Frankfurt am Main, 27.05.2022 E-Mobility has become relevant for the mass market: thus, the reliability of charging stations and the on-site charging experience are of particular importance. Two companies that are passionately working on the breakthrough of e-Mobility are now treading this path together: the technology company &Charge GmbH and the European EV charging company Mer Germany GmbH are starting a long-term cooperation to make the charging of electric vehicles more reliable and better in experience. As part of the cooperation with &Charge, Mer, as one of the leading providers of charging solutions, is now increasingly relying on direct feedback from EV drivers to ensure a pleasant and smooth charging experience at its own charging stations. EV drivers are thus directly part of the quality and feedback process and can thus proactively contribute. In the &Charge app, users can evaluate the condition of charging stations at their current location and point out impairments or make suggestions for improvement. If there is external soiling, impairment or damage to the charging station, this can be reported in real time (so-called &Charge Challenges). Mer benefits from rectifying defects at the charging station even more quickly. As a reward for the feedback or participation in a survey on the respective charging station, EV drivers are credited with &Charge “kilometres” in the &Charge app, which can then be redeemed for free charging of the electric vehicle. As an innovative technology company, &Charge specialises in the collection, processing and provision of comprehensive, quality-assured charging station data. The special feature of the SaaS model is the so-called crowd-sourcing approach, which the company has perfected over the last three years.
Since the actual market launch in 2019, &Charge has established the first sustainable bonus programme for e-Mobility in Europe, built a strong community of EV drivers and laid the foundation for the crowd-sourcing approach. “We founded &Charge to make charging cheaper, more reliable and more fun. We are excited to take another step in this direction by working with Mer to ensure we can add significant value to the reliability and quality of charging stations, as well as have a positive effect on the charging experience. This is achieved through our unique crowd-sourcing approach and a strong community of EV drivers, who are integrated into the quality process of the charging station operator via our &Charge app and provide high-quality real-time feedback on the charging infrastructure,” underlines Simon Vogt CSO and co-Founder of &Charge GmbH. Not only does the quality assurance of existing charging stations play a major role for Mer, as one of the top 5 CPOs in the HPC sector, but as a subsidiary of Statkraft, the largest producer of renewable energy in Europe, also the question of how the charging of electric vehicles can be made efficient and resource-saving. Mer combines the best of both worlds – the expansion of e-Mobility with the expansion of renewable energy; for a real energy and mobility turnaround in Europe. The company is represented in over 5 countries and operates over 25,000 charging points in Europe. “With &Charge, we are taking the next step in customer focus. Feedback is of paramount importance for us to improve the charging experience. Especially through the challenges, we want to intensify customer relationships and participate in the knowledge of the users in order to advance the expansion of electric mobility,” confirms Anton Achatz, Managing Director of Mer Germany GmbH. Furthermore, Mer and &Charge already confirm that they will expand their cooperation in the future to include the development of further offers to improve the charging experience and the quality of service for EV drivers. About Mer Germany GmbH Today, we are all faced with the challenge of realising the energy and transport revolution. Mer’s vision is for customers to charge their electric vehicles everywhere with 100 percent green electricity. In this way, companies reduce their ecological footprint and convert their vehicle fleet to electrified drives individually and cost-efficiently. As one of the leading system service providers of charging solutions, Mer provides end consumers with the complete charging infrastructure for operating electric and hybrid vehicles. With a public charging network of more than 25,000 charging stations in Europe, both corporate and private customers can rely on Mer. At Tank & Rast service stations and
McDonald’s Austria restaurants, the company is developing its own high-performance charging network. With its know-how in the field of grid-optimised charging, Mer also enables a rapid expansion of electromobility without expensive grid expansion and a more efficient use of renewable energies. Services include planning, hardware, installation, and operation of the charging stations as well as the provision of services via its own APPs and portals – and all this with the backing of Statkraft, the largest producer of renewable energies in Europe. This is how Mer is going down the path of true mobility and energy transition. Further information is available at www.de.mer.eco.
Mer Germany GmbH Press Contact
Mer Germany GmbH
Matthias Knöller, Marketing
Matthias.Knoeller@mer.eco
Tel: +49 9923 / 80108 491
About &Charge GmbH
&Charge GmbH is the first and only platform in Europe that combines user engagement with value-added services around EV charging. The technology company offers innovative solutions for private and business customers: 1. Private customers: Daily companion for EV charging. The &Charge app for EV drivers makes charging cheaper, more reliable and more fun. EV drivers are rewarded with bonus points (“&Charge kilometres”) for purchases and activities, they can rely on most accurate data around charging stations or use the marketplace to share private charging stations (wallbox sharing). 2. Business customers: Offering a wide range of value-added services. &Charge’s B2B solutions bring additional benefits to partners in the e-Mobility ecosystem such as Chargepoint Operators (CPOs), e-Mobility Service Providers (EMPs) and Roaming Providers. Among other things, CPOs can benefit from direct user feedback on their charging stations (“remote maintenance based on crowd-sourced feedback”). EMPs and roaming platforms can rely on improved and quality-assured POI data for charging stations or CPOs/EMPs can join the ecosystem as an acceptance partner by using &Charge bonus points to increase their customer loyalty and acquire new users. &Charge has been a carbon neutral company since its foundation in 2019. The company not only avoids, reduces and offsets the CO2 emissions of its own operations, but also those of its users. &Charge is part of the sustainability initiative Leaders for Climate Action.
&Charge GmbH Press Contact:
Simon Vogt
Chief Sales Officer (CSO) & Co-Founder
presse@and-charge.me
+49 160 993 662 61