Features
6 Apr 23

ALD Automotive and ChargePoint launch fleet EV charging business

ALD Automotive and electric vehicle recharging specialist ChargePoint have created a new business to help fleets manage and control every element of the charging process.

The new company, majority owned by ALD Automotive (its name should be revealed in the third quarter of this year) will be based in Paris. It is set to go live in the final quarter of 2023 in France and the Netherlands, followed by Belgium and Germany. Eight more countries (Italy, UK, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Norway) will follow by 2025.

As an electric Mobility Service Provider (eMSP), the new company will provide corporate fleets with the tools to access charge points, and manage the payment and reimbursement of EV charging, whether company drivers plug their vehicles in at home, at the workplace or at any of the 485,000 public charge points across ChargePoint’s European network.

Open architecture system

The new joint venture will also offer fleets a consolidated reporting and invoicing solution, regardless of where drivers recharge or which leasing company provides the vehicle.

“Large corporates are finding it incredibly challenging to manage electrification, and charging is a complete headache for them,” said Annie Pin, Chief Commercial Officer, ALD Automotive.

“We are taking a fleet angle, so this is not just about simplicity and being able to charge everywhere and be reimbursed in a transparent way, but also about enabling fleets to control their costs. We are looking to build something which is different from the competition.”

ALD Automotive itself will soon potentially have the largest multi-make EV fleet in the world, following its acquisition of LeasePlan, creating a huge potential market for the new charging business. Moreover, from the outset the new company will adopt an open technological architecture so it will be able to offer a white label solution for other leasing companies and charge point operators in the longer term.

EV confidence

André ten Bloemendal, Senior Vice President Europe at ChargePoint, said the European Commission’s confirmation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure (AFIR) last week had given fleet decision makers certainty that EVs represent the future of road transport. Now fleets have to make concrete plans for the future, he said.

“The business we have established answers the questions that are concerning fleet managers, such as how do my people find, access and pay for charging sessions, how do I keep control over charging costs, and how do I optimise charging so that the transition to EVs is at least cost neutral, if not cheaper. This gives fleet managers the opportunity to be much more in control,” said ten Bloemendal.

Home, workplace and network charging

While each fleet will have its own charging profile, determined by the use cases of its vehicles, both ALD Automotive and ChargePoint said home and workplace charging are typically accounting for 80% of charging needs, while the public network accounts for the remaining 20%.

ChargePoint has found a solution to aggregate data from charging use cases, including home charging. In order to be able to charge at publicly available stations including workplace stations, drivers will receive a unique ‘token’ that can then sit in the app, a physical card or actually even be integrated in the vehicle.

“We will support fleets on one platform, wherever they charge,” said ten Bloemendal.

 

Image: Shutterstock

Authored by: Jonathan Manning