FlexCharging, Inc., the first company to do electric vehicle (EV) smart & managed charging with its over-the-air technology, has secured a new partner and Series A funding from Accurant International. This partnership will accelerate the roll-out of the technology to help utility companies manage the coming wave of electric vehicles so EVs don't cripple the electrical grid due to power shortages and force the utilities to continue their dependence and use of electricity generated from fossil fuels.

With FlexCharging, EV owners simply download the app, set their charging preferences, and plug in their car wherever they go. Then FlexCharging optimizes charging to ensure the car charges during periods when grid demand is lower, or optimize mass charging of cars on a particular utility substation and feeder not to overload utility equipment. This will result in a more predictable demand for utilities and reduce overloads and emergencies by shifting power demand and consequently reducing their reliance or deployment of peaking fossil fuel power plants. This enables utilities and customers to use electric vehicles as a grid resource instead of trying to manage the grid stability issues that large-scale EV adoption could cause the electrical system.

FlexCharging, an American company based in Seattle, Washington, founded by Brian Grunkemeyer, a technology expert with 21 years leading cloud compute engineering at Microsoft and an environmentalist at heart with 10 years of involvement with the Sierra Club, was the first to perform 'smart managed charging' through over-the-air technology in 2017. Brian has always focused on environmental impact and on establishing the best technology to solve core critical massive-scale problems.

Thanks to that technology focus, FlexCharging now manages charging for 62 models of EVs, has users across three continents, and has numerous patents pending. Today, with the help of a growing team, it has secured a world-class partner and investor in Accurant International.

"Optimized electric vehicle charging and vehicle to grid will be a critical element for utilities in the energy transition as electric vehicle adoption massively scales," said Accurant's Mark Hormann (formerly with Opus One Solutions and General Electric), who has joined FlexCharging's board of directors. "When millions of electric vehicles are connected to the distribution grid, there will be capacity and network balancing challenges for utilities, so understanding the value of these vehicles to the grid while minimizing charging costs and providing drivers with an elegant, easy charging solution will be the game changer."     

FlexCharging is on a mission to provide smart charging for all-electric vehicle makes and models, no matter where they drive or what they plug into, to solve this major problem for utilities and EV owners alike. With a team of passionate engineers and operators at the helm, they are on their way to accomplishing this. 

About FlexCharging (FlexCharging.com)

FlexCharging is an American company based in Washington State, launched in 2017, as the first of its kind telematics-based, electric vehicle (EV) managed (smart) charging solution. With FlexCharging the EV becomes a behind-the-meter grid asset.

About Accurant International (www.AccurantLLC.com)

Accurant International is a technology and capital investment firm, with emphasis on investing in early and mid-stage companies in Energy, Power, and Clean-Tech, including Renewable Energy. Accurant can help its portfolio companies reach their growth goals by advising them in various areas including business operations, business development, product planning, and strategic partnerships with utility customers. Accurant was started by Bahman Hoveida, former CEO and Co-Founder of Open Systems International which was subsequently sold to Emerson Electric in 2020.