ChargePoint, Inc. and ECOtality, Inc. announced the formation of Collaboratev, LLC. Collaboratev will enable charging network interoperability, exchange session data and allow financial billing reconciliation services among electric vehicle charging networks. The new company will actively encourage other charging network providers to join as affiliates and enable EV drivers throughout the United States to seamlessly charge among all affiliated charging networks. ChargePoint and ECOtality will connect the ChargePoint and Blink networks to Collaboratev later this year.
Collaboratev's objectives include:
- Provide EV drivers with easy access to participating charging stations using common authentication credentials
- Enable one bill for all charging usage
- Accurately provide aggregated EV charging station location data
- Utilize open national interoperability standards
"Interoperability for EV drivers is another milestone in the widespread adoption of electric vehicles," said Pat Romano, president and CEO of ChargePoint, Inc. "Collaboratev will give EV drivers access to all stations, locations, availability and mapping features in the public domain."
"This is a clear sign of market maturation by establishing a seamless process for EV drivers to charge across networks," stated Ravi Brar, CEO of ECOtality. "As industry leaders, we want to ensure we are always putting the needs of our customers first. We are fostering an open ecosystem and invite others to join us in making it easy for EV drivers nationwide to get the charge they need whenever and wherever they are."
"The creation of a vendor agnostic payment processing and authentication system for EV charging would alleviate consumer concern of being tied to one charging network and would therefore make electric vehicles more attractive to mainstream vehicle buyers," said John Gartner, research director of smart transportation at Pike Research.
For more information regarding this joint venture, please visit www.collaboratev.com.
