A year ago, Chargery was still a small company offering its mobile charging service for electric cars in Berlin’s trendy Prenzlauerberg district. Today, a year later, it’s a serious startup with 25 employees and big plans, says Chargery CEO and co-founder Christian Lang in his brand new office in Berlin-Mitte.
“Today we are charging about 1,000 cars per month in Berlin. The service is also offered in Hamburg and another German city. We’re doing pretty well” says Lang.
Lang and co-founders Philipp Anders and Paul Stuke had the idea for Chargery about one and a half years ago, in the summer of 2017. Lang had just rented an electric car, but realized how difficult it was to find a charging station nearby. Would not it be fantastic if there was someone who could solve this loading problem?
Electric bicycle with trailer
The idea for a mobile charging service was born. The first concept for an electric bike with a trailer and a large battery for recharging was created in the same year. The bike was unfortunately stolen because the chain had been cracked.
It did not take long until the second prototype. The convinced three private investors and BMW with its car sharing subsidiary DriveNow. Meanwhile, Sixt and Smart (Daimler) have become customers of the company, as well as the German film production agency Pantaleon of the actor Matthias Schweighöfer. Sixt also participated with a small investment in the company.
Lang uses his example to explain how it works. “Sixt and Drive Now have employees who take care of the use, rental and maintenance of the electric vehicles. They have a system with which they can see where the cars are and how the battery is charged. If they see one of their cars start to falter (less than 20%), they will notify us of the request to recharge it. We then look where the car is. If there is a free charging station nearby, we will send one of our e-scooters to bring the car to this charging station. If there are no available charging stations, we will go there by bicycle and charge the car on-site. ”
Check from tire pressure to vacuuming
According to Lang, about half of the electric car-sharing cars will be mobilized and the other half will be charged at a stationary charging station. “We expect it to stay that way for a few more years, but in the long run, as the number of charging stations grows, we need to remember that the percentage of mobile charge will go down.”
So less work in the future? “No, not at all” says Lang. First, there will be more and more electric cars, which means more work. Second, Chargery’s services go far beyond mobile charging. “That’s why we like to use the term ‘full service’ for what we do. Our service is about much more than just mobile charging. For example, we also offer the inside and outside cleaning of the vehicle and the tire pressure check. It’s a whole set of services”.
For the time being, the service is only available for business customers such as Sixt and Drive Now in the Berlin districts of Prenzlauerberg, Mitte, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. “But we are also working with Daimler on a project for private E-Smart drivers.”
In addition, work is being done to improve service quality. For example, Charger’s mobile charging station now has a capacity of 5 kilowatt hours. So a car can be charged in about 3 hours. “We will soon switch to 30 kW. Then it can be done in 45 minutes”.
Prague’s first hub abroad
Lang is now working hard to extend the chargery concept to other cities. In Prague, Czech Republic, Chargery has found a franchisee who has found Skoda as a mobile service customer. Chargery will soon also open a branch in Hamburg and according to Lang also in another big city.
There is also great interest from abroad, says Lang, without naming names. He’s also working on patenting the entire Chargery concept, but he’s not worried about that. “For the time being I do not see any serious competition. There are trucks that offer a similar mobile charging service as we do, but I doubt they have any chance of success in a busy city”.