Our new series of blog posts introduces this year’s participants of Japan Energy Challenge. Up next is Charlie Jardine of EO Charging, he’ll be discussing the role his company can play in the future of Japans’ energy markets.
EO Charging designs and manufactures EV charging stations and smart software for homes, fleets and destinations. Following the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, the need for simple and fast access to all charge points has become paramount. This has led to a significant amount of interest surrounding these technologies, so we’ll try to shed some light into what makes EO Charging stand out from the rest.
Hello Charlie, can you tell us a bit about the company and its founders?
We founded EO Charging with one simple mission, to make electric vehicle charging simple and reliable. This was back in 2015 having left another UK-based EV charger manufacturer – I’d become frustrated with the reliability of charging infrastructure and thought there was a better way to encourage drivers to switch to electric!
At EO, we design and manufacture smart EV charging stations and intelligent software for the everyday EV driver through to the world’s largest fleets. To date, we’ve made over 12,000 electric vehicle chargers and we operate in over 30 countries around world including the UK, Norway, Australia and Thailand.
We’re a small company with big ambitions and want to become the number one electric vehicle charging manufacturer, for homes, workplaces and fleets, globally by 2025.
How does your solution fit within the wider trends of Digitalisation and Decarbonisation in the energy sector?
EO stands for ‘Electricity Online’ – an idea integral to our vision of designing smart energy technologies for the future. Through integrations with solar panels, battery storage and smart home devices – EO will enable individuals to remove their dependency on the grid.
Electric vehicle chargers are more than ‘just a plug’, they’re the gateway to the future of mobility and the first piece of the puzzle in giving people energy autonomy.
Are there milestones you are particularly proud to have achieved as a company?
We’ve achieved a huge amount in a short space of time, how much time do you have?
To date, we’ve built over 12,000 individual EV chargers and now sell our products in over 30 countries around the world. Over the last two years, we’ve secured partnerships with Uber, EDF Energy and are working with some of the world’s largest fully electric fleets including Gnewt Cargo (based in London).
We’ve been successful in securing Innovate UK funding to develop a vehicle-to-grid charger – game-changing technology that will revolutionise how individuals and business make, manage or monetise the energy they use. In total honesty, I’m most proud of the team we’ve built – we’re poised to capture the full potential of the burgeoning electric vehicle market.
Let’s look at Japan Energy Challenge’s scope, what specifically attracted you about the prospect of expanding to the Japanese market?
Japan is clearly committed to transitioning its energy ecosystem away from dependency on fossil fuels; creating an extremely exciting opportunity to deploy some of our market-leading technology into a tech-driven, forward-thinking population. We’re excited to be able to share our experiences and find a partner in the region that understands our philosophy and ambitions for the future.
And finally, how will your solution promote the expansion and modernisation of the Japanese energy sector?
EV’s will play a key part in the new global energy eco-system – we believe EO has the ability to play a critical part in bringing all these technologies together, offering customers an unrivalled user experience. Our smart charging technology integrates with solar, static battery storage and emerging smart-grid technologies – the potential to partner and learn from Japanese businesses is immense.
EO Charging will be taking part in Japan Energy Capital in London this year, read about the other companies taking part in this year’s edition by clicking this link. You can also find out more about the program, ventures and sponsors by clicking the links.