRoaming solutions along with open interoperability protocols such as OCPI to interconnect multiple charging networks do exist. Nevertheless, despite multiple announcements of major networks, it is still not possible to drive across the US with one subscription. Interconnecting networks is not only about technical protocols but also about pricing and invoicing agreements across service providers. Thankfully these services do exist.

How can we support the EV Charging market

We believe that any companies shall be able to develop their own EV Charging service, manage their revenues and benefit from this market opportunity. That’s why we have developed a set of Whitelabel applications to create, operate and commercialize an EV charging network. Partners have simply to select a charging station, mandate an electrician for the installation and offer services for EV drivers. No investments in system development required the licence platform approach allows partners to grow without risks. The solution ensures to be fully inter-operable with eRoaming, enabling any drivers to charge anywhere.

This approach works, we have started to commercialize our EV charging platform end of last year and we are proud to roll out our first clients now.

More to come this year with demand response and dynamic pricing solution. Let’s develop the market together! I wish you all a successful and electrified year 2020.

Richard