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Leading smart charging company for electric mobility secures EUR 11 million funding to accelerate international expansion

Sustainable energy company Eneco Group and independent investment fund SET Ventures have both acquired a minority stake in Amsterdam-based GreenFlux Assets BV (“GreenFlux”), as part of a total Series B round of EUR 11M. Existing shareholders BOM Brabant Ventures and ICT Group NV also participated in the round. The investment in a leading enabler of electric driving and smart charging supports Eneco Group’s and SET Ventures’ ambitions to accelerate the energy transition by means of technology. Fortaleza Capital acted as exclusive corporate finance advisor to GreenFlux on this Series B financing round.

GreenFlux provides an electric mobility infrastructure management platform that supports the operations of charge point operators all over the world. GreenFlux helps energy companies, grid operators and automotive players to manage charge stations, enable roaming and billing and implement smart charging for advanced energy management. The GreenFlux service platform is cloud-based and seamlessly connects with charge stations of any type or brand. GreenFlux’s award winning controller, enabling advanced smart charging, can be fitted in any charge station.

The coming years millions of electric vehicles will enter the market. For this transition to happen, charging must be frictionless and easy to use. The GreenFlux platform drives down the cost of operations for charge point operators and enables them to provide an outstanding service experience to their customers. Combined with state-of-the-art smart charging technology that ensures the stability of the grid, electric vehicles will become an important enabler for a sustainable future.

GreenFlux founders, Hans de Boer and Jurjen de Jong: ‘We are very happy this investment provides the opportunity to power dominant EV charge point operators in Europe, US and Asia. A big step forward in fulfilling our dream that all cars will be powered by renewable energy’.

Joeri Kamp, managing director Eneco Smart Energy: ‘Eneco is fully committed to speed up the transition to a more sustainable energy system. We believe that e-mobility and smart, real-time charging from renewable sources are essential parts of that system. This is a purpose we share with the team at GreenFlux. Through our investment we want to help them bring their front running service platform and controller to the next level and accelerate international expansion.’

‘The team at Greenflux has succeeded in establishing a leading position in EV infrastructure management’ said Anton Arts, Associate Partner at SET Ventures. ‘This investment enables them to accelerate international expansion and drive the pace of innovation in this market forward.’

About Eneco Group

Eneco Group is a group of companies active internationally in the field of renewable energy and innovation. Together with their customers, partners and more than 3,000 employees, they work on their mission: sustainable energy for all. They invest in wind farms, biomass plants, heat and solar parks to increase the supply of renewable energy. And they develop innovative products and services so that their customers can control how to generate, store, use or share energy. www.enecogroup.com

About SET Ventures

Since 2007, Amsterdam-based SET Ventures has invested in European technology companies that impact the future of the energy sector. SET Ventures focuses broadly on innovative energy generation, energy distribution and storage and energy efficiency. SET’s investment priority is for those ventures that develop software-based services for the energy sector, with or without hardware components, defined by SET Ventures as smart energy solutions. www.setventures.com

Smart mobility research seeks to ease traffic congestion by getting us where we need to be faster, safer, and with fewer negative impacts on the environment. To further this research, the province of North Brabant entered into an agreement with the state of Ohio, its capital city, Columbus, and Ohio State University (OSU) to share knowledge and experiences regarding innovations in smart mobility. Student exchanges between OSU and TU Eindhoven will also take place. It’s a nice idea, but the collaboration left some wondering why? Why partner with a city 6500 kilometers away when Eindhoven already has strong research facilities in the Automotive Campus and TU Eindhoven?

“For Dutch partners it’s a match made in heaven,” says Peter van Deventer, Director of the “Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility” program, which is based at the Dutch Consulate of San Francisco. Coast to Coast played a major role in bringing this agreement together, and van Deventer was an important facilitator along with Eindhoven’s mayor Rob van Gijzel. Van Deventer first looked to Ohio because he received his PhD in engineering from OSU 25 years ago. He reconnected when he saw their research regarding smart mobility and informed them of what is happening between the Netherlands and the West Coast. Interested, OSU joined the Coast to Coast program in 2014 and a Midwest network began.

