London-based startup Volteras aims to be the bridge between electric vehicles (EVs) and a multitude of services they interact with, including chargers, home batteries, energy retailers, and mapping apps. The company has quietly raised approximately $2.9 million in funding and established partnerships with major players like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and solar energy company Enphase.
Volteras founder and CEO Peter Wilson acknowledges the challenge of acquiring data from EVs and their associated infrastructure. While some businesses have access to EV data but lack access to charger and energy storage information, others have the opposite problem. Volteras aims to bring all of this data together, similar to Plaid’s work with banks. The company charges OEMs and energy retailers for API access, but it assures that it does not collect or sell data to third parties.
Prior to Volteras, many companies were built around the marketplace model of buying and selling car data. However, Wilson notes a shift towards privacy-focused platforms in recent years. Various regulators are expressing interest in how automakers handle data, particularly as modern cars are equipped with cameras and sensors that track sensitive information like driver behavior and location.
Volteras goes beyond providing insights and offers practical functionalities through its API. For example, energy retailers can perform load balancing and decide when to charge EVs if customers opt in. This aligns with the approach Tesla employs in its ecosystem, which seamlessly integrates cars, powerwalls, and solar arrays within one app. However, Tesla’s electricity plan is currently only available in Texas.
Volteras, not to be confused with charging firm Voltera, completed a $2.9 million seed funding round around a year ago. Investors in Volteras include Exor, a major stakeholder in Ferrari and Stellantis, Long Journey Ventures, an early-stage VC, and Scott Bannister, an awardee of the Crunchies.
Sources:
TechCrunch (source article)
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