By offering everything from hassle-free charging station operation to full infrastructure management for eMobility service providers, has·to·be has been rewriting the eMobility rulebook ever since it was founded in 2013 to provide one-stop solutions for the industry. At this moment in time, has·to·be manages more than 25,000 charge points, with over 6,500 charge logs every day. Now, thanks to a new partnership with Viennese energy startup enspired, locations serviced by has·to·be will soon be able to offer cost-optimized charging. This will translate into significant savings for end-users.
„As it currently stands, vehicles start charging the moment they’re connected to the charging station,“ explains has·to·be the founder and CEO Martin Klässner. „Our data shows that this usually happens in the morning or evening. But that’s generally the time of day when electricity costs the most! Since most cars are connected to the charge point for at least a few hours, the actual charging could take place when the electricity is cheaper.”
enspired specializes in fully automated optimization for the ‘intraday’ electricity market. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, electricity can be sold or bought at the exact time when it’s cheapest for the customer. Aggregated charging stations add to the flexibility in the power grid – and being able to shift charging sessions allows peak-time demand to be reduced. Users are rewarded for this flexibility in the form of lower electricity prices.
„First results show that we can achieve savings of up to 40% by optimising a charging profile – and that’s only the beginning - the vehicle owner simply defines the broad charging requirements for the session, for example, the latest time by which the car should be fully charged. Within these parameters, we then enable charging at those times when it makes the best economic sense.” Jürgen Mayerhofer, founder and CEO of enspired
While has·to·be takes care of the technical operation of the charge session and end-user interface, enspired will be responsible for optimizing the charging profile based on energy price dynamics and availability in the intraday market. Unlike traditional energy companies, where traders monitor up to 15 screens at the same time and then place orders either manually or using algorithms, enspired works with a fully automated platform and machine learning models.
has·to·be and enspired will have even more in common in years to come. Because eCar batteries can be discharged as well as charged, eCars can also become ‘virtual power stations’ that returns energy to the grid. That, in turn, means not only extra profit but also a more stable electricity network. Maintaining the latter has recently become more of an issue, given the increasing share of intermittent renewable energy supply in the market.
„Due to unreliable weather forecasts, it’s often difficult to predict wind or solar energy production even five minutes before it’s due to be supplied,“ explains Mayerhofer. „Deviations need to be dealt with in real-time to avoid widespread power failures – and it’s thanks to the flexibility of other grid users that they can be offset. By joining forces with has·to·be and their big network of charging stations, we can make a valuable contribution to grid stability. This is good news not just for our clients but also for accelerating the transition towards clean energy.”
„has·to·be and enspired are setting an important example here. We’re showing how new technology can smooth the path towards a sustainable future. We have plenty more planned and are looking forward to what we’re convinced will be a long-term relationship.“Martin Klässner, founder and CEO of has·to·be