“A paradigm shift in mobility has occurred over the past 10 years,” says van Deventer. “What we once only dreamed of is becoming a reality and the auto industry is investing billions.” Self-driving cars and vehicles powered solely on electricity are no longer a science fiction fantasy. “Mobility is changing rapidly and there’s new initiative,” he continues. He cites the booming market in China for electric vehicles as an example, along with the demand for zero emission buses within the next decade. Increased mobility and transportation systems are also vital for cities’ livability standards. “If you look at the budgets for Smart City investments, somewhere between 50 to 75 percent is going towards new mobility solutions,” he says. “It’s wise for the Netherlands to align with international activity. Connections are key and this city (Columbus, Ohio) has the ambition and the resources.”

In 2016, Columbus competed against 77 other American cities to win the Smart City Challenge. The U.S. Department of Transportation challenged cities “to use emerging transportation technologies to address their most pressing problems through a mixture of competition, collaboration, and experimentation.” The city received $40 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation and an additional $10 million from Paul Allen’s Vulcan, Inc. The city already raised $90 million from private partners with the goal to becoming “an electrified, low-emissions transportation hub,” according to an article in Tech Republic.

“We were looking for opportunities beyond Silicon Valley and found Columbus’s size (population 860,000) appealing,” says Johann Beelen of Brainport Eindhoven. Some of the fields already in collaboration, according to Beelen, include smart traffic management, living labs, self-driving cars, traffic safety issues, and connected cars or “platooning” (a group of vehicles, usually self-driving cars, that can travel close together safely at a high speed). In addition, he says, “several smart mobility companies from Brainport Eindhoven are developing businesses over there.” For instance, NXP is working with Columbus to deploy wireless technology that allows cars to exchange data, preventing accidents and improving the flow of traffic. V-tron, 2Getthere, and OC Mobility also look to expand their business to Ohio.

Since the Eindhoven region is also steeped in technology, named the world’s “Intelligent Community of the Year” for 2011 by the Intelligent Community Forum, it makes sense for the two regions to form a partnership. Both Columbus and Eindhoven “are mid-sized growing cities,” says Bram Hendrix with AutomotiveNL. “This partnership is a good example of what can be done all over the world. We are working on similar projects and have lots of experience with self-driving vehicles and electrifying vehicles. It accelerates the development to study there and see how we can use it here.”

“The American Midwest is the hub of the auto industry,” says van Deventer. “We signed a letter of intent, positioning ourselves to set up businesses and create jobs. It is a stepping stone to further action.”

Published by E52.nl, Cristin Middlebrooks

On April 18th, Dutch Secretary of State Van Veldhoven, opened the new test site of ElaadNL in Arnhem. At the test location, all different types of charging stations that are used in the Netherlands are available for tests with electric cars. For example, the effects of charging new types of cars on the electricity grid can be tested. Tests with Smart Charging are also possible. This means cars are instructed to charge faster or slower based on the availability of (sustainable) electricity on the grid. These tests are essential now the numbers of electric cars are growing. All are plugged into the existing network to charge.

The test site is located in business park Arnhems Buiten (former KEMA site) and contains all types of charging stations that are used in the public area in the Netherlands. This includes a fast charger, a charging island, a battery and two charging lanterns. Moreover, the site is equipped with meters so that unique tests and research can be carried out. For example, a new model of electric car can be tested on the interaction with all charging stations throughout the Netherlands before it enters our roads in large numbers. Grid operators can test what a car (actually a battery on wheels) does with the quality of the current. In addition, tests are being done with Smart Charging: instructing the car to charge faster or slower at certain times. For example when extra power from the sun or wind is available or in case an overload of the local electricity grid can occur. This way extra CO2 can be saved.

