Our new series of blog posts introduces this year’s participants of Japan Energy Challenge. We spoke with Melanie Cao, Market Development Manager at Hubject, to discuss the role the company can play in the future of Japan’s energy market.
Hubject provide a digital B2B marketplace for connecting different market players in order to create the intercharge network – a digital and cross-border charging network for electric vehicles. Following the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the need for simple and fast access to all charge points has become paramount. In this article we’ll be showcasing what makes Hubject stand out.
Can you tell us a bit about the company and its founders?
Hubject was founded in 2012. The shareholders are BMW, Bosch, Daimler, EnBW, Innogy, Siemens and the Volkswagen Group. We are a global eMobility expert and provide smart business solutions that leverage digital mobility worldwide. The mission is to jumpstart the EV industry and redefine the future of mobility with zero emission. With over 100,000 charging stations and more than 300 B2B-partners in 26 countries Hubject operates the biggest cross-operator charging network of the world via our own eRoaming platform. Our offices in Berlin, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Shanghai stand for great commitment, digital expertise and a pioneering spirit. Apart from eRoaming, we enable customer-centric charging by providing Plug & Charge and also support our clients with strategic consulting services, when entering the market or accelerating their own portfolio.
How does your solution fit within the wider trends of Digitalisation and Decarbonisation in the energy sector?
Hubject’s eRoaming solution is a link connecting different market participants in the emobility sector via our eRoaming IT platform. The platform enables charge point operators to conveniently and cost-efficiently open their own networks to additional users and thus get additional revenues by making contracts with emobility providers. These connected networks allow EV drivers to seamlessly recharge their vehicles at charging stations operated by connected charging operators, delivering value to users and all emobility providers and service providers, namely EV electricity suppliers, vehicle manufacturers as well as other market participants. In addition, Hubject’s high tech platform is equipped with flexible microarchitecture, user-friendly interfaces and lots of intelligent value-adding services.
The goal of Hubject is to offer customer-friendly access to charging stations and to reduce the existing barriers for using an electric vehicle, which significantly reflects the trend of decarbonisation.
Are there milestones you are particularly proud to have achieved as a company?
In May 2019, Hubject accelerated China expansion by adding more than 35,000 charging station to global roaming network.
Since January 2019, Hubject has supported Electrify America with the implementation of ISO 15118 technology and aimed to bring Plug&Charge to more than 2,000 high-power public charger by the end of year.
In October 2018, Hubject and Star Charge China formed the world’s largest charging network with a total of over 100,000 charging points.
Since January 2018, Volta Charging, the largest and most utilized free public electric car charging network in the US. has became the first U.S. partner of Hubject’s global open EV charging network.
Since December 2016, Volkswagen Group has invested in Hubject, the leading eRoaming platform for Europe-wide charging of electric vehicles.
Since May 2016 Hubject has launched booking function for charge points and has allowed BMW customers access to more than 7,000 charging points in Japan.
Let’s look at Japan Energy Challenge’s scope: what specifically attracted you about the prospect of expanding to the Japanese market?
The Japanese government plans to reduce its carbon footprint through the use of EVs, which has resulted in substantial investments toward the EV infrastructure development. Japan witnessed an increase in the number of EV charging stations to support the rising number of EVs. Since 2016, the number of electric car charge points in Japan overtook the number of petrol stations. Additionally, the decrease in the cost of EVs in Japan had further paved the way for the increase in EV adoption and accelerated the development of EV charging infrastructure. We believe that that this is a crucial time for us to evaluate how to transfer our proven business model from Europe to Japan to accelerate the adoption of EVs and ultimately, provide a seamless charging experience.
And finally, how will your solution promote the expansion and modernisation of the Japanese energy sector?
With Hubject’s 7-years of global knowledge and experience in the eMobility market, we are confident that we can provide competent solutions to meet the needs through our main business lines including our eRoaming high-tech platform, ISO 15118 and consultancy services and enable the most ideal customer-centric charging experience.
Hubject will be taking part in Japan Energy Challenge in London this year, you can read about the other companies taking part in this year’s edition here. You can also find out more about the program, ventures and sponsors by clicking the links.
