From 6 to 10 million dollars. This is the sum that the RVE company in Laval would like to collect over the next few months to expand in the United States and develop its technology; a solution to the energy puzzle of owners of an electric car who live in the city, in an apartment or in a condominium.
Parking and charging an electric car in front of the entrance to a single-family home is not complicated. In the city, in neighborhoods made up mainly of multi-unit buildings, it is on the contrary quite a challenge. However, the solution already exists in part. And she’s from Quebec.
What RVE has created over the past eight years is both hypersimple and extremely complex. The Laval company has created an electrical module that allows, in the indoor or outdoor parking lot of a multi-unit building, to associate a charging station with a dwelling and, therefore, with the correct electricity bill. If necessary, the RVE device also takes care of alternating the current between the terminal and another electrical circuit used sporadically, such as a clothes dryer. This avoids having to replace the entire electrical panel of a building.
The next step is to make this system compatible with the “challenges” offered by Hydro-Québec to its residential customers who have adopted dynamic pricing. These challenges promise them to save on their bills by occasionally shifting their peak consumption to times when overall demand is lower, much like the Hilo program does.
RVE therefore wants to conform its technology to what the Quebec government calls energy sobriety, so that its customers do not have to do so. Then, she would like to export everything to the United States. And to achieve this, the company, which has so far been self-financed, is looking for a financial boost from outside.
“The type of investor we are looking for next is someone who has a good knowledge of the real estate and construction sector, to keep the pace,” explains the To have to the founder and big boss of RVE, David Corbeil.
“We have doubled in size every year since 2019 and we have increased our revenue tenfold in four years. To date, we have been able to grow through our own efforts. We have reached 30 employees and 20,000 charging units in service in Canada and the United States,” he says.
The inevitable breakthrough of the electric car in the city
A quick glance at the regional statistics for electric vehicle sales is enough to see that demand, both in Quebec and elsewhere in North America, is concentrated in the suburbs of large cities. More than 80% of owners of such a vehicle plug in at night at home and in their driveway.
It’s not so easy for co-owners and tenants who have to park in a common parking lot. Even less for those who have to park on the street. For the latter, the municipal authorities are considering converting certain public spaces into possible charging zones.
For multi-unit buildings, electrifying parking is an expense that can become an investment, believes David Corbeil. “Having your own parking lot in a city like Montreal is worth tens of thousands of dollars,” he says. How do you turn that into an asset that appreciates in value? In the next few years, it will be by offering the possibility of connecting a vehicle. »
Right now, the focus of governments and power grids is primarily on intercity public charging located along highways and on streets. It eliminates a barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles.
“But who is going to buy an electric car in the next ten years? asks David Corbeil. People who live in the city, for the most part. Already, more than 80% of recharging is done at home, but it is still necessary to always have a terminal available in the right place and at the right time…”
The challenge of the century
RVE’s presence in 30 US states is no small feat. The electrical networks outside Quebec are a huge mess. Technologies, standards, features vary from state to state, and sometimes from corner to corner of the same state. RVE had to license its technology one state at a time.
“The North American electrical grid is highly decentralized. Our plan is to develop a global connected solution to better optimize charging demand based on peak electricity demand by region. Eventually, supplier requests will end up being centralized by giants like Google. At that time, we will be able to do it from a single point of contact. »
The next step is therefore more focused on marketing. The Laval company counts 49 million condominium buildings on the continent that could benefit from its technology. She estimates that there are also four million new buildings added each year that will one day need a means of recharging electric vehicles.
RVE has its sights set on the West Coast. California has the most active electric vehicle market on the continent. The company intends to make its place in a market that will only grow as the deadlines for the various climate targets set by governments approach.
“Harmonizing all of this will undoubtedly be the biggest energy challenge of the 21ste century”, concludes David Corbeil.