“An asset for the Netherlands”

State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Van Veldhoven: “Charging your electric vehicle should be as easy as charging your phone. This testing facility is therefore a great asset for the Netherlands: here we can experiment and see what works, how we can charge and find ways to make electric driving as easy as possible. That knowledge is essential for making transportation cleaner, fighting climate change and fulfil the Paris agreements. Let’s reduce our carbon emissions by the megatons!
Onoph Caron, managing director of ElaadNL: “For electric cars it’s not just a matter of how well they drive, it’s just as important how well they charge. These are big electrical machines that can demand a lot of our electricity grid and our charging infrastructure. Together with our partners, we can now test and measure the way we charge vehicles with all charging stations available in the Netherlands. For the future of electric driving in the Netherlands, important things are going to happen here on this test site!”

More about the Elaad Test Lab

The Elaad Test Lab is a unique laboratory with a test site for research on and testing of Smart Charging, Power Quality and Interoperability. It includes, among other things, the various types of charging stations in the public space in the Netherlands, a fast charger, two charging lanterns, a battery (138 kWh), a charging island, solar panels and urban windmills that can all be centrally controlled via a computer system. They form a completely smart energy system. The Test Lab is equipped so that unique tests and in-depth investigations can be carried out. In this way, the charging behaviour of cars can be analysed in great detail and things such as switch-on peaks, inefficient energy consumption and high frequency disturbances on the current and voltage can be measured.

The tests mainly take place on three themes:

1. Smart Charging

Tests with Smart Charging: instructing the electric car and infrastructure to charge faster or slower at certain times. For example, when extra power from the sun or wind is available or if an overload of the local electricity grid occurs. We can also test whether an electric car is Smart Charging ready: can the car handle different charging speeds and delayed charging? Does it respond in time and is the car still charging efficiently at lower speeds?

2. Power Quality

Testing Power Quality. What effect does a charging electric car have on the quality of the electric current, the voltage and the stability of the electricity grid? If vehicles cause distortion of the grid voltage, this can lead to problems on other connected electrical devices, but also on electric cars and charging stations themselves. The effects can be recorded in detail and studied at the ElaadNL Test Lab.

3. Interoperability

Car manufacturers and battery manufacturers can test their products at the ElaadNL Test Lab on interoperability and compatibility. For example, a new model of electric car can be tested on the interaction with all the different types of charging stations in the Netherlands before it enters our roads in large numbers. This ensures car manufacturers that their car can communicate correctly with the different types of charging stations in the Netherlands, so that charging problems can be prevented.

Vice Governor Elisabeth Post of the Province of Noord-Holland and Dr. Maarten Sierhuis, Chief Technology Director, Nissan Research Center Silicon Valley teaming up to demonstrate tangible solutions for autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility challenges.

• NACTO is an association of 62 major North American cities and ten transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues. NACTO’s mission is to build cities as places for people, with safe, sustainable, accessible and equitable transportation choices that support a strong economy and vibrant quality of life.
• How will autonomous vehicles (AVs) affect the evolution of our cities, the way we plan and design our multimodal transport infrastructure, and provide mobility to all socio-economic groups? Have a look at the latest research of Fehr & Peers, on how will autonomous vehicles influence the future of travel?
• The National Street Service Cities Program is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to make streets better for their community. During the program, people look at, listen to, and observe their street; create opportunities to help others reimagine what the street is for; and collaborate on projects to make streets welcoming for everyone.

Energy Northwest recently finalized agreements to be the lead agency in the Washington state Department of Transportation Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Pilot Project. Electric vehicle supply equipment providers Greenlots and EV4 are also participating in the project. The goal of the $1 million project is to construct a network of publicly available electric vehicle charging stations along Interstate 90, I-82, I-182 and US-395.

Read the whole article in the Seattle Times

The province of Noord-Holland is going to test the SolaRoad solar-surface for heavy vehicle traffic. After the successful pilot on a cycling lane in Krommenie, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and the province are looking for a suitable location for heavy vehicle traffic to drive over SolaRoad. The pilot will test the behavior of the road surface for heavy traffic and what the solar-surface means for the daily management and maintenance of the road. In addition, the province will test how the energy-yield can be maximized.

