Reporter | Li Wenbo
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On Jan. 13, BMW i Ventures, probably one of the world's most successful venture capital teams, announced a capital injection into charging service provider HeyCharge, a Germany-based startup dedicated to the shared use of electric vehicle charging stations in apartment buildings, office buildings and other infrastructure sites.
BMW i Ventures wants to invest in expanding the scope of EV charging in residential areas, reducing costs and increasing the scalability of underground charging options.
Founded in 2020 as a company trying to make charging ubiquitous and affordable, HeyCharge's patent-pending SecureCharge technology seeks to maximize the user's experience when charging by eliminating the need for an internet connection.
HeyCharge's founding team is 50 percent American, 50 percent German, and most of the engineers are in Kiev, Ukraine.
The SecureCharge technology works like this: Traditionally, electric vehicle charging piles require an application or RFID card and internet connection to activate. However, most european underground garages currently do not have internet access and do not have the capacity to install related services.
SecureCharge allows applications and charging piles to communicate directly with the HeyCharge app or SDK via Bluetooth. Maximizes system availability while minimizing delays between the phone and the charging pile. When combined with Access Point, a simple and effective hardware component of HeyCharge, the total cost of additional charging piles in buildings can be reduced by 80%.
Chris Cardé, founder and CEO of Hey Charge, realized the problem had to be solved after driving his first electric car into an apartment building in Munich. As the number of electric vehicles on the road increases – by 2040, almost every new car sold globally will be electric – there will be a significant need for a scalable charging option that suits consumers' daily lives.
With 46 percent in Europe, 56 percent living in apartment buildings in Germany and 37 percent renters in the U.S., this is the next step in expanding electric vehicle charging stations, but current reliance on internet connectivity is hampering the process. That's why HeyCharge has made it his mission to help this segment of the population gain access to cheap, commercial, scalable charging solutions.
"HeyCharge Access Point is a device with its own wall box, it is adapted to a quick and simple installation that any electrician can do in minutes," said Chris Cardé, founder and CEO of HeyCharge. "HeyCharge's solutions make eviction charging scalable, more cost-effective and accessible, making it easy to charge wherever you live or work."
Kasper Sage, Managing Partner of BMW i Ventures, said: "The rapid growth of the ev market in the coming years will require the expansion of the infrastructure of charging solutions worldwide. HeyCharge is the first company to enable electric vehicle charging without an internet connection, a key factor in covering undeveloped blind spots. ”
BMW i Ventures is a venture capital firm of the BMW Group, founded in February 2011, investing primarily in start-ups in the transportation, manufacturing, supply chain and sustainability sectors.
In recent years, BMW i Ventures has successfully bet on solid-state battery startup Solid Power, Natural Fiber Welding, which produces all-natural, plastic-free alternatives to animal or petrochemical materials such as leather, foam and textiles, and LiDAR supplier Blackmore Sensors and Analytics. Network security software developer Claroty and photonic relay synchronous transmission and reception device developer GenXComm, among others.