In 2014, Brian Grunkemeyer was a Microsoft principal software program engineer with a ardour for combating local weather change. That 12 months he purchased a Tesla Mannequin S and drove it from his dwelling in Redmond, Wash. to San Jose, Calif.
“On a street journey like that, you could have numerous time to suppose deeply about EV charging,” Grunkemeyer stated.
His realization? That if projections have been appropriate, electrical automotive charging was going to require an enormous quantity of energy.
Grunkemeyer started engaged on an answer, making a startup that launched in 2019 as FlexCharging. The corporate not too long ago landed the preliminary shut of its first enterprise spherical, bringing complete funding to $6.2 million. Its lead investor is Accurant Worldwide.
The problem that Grunkemeyer set out sort out is the truth that vitality provide and demand fluctuate over time. Photo voltaic panels and wind generators produce extra energy throughout daylight or windy situations. Demand or “load” can spike if everybody will get dwelling from work, for instance, and plugs of their vehicles on the identical time. If demand outpaces provide, utilities can hearth up backup sources, usually coal or gas-powered mills. In the long run, they may construct new energy crops to fulfill peak demand — or danger energy outages.
The repair
Grunkemeyer’s resolution helps EV drivers cost when vitality is extra plentiful. Utilizing information from utilities and a nonprofit referred to as WattTime, the FlexCharging app robotically manages charging to coincide with occasions when demand is at its lowest and provide the greenest. Drivers enter data setting the window of time their automobile will probably be plugged in and the minimal cost stage that they should attain.
The app is free to drivers. It at present works for automobiles from 19 automakers and greater than 60 EV fashions.
Utilities are FlexCharging’s paying clients. The startup collects charging data from automobiles and creates information experiences to assist utilities higher perceive and predict demand. If utilities get their clients to make use of the app, it saves them cash by decreasing the necessity to burn fossil fuels or construct new energy crops.
The app can save drivers cash, too. Utilities in California, Arizona and different states have time-of-use charges that cost clients extra for energy throughout excessive demand occasions to encourage to shift their utilization. Washington state utilities are transferring in direction of time-of-use charges as properly.
“We let drivers customise how they need to cost their automotive to both save essentially the most cash or cut back carbon emissions,” Grunkemeyer stated. “We put the facility within the driver’s fingers.”
The corporate’s competitors consists of WeaveGrid and EV.Vitality.
Sudden entrepreneurship
Whereas Grunkemeyer is having fun with some success as a startup founder, turning into an entrepreneur was by no means considered one of his objectives.
He took a job at Microsoft in 1998 shortly after graduating from Carnegie Mellon College. He labored on the tech large’s massive information crew, tackling analytics initiatives for Azure. He appreciated his job, his colleagues and his beneficiant advantages.
However his conscience tugged at him. Combating local weather change was going to require new innovation, together with for EVs.
“I spotted that I might have extra of an affect on saving the world,” he stated, “by specializing in this drawback.”
Grunkemeyer was additionally uniquely suited to the startup.
Practically 20 years in the past, he started volunteering with the Sierra Membership environmental group. He discovered that his native utility, Puget Sound Vitality, was an operator of a carbon-emitting coal plant in Montana. It didn’t make sense to him. So he spent years assembly with their economists and regulators to grasp their prices and projections. He introduced his evaluation expertise to bear and commenced to “poke holes” within the numbers favoring coal.
“I spotted that I might have extra of an affect on saving the world by specializing in this drawback.”
Finally he helped persuade the utility to close down half of the Colstrip coal energy plant, with ultimate closure in three years. Along with the local weather win, he gained a deep information of how utilities function.
Grunkemeyer additionally discovered about enterprise capital as an investor with the Seattle Angel Convention and SeaChange.
“That gave me numerous expertise with no less than understanding the fundamentals from an investor perspective,” he stated. “However that doesn’t imply that it’s simple to do a pitch, to persuade folks that you just’ve received the precise resolution, you’ve received the precise crew, and you’ve got hit the market at simply the precise time.”
The corporate was initially self-funded with greater than $2 million by Grunkemeyer and with restricted participation by an angel investor group. The corporate was additionally chosen for the Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator.
FlexCharging has grown to 19 workers and contractors. It’s working with utilities in California, Colorado, Utah, Maine, Australia and is constant to broaden.
FlexCharging’s early crew included Laura McCarty, who beforehand served as chief working officer and is now a strategic advisor, and Ana Jamborcic, who was director of product technique earlier than leaving to work on her personal startup. Present workers embody Tyler Phillipi, chief product officer, and Ken Nichols, who runs enterprise improvement.