Partnership to provide EV charging insights directly to utilities from vehicle telematics

Uplight has announced a partnership with Rolling Energy Resources (RER) to create a complete EV grid edge solution that enables utilities to best engage EV customers and manage grid load — thanks to data coming directly from vehicle telematics.

Energy Grids and power supply / January 17, 2023

By James Foster

The partnership will provide utilities with insights based on both vehicle telematics and EV charger data

The number of EVs being purchased is rapidly increasing as states like California establish roadmaps to reach 100% new zero-emission vehicle sales. As an influx of EVs hit the road and the grid, they bring with them an urgent need for utilities to be able to identify EVs on their network and engage owners to effectively manage charging patterns, both to save consumers money and to optimise grid resources.

By partnering with RER, Uplight says it is helping to meet that need, providing truly agnostic charging data to utilities, by utilising data provided directly from vehicle telematics. This makes EV managed charging programs run by Uplight a better customer experience for all EV owners and more beneficial to utilities.

RER’s solution provides the secure, reliable, two-way data utilities need to manage load from most major EV OEM brands, including Tesla, Ford, Toyota, GM and many others. The solution simplifies data gathering, enabling Uplight and its utility clients to access data from all the major car brands and provide clean data in a consistent format, rather than managing separate data feeds for each OEM. This accelerates a utility’s ability to manage EV loads, both through behavioural incentives and direct load management.

“EVs are going to have a profound impact on grid demand in the coming years, and data is key to managing that demand as it multiplies,” said Greg Gould, chief product officer at Uplight. “Leveraging RER’s solution is key to simplifying EV charging data gathering and analysis, allowing us to provide a comprehensive offering to utilities with insights based on both vehicle telematics and EV charger data, removing the complication from understanding EV demand on the grid.”

The partnership builds on Uplight’s EV Solution Suite, which the company says is the only comprehensive, end-to-end set of software solutions for utilities to drive customer adoption and grid-friendly charging solutions for utility customers. PSE&G New Jersey is among utilities already leveraging Uplight’s EV Solutions and will be among the first to benefit from its partnership with RER in early 2023.