ChargePoint teams up with MVV Energie to expand in Germany

MVV Energie AG

28/06/2019 17:01

By Christoph Steitz
    FRANKFURT, June 28 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley-based
ChargePoint, one of the world's largest operators of charging
stations for electric vehicles, said it had teamed up with local
German utility MVV Energie  MVVGn.DE  to further expand in
Europe's largest economy.
    ChargePoint will sell its charging equipment via MVV's sales
channels, while MVV, headquartered in the German city of
Mannheim, will focus on embedding electric charging in its
energy services.
    The deal with MVV follows a cooperation with French leasing
and fleet management group ALD SA  ALDA.SA  last month and an
agreement to equip retailers of shareholder Daimler with slow
and fast chargers in late 2018.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN22E0O8  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1YG37B
    The partnership aims to make it easier for electric car
owners to charge at home while utility clients will be able to
control and organise their power demand and electric vehicle
charging needs in one place.
    ChargePoint plans to run 2.5 million charging spots globally
by 2025, with half of those to be located in the crowded
European market, where the group has been trying in recent years
to build a bridgehead.
    A good deal of the ports planned in Europe will be located
in Germany and Britain, the continent's two largest car markets,
ChargePoint said.
    Germany has been slow to embrace electric charging
infrastructure, with smaller neighbour the Netherlands having a
bigger network of charging spots, according to figures from the
International Energy Agency.
    (For an interactive version of the graphic click https://tmsnrt.rs/2YowKGo?eikon=True)
    The agreement with MVV will target corporate clients,
existing car fleets and retail customers across Germany, where
some of ChargePoint's key shareholders - Daimler  DAIGn.DE , BMW
 BMWG.DE  and Siemens  SIEGn.DE  - are based.
    ChargePoint did not disclose financial details.
    The group currently has a network of more than 67,000
commercial charging ports, of which 95 percent are located in
North America. Including home chargers, that number stands at
more than 97,000.
    Two years ago, the company raised funds to enter the crowded
European market, where numerous players, including oil majors,
carmakers and utilities, are fighting to dominate local electric
vehicle infrastructure.
    Since then, ChargePoint - which has raised more than $500
million since it was founded in 2007 - has hired 65 staff across
the continent.
    Large rivals include NewMotion and Greenlots, both owned by
Shell  RDSa.L ; EVBox, which is owned by French utility Engie
 ENGIE.PA ; Innogy  IGY.DE ; Tesla  TSLA.O ; and Chargemaster,
which was bought by BP  BP.L .

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Hooked up - Electric vehicle charging infrastructure since 2011 
  https://tmsnrt.rs/2Yrd5pj
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 (Editing by Douglas Busvine, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1269;
Reuters Messaging:
christoph.steitz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))