Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, along with BMW and Honda, have started operations of a new joint venture — ChargeScape — they announced last year to develop a software platform that integrates electric vehicles into the power grid.
The move is designed to shore up grid stability while saving drivers money on their charging.
New York-based ChargeScape’s technology wirelessly connects to EVs and, working with participating utilities, manages the flow of electrons in line with real-time grid conditions, temporarily reducing demand when the grid is constrained through smart charging and even sending energy back into the power grid when needed.
Since the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 80 percent of EV charging occurs at home, the technology offers EV drivers the potential to be rewarded financially for their flexibility and always have their vehicle charged by the time they specify.
ChargeScape builds off of the three automakers’ work on smart charging through the Open Vehicle Grid Integration Platform (OVGIP), which counts multi-state utilities such as Duke Energy, Xcel Energy and Eversource Energy as clients.
With the launch of ChargeScape, the joint venture has named Joseph Vellone as its first CEO. Vellone brings 15 years of experience in the energy and climate sectors to the venture and most recently was part of the founding team at software start-up ev.energy, where he launched and grew the company’s North America business to include more than a dozen utilities and 150,000 EVs.
“Joseph’s leadership and track record operating cleantech start-ups is precisely what we need to make ChargeScape a success,” says Shaun Bugbee of BMW, current chairman of ChargeScape.
Before joining ev.energy, Vellone worked as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was part of the firm’s energy and environment practice. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the London School of Economics. While in high school, his student research on hydrogen fuel cells was recognized with honors from Congress and the White House.
ChargeScape also appointed Kalidindi Raju at chief technology officer. Raju also has 15 years of experience leading high-performing technology organizations and is a recognized leader in cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, data engineering, and product development. He previously held senior leadership positions at Amazon, OATI ,and other technology companies.
Raju holds a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M International and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (India).
“Although the vehicle-grid integration market is expected to be highly competitive, our partnerships with the world’s largest automakers gives us a significant edge,” says Raju. “With direct access to the vehicles, we enable utilities to optimize EV charging securely and reliably. We plan to fully leverage this key advantage.”
