Parkopedia launches ‘Park and Charge’ product to unify the fragmented public charging for EV drivers globally

The EV industry continues to grow substantially, and automakers are under pressure to provide solutions for the many pain points EV drivers are currently experiencing when trying to utilize global public charging infrastructure.

In response to this, Parkopedia wants to transform the combined parking and charging experience for EV owners with the launch of ‘Park and Charge’ – leveraging existing expertise, technologies and data-management skills within the company, to deliver the most comprehensive and accurate charging service available. EV owners would be able to accurately find, authorise, pay and manage charging sessions with ease, all in one place from within their vehicles.

Growing EV Charging Requirements

EV sales in the top three automotive markets – China, the US and Europe, increased by 160% in the first half of this year to 2.6 million units, representing 26% of new sales in the global automotive market, however, poor public fast-charging infrastructure is currently a barrier for full EV adoption due to range anxiety. As many as one-third of potential EV owners would not be able to charge their vehicles at home and will be relying solely on the heavily fragmented public charging network. 

70% of drivers are now considering an EV as their next vehicle, and 250 new models of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) will be introduced by automakers within the next two years. The EU recommended target of one public charging point for every 10 EVs has spurred an initial investment of €1.8 billion to implement the 1.3 million charging stations needed by 2025, rising to 2.9 million by 2030. 

In the US, the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and help establish a nationwide EV charging infrastructure. The goal of 500,000 chargers nationwide by 2030 will potentially triple the number of charging stations currently available across the country. 

McKinsey also estimates that as much as $110-180 billion must be invested this decade to satisfy global demand for EV charging stations, however, the number of available chargers is only one barrier to entry, with poor perception of the usability of public charging infrastructure being another.

Solving EV Driver Pain Points 

Parking and charging are interconnected experiences – a car must be parked to charge. Only a solution that successfully combines both services can create the complete user experience required by drivers.

With an existing database of 70 million parking spaces globally, Parkopedia’s high quality data will provide a unique and comprehensive service of parking and charging. The new Park and Charge service offers automakers a solution for their drivers that addresses the current driver pain points surrounding public charging, such as:

• Finding EV charger locations using market-leading, accurate POI data, including chargers located within inside indoor facilities without GPS*
• Enabling in-vehicle EV charger activation, regardless of service provider
• Enabling in-vehicle EV charging payments, regardless of provider, as well as comprehensive reporting and billing systems

As the largest and most accurate parking services provider in the world, Parkopedia is leveraging its expertise and data management skills to deliver the most comprehensive and accurate EV charging service available. Supported by the company’s existing technologies, such as its market-leading static and dynamic parking data products, indoor mapping services and Payment Platform. Park and Charge caters for the growing number of electric vehicles and the charging demands this will bring, into one easy to use interface. Park and Charge is able to bring together the current highly fragmented parking and charging value chain that brings friction to drivers, by utilising its interconnected products:

• Static data provides comprehensive parking and EV charger POI information including location, pricing and restrictions
• Dynamic data provides current and predictive parking and charger availability, delivered in real-time
• Payments via a secure PCI compliant platform that enables Single Sign-On payments for parking and EV charging
• High-definition 3D maps of indoor parking facilities enable cars to navigate to indoor EV chargers where GPS is not available

By utilising existing assets, as well as aggregating industry players, such as Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and E-Mobility Service Providers (EMSPs), Parkopedia’s integrated in-car solution bridges the disconnect between parking and charging industries and services – overcoming the barriers to enable frictionless parking and charging in-car experiences for drivers.

Data 

Live traffic and parking data is now a standard driver requirement for connected vehicles. Parkopedia leads the market in digital parking data services, with products and services used by millions of drivers around the world every day, choosing their ideal parking from 70 million spaces across 15,000 cities and 89 countries. By using innovative data collection technology, including proprietary software, computer vision and AI, as well as establishing key partnerships to expand coverage and maintain itsdata accuracy, Parkopedia is able to provide automakers with an unrivalled data set. Its cutting edge modelling research is also able to predict parking space, and EV charger availability, accurately, regardless of the existing infrastructure.

Integrated Activation and Payments 

The global leader in digital parking services, Parkopedia first launched in-car parking payments in 2014 in partnership with Volvo, and, earlier this year, announced a payment platform to include a wider range of vehicle-centric, such as ‘pay-at-the-pump’ fuelling, tolling fees and now, EV charging payments.

By aggregating the multitude of merchants involved in EV charging, Parkopedia saves automakers a costly and time-consuming exercise, while its Single Sign-On platform capability eliminates the existing barriers to entry, such as the need to swipe a card to unlock a charging station, delivering a heightened level of connected service to drivers and simplifying management for automakers.

Parkopedia’s transaction platform, currently in use by various leading automakers, can now be leveraged to include EV charging, bringing together the fragmented landscape and solving the current complex pricing structure via Parkopedia’s fully integrated, single sign-on, PCI compliant platform.

EV Charging Value Chain 

Parkopedia’s Park and Charge solution unifies the complicated existing value chain, bringing together charge point operators (CPOs) and E-mobility service providers (EMSPs), to deliver a frictionless EV experience for drivers. Parkopedia allows automakers to access CPO EV point of interest (POI) data, charging detail records (CDR), and support driver transactions with EMSPs. With new entrants regularly joining the already complicated value chain, Parkopedia will continue to onboard new operators and merchants into its aggregated solution, providing a time-saving and future-proof solution for automakers.

Adam Woolway joins Parkopedia to lead EV products

As of December 1st, EV industry veteran, Adam Woolway, has joined Parkopedia as the new ‘Head of EV’. Previously Adam co-founded Plugsurfing, an app that empowers electric vehicle drivers to find and pay for charging at more than 250,000 points across Europe. Acquired by Fortum in 2018, it is one of the largest EV charging and payment services in the region. Most recently, Adam Woolway has been the CEO of Alluto, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Luxoft, focusing on redefining automotive operating systems and in-car entertainment.

As a leader in digital mobility solutions and a pioneer for the EV charging industry, Mr. Woolway continues to be a driving force in electrifying the mobility industry in Europe. At Parkopedia, Adam will lead the business’ EV efforts in charging POI data and payments on a global scale. Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Woolway added: “I am thrilled to join Parkopedia for the launch of its Park and Charge product which should complement their existing market-leading connected-car products and services. To be at the forefront of a major paradigm shift towards electrification that is happening in our lifetime is an honour for me, and I am looking forward to the challenge. I am confident the work that Parkopedia is doing in this area will greatly improve the lives of the next generation and greatly assist the transition for automakers and drivers to EVs.”

Eugene Tsyrklevich, Founder and CEO of Parkopedia, said: “Adam shares Parkopedia’s passion to unify the highly fragmented EV charging industry and apply a leading standardisation to the charging process, enabling a frictionless user experience for drivers. Adam’s knowledge of the industry and his experience of aggregating charging point operators, through to delivering a successful user interface at Plugsurfing, makes him the ideal candidate to lead our EV initiatives.

Our current, award-winning and market-leading parking data and payment services means we are ideally situated within the industry to tackle the huge task of simplifying the EV charging network for drivers. With Park and Charge, we have created a service that not only solves the pain points for existing EV drivers, but provides automakers with the necessary elements to entice further drivers into electric vehicles.”