Electric vehicle software platform Monta is eyeing major growth in Ireland in the coming year as the company bets on a rise in the number of electric cars sold in the market.
The company, which is aiming to create an open, accessible network of charging point infrastructure across the country, said legislation may be needed to compel owners of the current charging infrastructure to open up access to other providers. Ensuring interoperability will allow drivers of electric vehicles to use different charging stations, regardless of the charging point operator, the back-end software they use or the make and model of car.
Monta is aiming to have access to about 10,000-15,000 charging points in the next 12 months. The company said that figure would be driven by emerging trends and needs across fleet, depots, residential apartment blocks, and commercial sites.
Monta’s country manager for Ireland, Ricky Hill, said the industry was fragmented, with EV drivers needing numerous apps to travel around the country. Compelling operators to support interoperability would help solve that. “Their job is to sell electricity, so opening up to as many people as possible is exactly what they should be doing. I think the solution is legislating that they have to open up publicly to all providers, which has been done across Europe.”
Monta’s software allows companies, organisations, and public entities to view, manage and set up charge points for employees, guests, and public EV drivers. It provides an EV charging app for car owners and a management system for charge point owners, connecting drivers, site owners and charge installers. Homeowners can also share their chargers, connecting personal chargers to the Monta app and allowing owners to set their own pricing and usage.
The company has appointed fintech executive Adrienne Gormley to the Monta board to help drive growth in Ireland and seven other markets.
“Looking at the EV adoption rate, it’s accelerating, but I would say it is still at a very early stage,” said Ms Gormley. “There is still a challenge with the infrastructure behind it. In particular, there aren’t enough charge points to keep up with demand. The infrastructure is poorly utilised, and that creates a bad user experience.”
Ms Gormley, who previously served in executive roles at Google, N26 and Dropbox, is expected to play a key role. She has 25 years of experience in growing software-as-a-service companies.
