- Smart EV charging app ev.energy raises $33m in funding from investors.
- Apps like ev.energy are crucial for electric vehicle adoption, both lowering charging costs for drivers and reducing power grid constraints.
- The company says the funds will be used to expand its global operations and continue growing within North America and the UK.
ev.energy’s operations get a welcome boost
Smart charging app ev.energy, which allows electric cars to connect with the grid in order to coordinate charging at greener and cheaper times, has announced another $33m in funding secured from several investors.
Amongst others, this included National Grid Partners who led the funding process, and InMotion Ventures – the venture capital arm of Jaguar Land Rover.
With the app already having 120,000 active users across the UK and North America, this funding will go towards both expanding operations in these regions and expanding into new territories. The company says this forges a pathway “to connect the ev.energy platform directly to millions of vehicles”. With the new shareholders acquired, ev.energy says that it will be able access another 400 million energy customers thanks to the various networks these shareholders manage – such as fleet, retail energy, and insurance.
What does the investment mean for the wider electric car industry?
With an increasing number of drivers switching to electric vehicles ahead of looming bans on new petrol and diesel cars, which are coming into place in various forms around the world, some have voiced concerns on how electricity grids will be able to handle the hike in energy demand. Not only does the grid need to cope, but the energy also needs to come from renewable sources in order for countries to hit net zero.
ev.energy believes it has the technology to help overcome those hurdles, however. This makes it no surprise that the UK National Grid’s investment arm led the way for the company’s latest funding round.
“In the next few years, total EV demand in most developed countries will surpass the energy output of even the largest power plants – for example, the behemoth Palo Verde Generating Station in the US. As more EVs come online, optimized charging and load maintenance will remain critical tools for ensuring grid stability. By being able to shape and control EV load, ev.energy can both benefit the grid and help drivers to charge using the greenest and cheapest energy.”
Nick Wooley, CEO of ev.energy
