By Michael Elkins
ALD Automotive announced Tuesday that the French fleet management company has signed an international agreement with ChargePoint Holdings Inc (NYSE:CHPT) to create a new EV charging business in Europe for international and local corporate clients. The joint initiative aims to create a unique electric Mobility Service Provider (eMSP) to accelerate corporate fleet electrification.
The new business, powered by ChargePoint technology, will provide drivers of corporate fleets with one simple charging solution for easy access, payments, and reimbursement reports. Drivers will access a charging network of over 485,000 charging ports across Europe, with a single dedicated app and charging card offering charging at home, in the office, or on the road.
“With this agreement, we are expanding our relationship with ALD Automotive, and enabling more businesses to electrify their fleets,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint. “Together, ChargePoint and ALD Automotive will enable more businesses and drivers frictionless access to simple and reliable charging, opening up the millions of lease company controlled vehicles in Europe to the EV revolution."
“With ChargePoint, our goal is to simplify and facilitate access to EV charging services for corporate fleets. This new venture allows ALD Automotive to take an additional stake in the EV ecosystem value chain while further advancing Green Tech for mobility,” confirms Tim Albertsen, CEO of ALD. “We believe that this unique charging value-proposition for fleets will be a game changer in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles. With one of the largest multi-make fleets of electric vehicles worldwide, we take our responsibility of facilitating the energy transition seriously and are set on making sustainable mobility a reality.”
The eMSP will be headquartered in Paris region with go-live expected in the final quarter of 2023, starting in France and the Netherlands and followed closely by Belgium and Germany, with subsequent roll-out in 8 European countries by 2025.
This new EV charging business for fleets is a reinforcement of the partnership between ALD Automotive and ChargePoint who have been working closely since 2019 together to offer a comprehensive portfolio of bundled leasing and charging services.
Shares of CHPT are up 1.12% in premarket trading on Tuesday.