Go Time Nears For Australian EV Charger Sharing Startup IvyGo

Last week, a family in Pagewood in Sydney was the first to turn their home EV charger into a source of income by sharing it with other drivers under IvyGo.

While public EV chargers are popping up all over the place at a fairly rapid clip, they can still be difficult to find in convenient locations for some. Sydney-headquartered IvyGo is on a mission to make charging an EV easier by mobilising a peer-to-peer network. Drivers can find private chargers, book a time, and pay for use while hosts are rewarded with a revenue stream.

Founded by Julie Perrissel and Sumit Gole, the pair points to the UK where services such as Zap-Home, JustCharge, and Bookmycharge have emerged to tackle challenges faced by those without access to private charging stations. To be initially available in Sydney, IvyGo plans to expand to other Australian capital cities and beyond from mid-next year.

What Will IvyGo Cost?

It’s envisioned that generally, pricing will be similar to public charger use for an equivalent charging rate – but there’s the added convenience of being able to book in advance and less likelihood of rocking up to find a charger is out of action. For hosts, IvyGo will recommend a per-hour price range based on local peak electricity rates. The recommended price can be accepted, or hosts can set their own.

IvyGo will make its money by taking a cut on each transaction, split between the guest and the host.

In terms of risks and liabilities, IvyGo advises hosts to check with their home insurer and is looking to partner with insurance companies to provide affordable, tailored coverage. For guests, they are advised to check with their insurer for coverage related to damage; i.e.; either to their own vehicle or the host’s property.

As for getting started as either a host or guest, it will be just a matter of downloading the IvyGo app and setting it up appropriately. Currently the service is beta testing in Sydney with view to onboarding 40 hosts before an official launch in February 2025.

IvyGo could be attractive to charger owners who have decent-sized solar power systems and aren’t at home during the day (and don’t mind strangers parking in their driveways). Instead of exporting surplus solar energy for a pittance, there’s opportunity to perhaps make much more with IvyGo assuming a good location. Hosts have total control over when people can use their home EV chargers and the service offers contact-free bookings, payments and access.

But these aren’t DC fast chargers folks will be using – they’ll be comparatively much slower AC chargers, which makes me wonder what guests will do while they are waiting around. Again, it will be down to location – for example, a host situated close to a major shopping centre or apartment buildings might do ok with IvyGo. But there’s also wear and tear on equipment to consider.

And speaking of equipment, I couldn’t find any detail on charger compatibility – but I’m assuming they’ll need OCPP support.

IvyGo Getting Noticed

In late November, IvyGo took out the Newcomer Award at the 2024 Australian Climate Tech Connect & Awards. It was also a finalist for Smart Company’s final instalment of The Pitch for 2024.

In comments to SmartCompany, Julie Perrissel said IvyGo’s forecast (hope?) is to reach 500 hosts and 1,000 active guests by mid-next year, at which point the service would be the biggest charging network in Sydney. By 2027, their aim is for 20% of private chargers in Australia to be on IvyGo and 30% of EV drivers to be using the service.

Nothing wrong with a bit of ambition.

While on the topic of EV charger accessibility, SQ’s Neerav wrote about Alchemy Charge last week, which is another Australian startup with a solution that turns an ordinary power outlet into a smart (albeit slow) EV charger  – which could be of particular benefit to those living in apartments.