Why competing automakers joined forces to make at-home EV charging easier

Forget about it.

That’s what the leaders behind ChargeScape, a software platform that connects EVs, automakers, and utilities, wants drivers to be able to do when it comes to charging their vehicle’s battery.

ChargeScape, which launched in September, is a joint venture of four automakers: BMW, Ford, Honda, and Nissan. The company’s mission is to help EVs integrate with the electric grid––for the benefit of EV owners and the grid itself.

Tech Brew recently spoke with Joseph Vellone, who joined ChargeScape as CEO in September. Vellone explained that automakers decided to band together on charging and vehicle-to-grid integration for two reasons.

“Firstly, these automakers are committed to selling EVs, and they want to make the at-home charging experience as easy and low-cost as possible for their customers,” he said.

“The second thing is that automakers are increasingly thinking about their role in our country’s energy transition,” he added, “and that includes leveraging electric vehicles as assets for the power grid.”

Connections: ChargeScape’s ramp-up comes as industry stakeholders expect integration between EVs and the grid to become an increasingly appealing––and viable––proposition for EV users, utilities, and automakers.

This premise is based on emerging vehicle-to-grid technologies that allow EVs to not only store energy, but send it back to buildings and to the grid. As Tech Brew previously reported, this technology is starting to take off in commercial applications like electric school bus fleets. And it’s advancing at an opportune time, as the US electric grid faces growing demand from the electrification of transportation as well as from new data centers powering the AI boom.

But there are also compelling benefits for residential users. That’s where ChargeScape is focused for now, Vellone explained, because residential applications are more flexible, though the venture eventually aims to expand into the commercial segment.

“The automakers felt like there was a need to address at-home charging, where 80% of charging in America happens,” he said. “It’s a difficult problem to solve. And it requires quite a bit of investment in building out the technology, where there are definitely efficiencies in a few automakers pooling their resources to build this out and distribute it to their customers to serve a common purpose.”

How it works: ChargeScape’s platform wirelessly connects with EVs and, in collaboration with participating utility providers, “manages the flow of electrons in line with real-time grid conditions,” according to a news release. Managing charging like this benefits the grid by, for example, reducing usage during peak demand. And users may be able to reap financial benefits by sending power from their vehicles’ batteries back to the grid when demand is high.

“Electric vehicles are unlocking entirely new benefits for customers that can save them money while supporting grid resiliency and increase the use of clean, renewable energy,” Bill Crider, Ford’s global head of charging and energy services, said in a statement. “ChargeScape will help accelerate the true potential of the EV revolution by providing significant benefits to both utilities and EV customers through smart vehicle-to-grid services.”

For utilities, one of the benefits is being able to tap into automakers’ relationships with EV buyers to get them on board with managed charging programs, Vellone said.

ChargeScape generates revenue by licensing its software and selling services to utilities and grid operators.

“There is a very high cost for the utility to be able to serve that incremental load that’s coming from EVs, on top of all the other sources of increased demand that we’re seeing from the general trend toward electrification, as well as from data centers,” Vellone said. “So a utility or a grid operator is essentially faced with a choice of spending probably hundreds of millions or billions of dollars on capital upgrades, or licensing software that will manage a lot of that demand…for them without needing to tear up the streets.”

For automakers, it simplifies the process of working with hundreds or even thousands of utilities across the country. And as they face the challenge of winning over hesitant buyers, opportunities around vehicle-to-grid integration give them another selling point for EVs.

“This is the right moment now for automakers to be thinking about, ‘OK, we’re no longer selling to energy nerds who are going to look at their utility bill and figure out, what are the cheapest hours for me to charge?’” Vellone said.

ChargeScape tries to make it as simple as possible for users; they don’t have to download a new app, and enrolling only takes a few steps.

“The mass market of EV drivers doesn’t even want to think about their charging,” Vellone added. “They want a ‘set it and forget it’ solution, where they come home, they plug in, and then they return to a vehicle that’s been charged at the lowest possible cost for them.”