SolaRoad captures sunlight falling on the roadsurface through solar cells and converts this into electricity. The pavement acts as a large solar panel. By making smart use of the existing road network, it is possible to use a larger surface for collecting energy without affecting the landscape. Vice-governor Elisabeth Post: “It is time for a next step. The pilot in Krommenie has taught us a lot. We know that the road surface performs well under the cycling traffic, now we are going to investigate how it behaves when heavy vehicle traffic drive on the SolaRoad. If the pilot is successful, this greatly increases the possibilities for large-scale application of solar roads. “

 Living Lab
The test location for heavy vehicle traffic in the Haarlemmermeer will become a living lab. This means that the test environment is set up on a public road. The test compartment is set up in phases, which also involves working with ridomovies different materials. The Vice-governor has made € 2.700.000,- available for the pilot, the research and the further development of the product.

 Cooperation and further development
SolaRoad is a development of the province of Noord-Holland, TNO and Strukton Civiel. In 2018, the province of Zuid-Holland will also carry out a trial with SolaRoad for heavy vehicle traffic. The province of Zuid-Holland wants to test the solar road surface on a bus lane, where the traffic situation is different from the road in Noord-Holland. The provinces work closely together and share knowledge and results.

In addition to the concrete pilot in the Haarlemmermeer, the province of Noord-Holland, TNO and Strukton Civiel are currently exploring the chances and opportunities for further commercialization of the SolaRoad initiative in a joint venture.

Smart roads and sustainable energy transition
The energy generated with sunlight can be used for many purposes, such as street lighting, households, traffic installations and electric driving. The innovation is in line with the sustainability objectives that many governments and companies, in the context of the Paris Climate Agreement, endorse. It contributes to CO2 reduction and makes a valuable contribution to the development of smart roads and sustainable energy transition.

More information about SolaRoad: www.solaroad.nl

Electrify America announced the selection of Greenlots to provide the network operating platform for its historic coast-to-coast deployment of “Fueling Stations of the Future” along highway corridors as a part of Electrify America’s historic $2B investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure over the next ten years. With over 2,000 high-power charging stations deployed at more than 250 sites nationwide, whether driving across the country or across town, people will be able to find a user-friendly fast charger along the way. Well done, Greenlots!

The Hague, December 12, 2017 — Amber, ARS Traffic and Goudappel Coffeng have joined the Trans-Atlantic Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility Program to cooperate and develop the US and Dutch Smart e-Mobility market. A signing ceremony took place at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. During the ceremony, led by Dr. Bertholt Leeftink, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Steven Nelemans, CEO of Amber, Dr. Jan Linssen, CEO of ARS Traffic and Mr. Jos van Kleef, CEO of Goudappel Coffeng signed and joined the program.

“Coast-to-Coast Smart e-Mobility is very excited that Amber, ARS and Goudappel Coffeng are joining the partnership”, says Peter van Deventer, Director, “All three companies bring very exciting smart e-mobility solutions to the table. They all have a strong focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. I consider all three organizations great assets to the transatlantic cooperation between The Netherlands and California. Their ambitions to accelerate solutions for smarter and cleaner electric transportation are amazing.””

“Shared electric cars are the future,” explains Steven Nelemans, CEO of Amber, “and we’re going to do our best to make that happen sooner than later. We plan to expand internationally in the next few months, so this partnership is a logical next step for us.”

“This partnership leverages ARS T&TT European Smart Mobility success in the likewise USA ecosystem” says Dr. Jan Linssen. “It will show that Smart Mobility is not just a fashionable term, but is a way to let mobility intensive people and businesses grow and prosper AND contribute to sustainability.”

“Smart mobility is one of the areas in which we already have a lot of experience,” says Jos van Kleef, ceo of Goudappel Coffeng. “But we strongly believe in partnerships from coast to coast – to not only build up new relationships but also work together on smart and innovative mobility plans.”

