Imagine you’re responsible for managing a fleet of vehicles at a car rental agency or a package delivery company. Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) adds complexity to your operations due to longer charging times and limited availability of charging points.
Addressing this challenge, Guided Energy, a French startup that secured $5.2 million in funding from Sequoia Capital and Dynamo Ventures in late 2023, is developing a software solution to assist EV fleet operators with charge management and dispatch. The company collects data from vehicles and both public and private charging stations, employing machine learning algorithms to advise operators on when and where to charge their vehicles effectively.
“The EV ecosystem’s online nature enables direct connections to EVs and charging stations. We integrate with existing telematics or supervision platforms using APIs, offering operators a unified, real-time view of their EV operations,” explained Anant Kapoor, co-founder and CEO, who previously spearheaded product teams focusing on fleet management software aimed at reducing emissions. Eric Daoud Attoyan, the company’s CTO, holds a Ph.D. in machine learning from Inria, bolstering Guided Energy’s technical expertise.
Image Credits: Guided Energy
Guided Energy’s clientele includes Sixt and Addison Lee. While many customers have in-house charging points, they often face constraints such as all stations being occupied, with limited space to add more.
“Some resort to public charging, while others even utilize employees’ homes for charging but struggle to integrate these external solutions into their daily operational, reporting, or finance workflows,” explained Kapoor.
The crux of the matter lies in the significant variation in charging prices for EV vehicles. Charging at home tends to be inexpensive but slow, whereas highway charging is typically more costly.
In addition to pricing, a software solution like Guided Energy must factor in the time required to sufficiently charge the battery. Hence, the proximity of the charging point to the vehicle’s location is crucial.
The startup believes it can deliver direct and indirect savings of up to $10,000 per electric vehicle, factoring in both charging prices and operating costs. Sending personnel to remote areas in major cities can also incur expenses. Consequently, Guided Energy adopts a subscription-based pricing model, charging approximately €30 to €40 per vehicle per month.
Currently, Guided Energy monitors over 1,000 vehicles on its platform, with expectations to double this number in the coming months, given its recent contract signings with additional customers.
