Chargetrip, an Amsterdam-based EV routing business, disclosed on March 21 that it had received €10M in Series A funding.
With the money, Chargetrip wants to assist fleet operators and expand its EV routing and range prediction technology to North America.
HSBC Asset Management and new investor Riverstone LLC were the driving forces behind the Series A financing. Axel Springer Porsche, Blue Bear Capital, and Vindeggen, who were already investors, also contributed to the round.
Around 14% of all new cars sold worldwide in 2022 were electric vehicles (EVs), up from 9% in 2021.
Chargetrip wishes to use technology to hasten the adoption of and use of these technologies in fleet operations.
Even though those worries are well-founded, EVs have advanced to the point where, with careful preparation, they can now not only rival ICE (internal combustion engine) road trips but even outperform them.
Chargetrip assists in this planning with its smart EV routing API SaaS tool.
The range and infrastructure available today are sufficient for 99% of journeys, according to Gideon van Dijk, CEO and co-founder of Chargetrip. It just requires optimization.
He continues by saying that while the range is still a significant concern for consumers, commercial fleets are even more concerned about it.
“Long wait times and difficult charging locations are annoying for people, but for commercial vehicles, it affects the bottom line and maintaining operations,” he continues.
Chargetrip is more familiar with the technical difficulties than some EV manufacturers because it will route 15% of European EV users through its API in 2022.
The true issue with EV adoption, according to the Dutch startup, is knowing how far one can drive and basing travel plans on that information, not range or charge anxiety.
When planning a journey with an EV, it’s important to consider the weather, battery capacity, charging infrastructure, and station accessibility. The experience is only uncertain because of all these variables.
Chargetrip aims to eliminate this uncertainty and make EV operation predictable and scalable with its smart EV routing technology.
The real-time range of any electric vehicle is calculated using a routing engine that considers over fifteen different factors, including temperature, weather, charge speed, elevation, rolling resistance, real-time car data, and the availability of charge stations.
Pieter Waller, co-founder, and chief commercial officer of Chargetrip discovered how inadequate the built-in Google navigation tool was during a 2021 road trip in an electric Polestar from the Netherlands to Croatia.
EV owners can discover the best path to their destination with Chargetrip and have access to the best charging stations along the way.
According to Gideon, “We have discovered that the real issue is not knowing where to charge, but rather how much energy you will use on your journey, and then optimizing routes with that data.
“Accurate energy prediction, not just mapping, is where the real value lies.”
In addition to working with automakers to integrate its routing technology into more personal and commercial EVs, the startup already names Sixt, Engie, Repsol, and Porsche among its clients.
Chargetrip hopes to use the new money to prepare business fleet operators for electrification while also charging EV trips in North America.
In 2022, 5.6% of US auto sales were electric vehicles, and President Biden of the United States authorized an investment of $7.5 billion in EV charging infrastructure.
Gideon declares, “The US subsidies from the Biden administration were certainly a driver for this expansion,” before adding that he applauds Tesla for deciding to allow non-Tesla EVs to use its supercharger network.
With some recent agreements, Gideon continues, “We already anticipate routing hundreds of thousands of EVs in the US in the coming years.”
Chargetrip’s main objective is to assist fleet owners in not only adopting EVs but also making those adoptions profitable for them.
Fleet owners find the issue of electrification complicated. They must decide which EVs to purchase as well as how much electricity, when, and where their fleets will require it.
Without this knowledge, they are unable to even begin to make wise choices, says Gideon.
For fleet managers to make these decisions, Chargetrip wants to provide them with tools to quickly and accurately forecast energy demand. For them, electrification will mean disrupting their entire business operation.
Gideon does not hold back when discussing the difficulty in mapping the charging network when questioned about the difficulty of expanding to the US.
Future of EVs: What to Expect in the Next Decade
A complete dataset must incorporate a variety of data standards, formats, and integrity levels, he claims.
We also use a few reliable data patterns to augment our data, says the author.
Chargetrip is also planning a second close with a maximum of “€2M against the same terms” in response to increasing EV adoption and investment demand in the clean energy sector.
Cost issues and later range concerns impede the adoption of EVs. But now, several automakers are providing reasonably priced EVs that are targeted at both consumers and fleet operators.
Chargetrip believes it has found the answer with its routing platform for the problem of determining the most efficient path with the charging network and maximizing range.
Chargetrip wants to route 25% of all EVs in the globe with the addition of the US.
“Chargetrip’s routing and planning technology makes charging intelligent, transforming the driver experience and optimizing fleet operations,” says Christophe Defert, Head of Climatech Investments at HSBC Asset Management. “Fleet operators and auto OEMs are quickly electrifying their vehicles.
Building the facilities for charging will no longer be enough to support electric fleets; these fleets will also need to be managed using cutting-edge dispatching and telematics technology, which Chargetrip combines.
