Advertisement feature from EnergyForce
EnergyForce, the UK renewable energy systems specialist, has experienced a surge in car dealerships signing up to its innovative Charge Point Operator platform, EnergyForce InMotion.
The company, which provides a range of services to the automotive sector including EV charging, solar PV, grid connections and operations and maintenance, now has almost 500 dealerships accessing the service.
The technology platform provides a central communication and management system for all EV chargers across different brands and locations, with the ability to integrate into almost all Open Charge Point Protocol charger.
“EnergyForce InMotion allows clients to understand how EV charging is changing their electricity usage and to integrate charging policies to recoup the costs from staff and the public,” said Chris Kirkwood, chairman of EnergyForce.
EnergyForce InMotion provides EV charge cards that can integrate into payroll to recover the costs incurred by employee EV charge point usage. It also enables customers to pay by credit card for any charge point usage.
Chris explains, “The platform provides valuable data and insights on the volume, timing, and utilisation of charge sessions, helping to support future roll-out plans and optimise the charging infrastructure.”
This investment in technology to support dealerships and their customers is a key part of EnergyForce’s commitment to supporting the sustainability of the automotive retail sector.
“The platform has become an integral part of our offering to dealerships as they aim to make their sites more sustainable, while also managing the transition from ICE to BEV in the vehicles they offer.
“Alongside our proprietary hardware and software renewable energy solutions, which are blended with our expertise and market knowledge, we work in unison with dealers to deliver these savings, support low carbon business strategies and help meet industry and government electrification targets,” said Chris.
The company has also seen a growth its Operations & Maintenance division, with its nationwide team providing proactive and reactive service to sites. This includes, in addition to maintaining its own range of proprietary renewable energy systems, EnergyForce provides services for other manufacturers’ chargers including Delta, NewMotion, BP ChargerMaster and PodPoint. Service levels are also flexible to suit customer requirements and can include a 12-hour call-out.
EnergyForce’s growing position in the sector is further emphasised by the number of dealerships utilsing its proprietary renewable energy systems.
In the last 12 months alone, EnergyForce’s team of 80 engineers has installed more than 16,000 solar panels on upwards of 100 dealerships sites, as well as installing 1,500 charging points for EVs for automotive retailers.
It has also secured more than 150 new grid connections to facilitate EV charging at dealerships and currently monitors and supports in excess of 2,500 charge points and more than 8GWh of energy production from UK car dealerships.
These milestones have been reached by delivering high-profile contracts with major retail groups such as Vertu Motors, Ryland Automotive and Endeavour Automotive, Lloyd Motor Group and a collection of independent car dealerships.
“We are exceptionally proud of the role 
we are playing having built some exceptional relationships in the automotive industry that has enabled us to become a strategic partner for car dealers,” said Chris.