Leading US electric vehicle charging network operator ChargePoint has announced a strategic partnership with autonomous middle mile logistics company Gatik. The partnership gives customers access to Gatik’s class 3-6 autonomous electric fleet and ChargePoint’s charging infrastructure and integrated services to support a “cleaner, more efficient and sustainable logistics sector”.
The companies believe infrastructure and integrated services will play “a significant role in helping to decarbonise the B2B short-haul logistics sector” and have set out to offer a “simple and seamless solution” to help customers meet their corporate sustainability goals.
The collaboration, they say, aims to develop an “electric ecosystem for autonomous vehicles designed to maximise sustainability, operational efficiency and economics for customers across North America”.
“ChargePoint has proven experience across multiple customer applications and use cases and our partnership will help more forward-thinking fleets to realise their e-mobility and decarbonisation goals,” said Rich Mohr, Vice President, Fleet at ChargePoint.
Arjun Narang, Co-founder and CTO at Gatik says customers transporting goods in Gatik’s autonomous electric fleet will have access to ChargePoint’s expertise in site design, interoperability validation, and lower investment costs. Gatik will also have access to a nationwide charging network and fleet-specific software that provides telematics intelligence configurable to each customer’s operations, as well as modular charging hardware to minimize upfront costs by reducing required electrical capacity. “This strategic electric ecosystem collaboration for the middle mile will play a key role in the electrified logistics sector,” says Narang.
Furthermore, he argues, with “consumer expectations for real-time access to goods increasing faster than the most confident predictions,” there has been an influx of freight-moving vehicles added to North America’s roads. This has made sustainability both a “collective challenge and a collective responsibility for leaders in the logistics industry to contend with”.
