On Thursday, Santa Monica, California’s In-Charge Energy, an early mover in fleet electrification, announced that it has sold a significant stake in itself to longtime partner ABB. An early investor in In-Charge, ABB now holds a 60 percent stake in the company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“ABB, as a pioneer of the green mobility revolution, is a natural fit for us,” said In-Charge Energy CEO Cameron Funk. “Most of our turn-key solutions already include ABB’s state-of-the-art charging hardware and we have partnered closely since ABB’s initial investment. One of the keys to further growth will be our combined ability to offer turnkey solutions and advanced services to fleet managers and EV drivers.”
In-Charge Energy will maintain its leadership team and tech neutrality as it joins ABB’s E-Mobility Division. According to ABB, this transaction makes a significant impact on its growing portfolio of E-mobility service offerings. The company said its investment was motivated by In-Charge’s reliable, turnkey charging infrastructure solutions, robust software platform (In-Control) and roster of bold-name customers.
“Today’s announcement is another important step in the evolution of our customer-focused EV offering from hardware solutions to digital and future mobility services,” said Frank Muehlon, President of ABB’s E-mobility Division. “With this transaction, we are ideally positioned to benefit from the significant future growth of the U.S. EV market, where fleet electrification is expected to be a major driver, especially for fast-charging solutions. With our combined end-to-end turnkey solutions, we stand ready to help the U.S. achieve its aim of building a nationwide network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030.”
With this funding windfall, In-Charge Energy says it will have the opportunity to execute larger projects for its customers, expand operations to Canada and across the U.S. and launch more products and services that solve pressing fleet electrification challenges.
“At this point in our business, our growth trajectory is a steep slope and we’re excited to have ABB’s support to help us keep pace,” said In-Charge Energy COO Terry O’Day. “The access to resources and global corporate infrastructure we’ll have as a result of this transaction will be a great benefit to us and to our customers.”
News of the ABB deal comes two weeks after In-Charge Energy launched its Invest in America E-Fleet Task Force, a new business unit specifically designed to find grants and incentives stemming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. A division of the Public Affairs department at In-Charge Energy, the task force is among the first for the fleet electrification industry and, according to the company, better positions it to secure millions in funding opportunities for its many fleet customers transitioning to electric vehicles.
“We’re thrilled to kick off 2022 with the launch of this new task force,” said In-Charge Energy’s CEO Funk “This team brings an incredible amount of experience and insider knowledge at an exciting time of growth for the fleet electrification industry. One of the biggest challenges to developing electric infrastructure is the cost and we believe our new service will be one of the best solutions to accelerating the adoption of electric fleets.
With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, the company notes that funding opportunities for fleet electrification will be massive in the coming years. The law includes $500 billion for new projects and spending in multiple transportation and mobility sectors, including: a national EV charging network, school bus electrification, public transit electrification, emissions reduction at airports and ports, power grid upgrades and more.
In 2021, In-Charge Energy secured more than $10 million in grant funding for its customers – before the passage of President Biden’s infrastructure legislation. This funding initiated dozens of important projects, from the largest fleet of electric buses for a California school district to the first order of electric semis and chargers for a long-haul trucking company.
