ECOtality and ChargePoint Establish Interoperability Company, Collaboratev, LLC
Collaboratev provides drivers
access to EV charging statio
ns on any affiliated network.
SAN FRANCISCO and CAMPBELL, Calif. March 7, 2013 –
ChargePoint, Inc.
and
ECOtality, Inc.
(NASDAQ:
ECTY
) announced today the formation of Collabor
atev, LLC. Collaborate
v will enable charging
network interoperability,
exchange session data and a
llow financial billing reco
nciliation services among
electric vehicle charging networks. The new co
mpany will actively encourage
other charging network
providers to join as affiliates
and enable EV drivers through
out the United States to seamlessly charge
among all affiliated charging network
s. ChargePoint and ECOtality will
connect the Char
gePoint and Blink
networks to Collaboratev later this year.
Collaboratev’s objectives include:
Provide EV drivers with easy access to par
ticipating charging stations using common
authentication credentials
Enable one bill for all charging usage
Accurately provide aggregated EV
charging station location data
Utilize open national in
teroperability 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 w
ill give EV drivers access to all
stations, locations, availability and m
apping 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 ECOtalit
y. “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 dr
ivers nationwide to get the charge
they need whenever and wherever
they are.”
“The creation of a vendor agnostic payment processi
ng and authentication syst
em for EV charging would
alleviate consumer concern of being tied to one char
ging network and would therefore make electric
vehicles more attractive to mainstream vehicle buye
rs,” said John Gartner, research director of smart
transportation at Pike Research.
For more information regarding this joint venture, please visit
www.collaboratev.com
.
About ChargePoint
ChargePoint is the largest online network of indep
endently owned EV charging stations operating in 14
countries. ChargePoint provides everything an EV stati
on owner needs to deliver turnkey electric vehicle
charging services in their parking lots. For driver
s, ChargePoint provides
state-of-the-art features
including the ability to locate, re
serve and navigate to uno
ccupied charging stations
with online tools and
mobile applications. ChargePoint locations may be
found online and are included on the free ChargePoint