AI in Automotive - #501 - Teddy Flatau, Founder & CEO - Wevo Energy

“I believe that as EV charging will democratize and the prices go down, More and more people, who are in the middle class, will require to be able to charge at night, because that's the easiest way. You come home, you plug your car, and it's full in the morning. It's like leaving your car every morning with a full tank. And then you start forgettingabout Range anxiety.”

Range anxiety. Charger anxiety. This anxiety and that anxiety. There seems to be a lot of anxiety in the mainstream adoption of EVs.

One of the biggest behaviour changes someone migrating from years of driving an ICE to an EV has to make is the refuelling behaviour. You refuel an ICE when you have. You recharge an EV when you can. You charge every time you park. At home, at your workplace, at your gym, your shopping center, at the restaurant. For this to become reality, charging must become ubiquitous.

But it’s not that easy. It never is. So many chargers are likely to burden the grid, which, let’s face it, was never designed to deal with huge loads coming on simultaneously. So what’s the solution? And how does AI help?

I invited Teddy Flatau to kick off season 5 of the AI in Automotive Podcast. Teddy is the founder and CEO of Wevo Energy, a company that helps solve exactly this problem with the power of technology and AI. 

Charging infrastructure sits squarely at the intersection of automotive and energy. It is often touted as the missing piece in the electrification of transport, and so, understandably, it attracts a lot of attention. However, hiding in plain sight is the opportunity that cheap, reliable AC chargers at multi-family homes, commercial complexes, retail parks, hotels presents - any destination with more than an hour of dwell time is ripe for a bank of cheap and cheerful AC chargers. Making these chargers smart in terms of when they charge which car based on what parameter while being friendly to the pocket and the grid is what can truly unlock the ubiquity of EV charging. This is the transformation that Wevo Energy is bringing about.

As one of the most knowledgeable voices in this space, Teddy shares his view on what it will take for charging to be everywhere, and how Wevo Energy is helping the world get there. If you are interested in the smarts that make a charger go from a dumb plug to a cutting-edge piece of tech that can manage when and how much your car charges to optimise your spend and the load on the grid, this is the chat you want to listen to.

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Teddy, and if you did, why not share the AI in Automotive Podcast with a friend or colleague. We will be back soon with more perspectives on how AI is driving the convergence of automotive and energy.