Imagine managing a fleet of cars for a car rental or package delivery firm. Switching to EVs makes vehicle management harder owing to long charging times and few charging points.
At the end of 2023, Sequoia Capital and Dynamo Ventures invested $5.2 million in the French company Guided Energy, which is developing EV fleet operators’ charge management and dispatch software. The startup utilizes machine learning to predict when and where to charge your automobiles using data from vehicles, public, and private charging outlets.
“The online EV ecosystem is great. We immediately link to EVs and recharge outlets. We can link with clients’ telematics or supervision systems utilizing APIs into our platform to provide them with a single, real-time, unified picture of their EV operations, co-founder and CEO Anant Kapoor informed me. 
Previously, Anant Kapoor managed product teams developing fleet management software to measure and reduce emissions. Company CTO Eric Daoud has a PhD in machine learning from Inria.
Guided Energy serves Sixt and Addison Lee. Most clients have in-house charging stations. However, all charging stations are typically full, and there is no place for another.
Kapoor said some use public charging or charge at employees’ homes but fail to integrate these external solutions into their operational, reporting, or financial workflows.
EV charging prices vary greatly, which is the main concern. Home charging is inexpensive but sluggish. Highway charging is more costly than other methods.
A software program like Guided Energy must include cost and battery charge time. Thus, the distance between the charging outlet and the vehicle’s destination is crucial.
The business estimates direct and indirect savings of up to $10,000 per electric car when charging fees and operational costs are included. Sending someone to a remote place in a major metropolis can be expensive. Guided Energy costs “€30–40 per vehicle per month” for vehicle subscriptions.
The Guided Energy platform tracks over 1,000 cars. As the firm signs more consumers, that figure should quadruple in a few months.
