"The Future of the EV Industry Lies in Open-Source Collaboration" - EO Charging's CEO Charlie Jardine

2023 was a breakthrough year for the UK-based electric vehicle (EV) charging provider EO Charging. In February it secured approximately $80 million in equity investment to help accelerate its growth plans and global expansion strategy. In November, it opened a North American headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina.

However, like most of the electrification and mobility sector, it has faced a number of headwinds.

Charlie Jardine, EO Charging's CEO, has been talking to Auto Futures about the future of the industry, the importance of collaboration and his company's plans for expansion in 2024.

"While consumer demand for EVs is growing worldwide, adoption has not been as fast as the industry had hoped. This is due to a combination of supply chain issues and the cost-of-living squeeze increasing interest rate making EVs feel less affordable in the short term for middle-income consumers. Many markets also have latent concerns over public charging infrastructure's pace, quality, and reliability," says Jardine.

On the policy front there have been ups and downs in 2023.

"The US government has committed unprecedented investment to electrifying the US vehicle fleet, exceeding funding in European markets. But in the UK, we saw the government deadline for phasing out the sales of petrol and diesel vehicles pushed back to 2035, which was disappointing because this had been a major incentive to build momentum in the market. However, recent commitments from COP28 to phase out fossil fuels present real optimism in the market."

"Consumers are demanding cleaner transportation and want to buy from sustainable businesses so, despite government policies, we are seeing manufacturers and energy companies pushing hard to make EVs more affordable and creating incentives to make the switch to electric," he adds.

EO Charging supports an open approach to developing the charging technology that enables electrification. For example, new industry standards like the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCCP) - an open-source communication standard for EV charging stations and network software companies - have been introduced.

"We've learned from other sectors that proprietary solutions don't work and have already seen how the interoperability of different EV charging systems causes issues. There’s a real complexity risk without the standardisation of protocols, device management, transaction handling, security, and smart charging functionalities. We are seeing an emergence of specialist companies combining hardware and software to overcome these issues and see that the future of the EV industry lies in open-source collaboration," explains Jardine.

The US Market Opportunity

Starting as a hardware manufacture in 2014, EO Charging now offers a full suite of hardware, software, operations and maintenance services for full fleet electrification. Its technology is already used by many of the world’s largest fleet operators including Amazon, DHL, UPS and Tesco, and its hardware is distributed to over 35 countries.

"Our company goal is to become the go to market leader in full fleet electrification globally and to continue to expand our presence into other markets. In the coming year we will continue to develop our full stack of offerings to meet current and future industry challenges," says Jardine. 

"We are also focused on growing our US presence, having opened our offices this year and expanded our team, there is a huge market opportunity for us, and we are perfectly positioned to support bus, van and truck fleet electrification in North America. We are excited about all these developments and how a 'full stack' offering gives us an opportunity to lead this industry change which we believe can truly accelerate EV adoption worldwide."

"We have some exciting software and service developments planned for 2024, but we can’t reveal too much at the moment," he teases.

"2024 Will Be A Pivotal Year"

Finally, we asked Jardine for his predictions for the market in 2024, and beyond.

"Early adopting European markets like Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands will no doubt continue to set the pace in 2024 as they have up until now. However, the US is the market undergoing the greatest EV transition and acceleration," he predicts.

"2024 will be a pivotal year for accelerating infrastructure progress to enable electric bus fleets. If this is done right, we’ll be able to create a shift of optimism in the US market to electrify other fleets, and hopefully, this will support wider adoption, contributing significantly to reducing carbon emissions."

"Meeting the growing demand for EVs over the coming years also means addressing the infrastructure challenge and developing the best technology solutions for energy management. EV charger load management is a crucial piece of the puzzle, ensuring that the adoption of electric vehicles is both practical and sustainable, so this will become more of a market focus this coming year," he adds.

"In the future, EV charging infrastructure will also create new revenue opportunities for fleet operators. Load management systems will integrate with demand response programmes, enabling a two-way interaction between the electricity grid and EV chargers. During periods of high demand, the grid operator can send signals requesting a reduction in charging power or delaying charging sessions. This demand response integration will help balance the load on the grid, " concludes Jardine.