Spotted: The European Council recently passed a law requiring fast electric vehicle (EV) charging stations every 60 kilometres along the region’s main highways by 2025. The stations must provide at least 150 kilowatts of power and allow contactless or card payments without requiring a subscription. A lack of reliable and affordable charging options worldwide is hindering the speed with which people convert their personal vehicles to electric.
In the Netherlands, EV technology company Tap Electric has created an app that makes it less of a hassle for EV owners to charge their cars, with transparent pricing and single tap payments transforming the experience of charging an electric vehicle. The company connects drivers with charger owners to make it easy to find the most affordable, currently available charging options.
Users download the Tap Electric app and can then choose to sign up for a Tap Electric subscription plan, either the free or paid version, or charge anonymously. Drivers pay only for the power they use, and payments are made via a Tapkey linked to either a credit or debit card, or Apple or Google payment account. Power costs are displayed before every charging session, and during a charge, the artificial intelligence (AI) provides real-time cost calculations. Once a vehicle is charged, users receive an invoice and paid subscribers have the option to sign up for a monthly invoice, rather than make individual payments.
For charger owners, Tap Electric provides a platform for collecting payments and managing the hardware of the charging stations, without being charged a fee. Instead, Tap Electric charges drivers a service fee that ranges from 10 per cent per charge for pay-as-you-go drivers to zero for certain levels of subscribers.
Having recently closed a €1 million seed funding round led by Shamrock Ventures, Fair Capital Partners Impact Investing, and Lumo Labs, Tap Electric plans to expand its market reach and network of connected drivers.
Several innovations recently spotted in Springwise’s database focus on the urgent need to electrify transport in some of the world’s most urban and populous countries. Several new e-bike designs are reaching market in Singapore and Indonesia, with the companies planning to expand internationally.
Written By: Keely Khoury