PEP invests $250 million in electric vehicle charging

EVSE provides electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for home (AC) and public (generally DC for fast charging) scenarios. The company also provides DC charging solutions for larger commercial vehicles and fleets, whereby both residential and commercial offerings include end-to-end solutions that bundle hardware, software and installation services.

In the new partnership with Pacific Energy Partners (PEP), the Australian electric vehicle (EV) charging company will work with Intellihub on smart charging and energy management behind the charger. Intellihub devices enable two-way communication between the network and the home.

EVSE aims to next year provide vehicle-to-grid (V2G) compatible offerings, enabling EVs to discharge energy from their batteries back into the home or grid. This capability can stabilise grids during peak periods, especially with fleets and larger vehicles. V2G capabilities allow electric car owners to power their homes with their vehicles during blackouts or emergencies.

Intellihub has already made the foray into EV charging. Last month, the first of 50 chargers went into operation as part of Intellihub’s EV Streetside Charging project, which attracted $871,000 in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). The EV chargers, designed for privately owned electric cars, are installed on streetlight posts. This kind of offering has been increasingly popular in Europe with companies like the Berlin-founded company Ubitricity having now installed thousands of streetlight post charging points across the UK and Europe.

EVSE said Intellihub’s expertise can inform its offerings and the partnership between the two companies can better enable collaboration and make sure their offerings are mutually compatible with home metering, vehicle charging and renewable energy. Besides PEP, Intellihub’s shareholders also include the global metering solutions business Landis+Gyr.

For PEP, the new partnership is an opportunity to capture the growing residential, commercial and fleet EV charging markets.

“PEP’s strategic investment will enable EVSE to grow at scale as it continues to lead the way in the rapid electrification of Australia’s transport sector over the coming decade,” PEP Managing Director Cameron Blank said,

EVSE has become the second-largest provider of EV charging solutions in Australia and Intellihub’s footprint in New Zealand is expected to provide a path for EVSE across the Tasman. As part of the PEP deal, EVSE is also expected to establish an office in New Zealand. New Zealand has binding government targets in place to ensure the decarbonisation of the transport sector.

“We’re now installing more than 40,000 smart meters across Australia and New Zealand each month, and more and more, we’re going beyond the meter to support the better management of consumer energy devices like electric hot water, pools, solar and batteries – and EV charging,” Intellihub CEO Wes Ballantine said.

PEP has $8.7 billion in assets under management. Earlier this year, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation invested up to $80 million in equity into the firm’s $1.4 billion Secure Assets Fund II. PEP is looking to drive further decarbonisation efforts across its existing funds as it works with companies seeking to meet the challenges of lowering their emissions.