Charging times of five minutes for 100 kilometres possible

Berlin, 20 December 2017 – As of today, Europe has its first publicly accessible ‘ultra-fast charger point’. This new generation of fast charging stations is part of a transnational network of pioneering charging technology. Allego is currently equipping a corridor that runs through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany right up to the Austrian border with 21 ultra-fas charging stations. These enable upcoming models of long range electric cars to charge a range of 100 kilometres in five minutes. The first fast chargers are now operational in Kleinostheim near by Frankfurt am Main, Germany, near the A3 motorway. The four ultra-fast chargers are located at the Aschaffenburg-West exit on Saaläcker Strasse. Four e-cars can be charged simultaneously at the stations, initially with 175 kW. I n the spring of 2018, the charging stations will be upgraded to enable up to 350 kW to be charged at two of the four connections – making for even faster charging. The facilities at the station will be supplemented with an additional multi-standard 50kW charger. The new ‘Ultra-E’ charging stations will be erected at intervals of 150 to 200 kilometres, in the immediate vicinity of motorway exits. More stations will follow, the next one in Bernau am Chiemsee, Southeast Germany.

From the summer of 2018, destinations on the corridor from the Dutch coast to the Austrian border will be more easily accessible in an e-car. ‘We are delighted to be setting a milestone for future electro-mobility in Europe with this new generation of fast chargers,’ says Allego COO Ulf Schulte. The ultra-fast charging stations are designed to accommodate many current and future types of e-car. They are particularly suited to the new long range e-cars that will be available from 2018. With these new ultra-fast chargers, Allego is supplementing its existing fast charging network of 250 50kW charging stations, making it a pioneer in Europe. ‘Interoperability comes as standard at Allego. We support all the current charging cards and access apps, enabling anyone to charge their e-car at Allego and quickly be on their way,’ says Schulte. ‘It is thanks chiefly to our working relationships with our numerous partners that we are able to offer this comprehensive service.’ The ‘Ultra-E’ project is funded by an alliance of energy companies, vehicle manufacturers, automotive suppliers, a roaming platform and public institutions. Besides Allego BV, which acts as coordinator, Audi AG, BMW i, Renault Magna, Bayern Innovativ, Hubject, Smatrics and Verbund AG are also involved. A total budget of EUR 13 million is available for the expansion of the ‘Ultra-E’ corridor, which is part-financed by the European Union’s ‘Connecting Europe Facility’.

About Allego

Allego is a leading provider of charging solutions which has significant expertise in e-mobility, including the creation of a network of multi standard fast chargers throughout The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom and Luxembourg. Allego deploys more than 7000 charging sockets in urban areas and along major transportation routes. The main focus of the company is to provide an international reliable network of both AC- and DC charging and support companies and EV drivers via an EV Cloud based service platform.

Tarana joined the Trans-Atlantic Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility Program to cooperate and develop the US and Dutch Smart e-Mobility market. A signing ceremony took place at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in San Francisco. During the ceremony, led by Consul General Mr. Gerbert Kunst, Dr. Omar Bakr, CEO and co-founder of Tarana signed and joined the program.

“Coast-to-Coast Smart e-Mobility is very excited that Tarana is joining the partnership”, says Peter van Deventer, Director, “Tarana has developed unique data transfer solutions which are crucial for the mass deployment of smart e-mobility solutions. Tarana is uniquely positioned and very strong on innovation and entrepreneurship. I consider them a great assets to the transatlantic cooperation between The Netherlands and California. Their ambitions to accelerate solutions for smarter and cleaner electric transportation are just amazing.”

“As we all know from our own experience, anyone with time on their hands while in transit grabs their smartphone or tablet and gets on the internet if they can” says Omar Bakr, CEO of Tarana. “Driverless, shared cars — which create more free time for us all in addition to reducing road congestion and carbon emissions — will no doubt create a whole new set of challenges for mobile networks, for high-throughput device connectivity as well as high-reliability and low-latency communication with the cars themselves. Adding Tarana’s unrivaled developments in reliable, resilient, gigabit wireless technology for forthcoming 5G networks to the S4C initiative will be a perfect complement to parallel advances in e-mobility and clean energy.”

Peter van Deventer (Director Smart e-Mobility), Gerbert Kunst (Consul General), Steven Glapa (VP Marketing), Omar Bakr (CEO)