Here at Going Green we like to talk to specialists in industries we are seeing rapidly change. One industry that we are watching change before our very eyes in the electric vehicle industry. New companies and products are emerging, along with the infrastructure to help build, charge, buy, and sell the cars. We had the change to talk with Colleen Jansen, Marketing Strategist, to discuss the world’s largest charging network, ChargePoint.
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Industry You Work In & Company:
Since the beginning, ChargePoint has been committed to build out the fueling network that will enable the movement of people and goods on electricity. ChargePoint isn’t just an EV charging company, it is a platform company that enables everyone else’s business model. When charging is a company’s business, ChargePoint is the platform that enables it (e.g. InstaVolt in the UK). When charging is not a company’s business, ChargePoint is the platform that empowers organizations to be part of buildout (e.g. retail, workplace, etc.), or enable the transition to electric (e.g. fleet). ChargePoint isn’t simply a supplier of goods, the company is a platform that enables electric mobility. Enabling other business models isn’t a concept or idea, it’s real and it’s happening today. In North America and Europe, ChargePoint has implemented a wide range of integrations from voice, roaming agreements, vertical integration points, payment innovation, fleet integrations, ECO and energy management, energy storage, retail loyalty, multifamily, to name a few.
ChargePoint is the world’s largest charging network with more than 112,000 places to charge across North America and Europe. Thousands of places to charge are added to the ChargePoint network each month, with drivers completing millions of sessions per month and plugging in every few seconds. Since 2007, ChargePoint has been committed to developing solutions that will enable the movement of people and goods on electricity. ChargePoint solutions support the needs of every application and use case for electric vehicle charging.
Role In Company:
Colleen Jansen is a market strategist with more than 20 years of experience in both B2B and B2C marketing spanning early stage, privately held VC-funded companies as well as large cap, publicly traded firms. Jansen is responsible for the marketing function, consumer business and North America policy. Prior to ChargePoint, she led teams in a number of category-creating startups as well as established brands including Microsoft, Yahoo, Intuit and LinkedIn. Jansen sits on the board of CALSTART, a nonprofit that works to create jobs, cut air pollution and curb climate change. An early EV adopter, she is passionate about helping businesses and consumers realize the functional and societal benefits of driving electric. She holds a B.S. from California State University, Fresno.
How did you get involved in the sustainable industry?
Since 2007, ChargePoint has created the fueling network that will enable the movement of people and goods on electricity. Transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) worldwide, and ChargePoint has been singularly focused on enabling the mass adoption of electric mobility for drivers and businesses with solutions that support everything from a mobile app, to home charger, to retail and highway fast charge, to workplace and fleets. Reducing GHG emissions from transportation is key to slowing climate change and making sure our planet stays a healthy place to live. EVs fight climate change by powering transportation with electricity, not fossil fuels. Driving an EV can cut fossil fuel emissions in half or get rid of them entirely when renewable energy sources are used.
EV sales are growing at a rate of more than 50 percent year over year on average. Access to EV charging makes it easier for people to kick fossil fuels and support travel in cities, rural areas and on long trips. The U.S. Department of Energy has found that drivers with access to charging at work are 6X more likely to switch to electric. Extending the EV charging network encourages sustainable choices. For me, protecting the health of our planet is personal—I was an early adopter of my first EV, and I revel in the opportunity I get every day to contribute to making our world a better place. That is one of the reasons I do what I do, and why we at ChargePoint have been doing what we do since 2007.
What trends are you seeing in your industry?
As the electric mobility industry grows, more industries are embracing the value of providing EV charging solutions at their place of business or to support the transition of their fleets. ChargePoint serves industries including, but not limited to, home and multifamily/residential, retail, workplace and fleet. This is the year of the fleet pilot. Rapidly changing consumer expectations continues to drive fleets in all categories of delivery, motorpool, transit, etc. to increase investments in the electrification of transportation with piloting their first electric fleets in 2020. This shift is motivating other industries to follow suit.
Learn More About ChargePoint Here
What is one “Action Item” the viewers can take away from this conversation?
Mobility is poised to drive the most significant societal change over the next decade, with changing consumer behavior forever transforming the way people and goods are transported (on electricity) around the globe. By understanding what is already here and educating ourselves on what is to come, we are paving the way to a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Thank you Colleen for sharing more information about ChargePoint and the world’s largest charging network. To learn more about the Electric Vehicle industry, be sure to listen to the Going Green podcast, where we talk to leaders in the cleantech and sustainable space.