As Norwegian electric vehicle (EV) charge point operator Wattif EV celebrates its second anniversary and enters its third year of business, CEO Robert Svendsen has confirmed details of the new multi-million contract with its latest EV infrastructure partner, EFUEL, a Swedish-based company.
Worth up to an initial multi million SEK linked to Wattif operating EFUEL’s current charge points – with a potential ten-fold increase targeted – the takeover of EFUEL’s portfolio of 2000 housing association and workplace charge points is the next step in Wattif EV’s aquisition of the Swedish EV charge point distributor’s contracts. The agreement will appoint Wattif EV as the charge point operator of choice for EFUEL’s existing clients, as well as new clients secured as a result of the partnership with EFUEL.
Robert Svendsen, CEO of Wattif EV said “It is genuinely a happy second birthday for Wattif EV and a great way to start year three as we diversify and invest, whilst retaining our focus on destination charging.
“This investment in EFUEL strengthens our footprint and reputation in both B2B and residential environments: from a business perspective it highlights our desire to partner with EV infrastructure players, and for the end-user it recognises that for many car buyers in Europe, being able to charge at home in an apartment block is not easy, yet needs to be a hassle-free ownership experience.
“We started our business targeting ‘destinations’ and home is most peoples’ destination at the end of the day. So, this fits our philosophy of limiting the need to charge an EV en-route which most people prefer to avoid. Wattif EV continues to operate EV chargers at destinations, contributing to the need to transition car owners seamlessly to cleaner and greener car ownership across Europe.”
This first deal is based on the transfer of EFUEL’s current portfolio of charge points installed and operated at housing association apartment blocks and workplaces, plus an additional short-term target based on EFUEL’s current pipeline and contract negotiations. Once this initial portfolio of EFUEL’s charge points is transferred to Wattif operation as the CPO, EFUEL will secure commission from Wattif on additional charge points, as both companies drive towards an aggressive but achievable target.
Wattif EV, the dynamic scale-up specialist headquartered in Bergen (with a subsidiary in Stockholm), estimates a potential to operate 15,000 charge points installed in Sweden by EFUEL over the next five years. The investment therefore targets Wattif being the exclusive operator for a potential ten-fold increase in future EFUEL-owned residential and workplace user charge points in Sweden by the end of 2027.
Johan Stubert, Deputy CEO of EFUEL said “By joining forces with Wattif EV, EFUEL can channel its energies toward excelling in our core role as Sweden’s leading distributor of EV chargers. We’re enthusiastic about the collaboration and its potential to help us grow our market share in Sweden.”
Wattif EV aims to be one of the leading charge point operators in Europe initially targeting Scandinavia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, and the UK. The Norwegian firm is currently undertaking a growth and expansion programme to broaden its offering after the 2022 €50M investment from Marguerite (www.marguerite.com), one of Europe’s leading investors in alternative fuel and green technology.
The investment in EFUEL’s CPO contracts means that Wattif strengthens its EV charging philosophy of removing the need to charge en-route: a combination of market-leading destination and charging operation ensuring electric car owners start and end journeys with charge, and petrol/diesel car owners are converted to an EV with the promise of a hassle-free and less expensive alternative.
EFUEL is one of the largest distributors of EV charging hardware and charging points in Sweden with a market share of approximately 30 per cent of all delivered charging boxes in 2022 and was purchased by DistIT (www.distit.se) in 2021, a company listed on the Swedish stock exchange.
The purchase of EFUEL’s portfolio follows Wattif’s corporate acquisition of BilLader earlier this year, one of Norway’s pioneering EV charging technology companies founded in 2013 with over 2,000 active users. The BilLader takeover strengthened Wattif’s technological influence that will positively impact on users of Wattif EV operated charge points. Wattif EV confirmed €50m of investment from Luxembourg-based Marguerite (www.marguerite.com) at the end of 2022 that has provided the foundation to its ongoing European expansion.
