1 00:00:05,125 --> 00:00:06,596 Good morning, Grid Connections listeners. 2 00:00:06,596 --> 00:00:14,939 Welcome back to Grid Connections, the podcast where we explore the intersection of clean energy, electric vehicles, and the evolving power grid. 3 00:00:14,939 --> 00:00:15,840 I'm your host Chase. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:24,083 And today I'm thrilled to share a conversation with Kendall Cody, Director of Marketing and Communications at WeaveGrid, a company helping EVs become a flexible grid optimized 5 00:00:24,083 --> 00:00:27,445 resource through intelligent software integration with utilities. 6 00:00:27,445 --> 00:00:32,258 If that name sounds familiar, it's actually not the first time we've had someone from WeaveGrid on the show. 7 00:00:32,258 --> 00:00:38,120 but it's really interesting to hear how far they've come since we last spoke with them and some of the new updates they have to share. 8 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:46,372 In this episode, we unpack how WeaveGrid is working behind the scenes to help utilities prepare for the electric vehicle boom, the importance of customer engagement in managed 9 00:00:46,372 --> 00:00:56,065 charging programs, why trust and transparency matter for successful grid partnerships, and what it takes to scale utility collaboration in a fragmented market. 10 00:00:56,196 --> 00:01:01,168 Before we get into today's episode, just want to remind you though about the launch of grid connections consulting. 11 00:01:01,168 --> 00:01:06,810 We're helping organizations from utilities to startups navigate the electric vehicle electrification landscape. 12 00:01:06,810 --> 00:01:09,171 Learn more at grid connections.co. 13 00:01:09,171 --> 00:01:11,672 You can also find the link in today's show notes. 14 00:01:11,672 --> 00:01:15,994 If you enjoy this episode, please share it with someone who's passionate about the future of energy and mobility. 15 00:01:15,994 --> 00:01:19,035 And don't forget to leave a puzzle review on your favorite podcast app. 16 00:01:19,035 --> 00:01:20,976 It really does help us grow. 17 00:01:20,976 --> 00:01:22,887 Plus don't miss a beat in the industry. 18 00:01:22,887 --> 00:01:30,658 Sign up for our newsletter, use the link in the show notes to get the latest episodes, EV news and consulting insights delivered straight to your inbox with that. 19 00:01:30,658 --> 00:01:31,419 Enjoy. 20 00:01:36,544 --> 00:01:38,525 Kendall, thank you so much for coming on today. 21 00:01:38,525 --> 00:01:44,150 I know we've got quite a few different topics we're going to cover, but really excited to be getting into this, with you today and. 22 00:01:44,150 --> 00:01:46,395 learning more about what Weave Grid's working on. 23 00:01:46,976 --> 00:01:47,840 Yeah, excited to be here. 24 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:48,563 Thanks for having me. 25 00:01:48,563 --> 00:01:58,404 for those who may not be familiar with what you do at WeaveGrid and then what WeaveGrid does in general, can you just kind of give like an overview of the company just for any 26 00:01:58,404 --> 00:02:01,865 listeners who may have missed the previous episodes with the WeaveGrid team. 27 00:02:01,865 --> 00:02:02,665 Yeah, of course. 28 00:02:02,665 --> 00:02:09,045 So I like to describe WeaveGrid as an EVMS or an electric vehicle management system. 29 00:02:09,045 --> 00:02:19,625 We're a software company, so we don't create any electric vehicle charging hardware products, but we work with electric utilities, EV automakers, and then those charger 30 00:02:19,625 --> 00:02:29,785 manufacturers to optimize when EVs are charging on the electric grid, which will ultimately help enable, you know, EV adoption. 31 00:02:30,577 --> 00:02:40,345 More specifically, what we do is we shift when EVs are charging to ensure that that charging is happening at times that are both best for the driver, so cheapest, or 32 00:02:40,345 --> 00:02:50,073 utilizing renewable energy if the cleanliness is something that they care about, or times that are best for the resilience of the electric grid. 33 00:02:50,474 --> 00:02:58,521 So, you know, times when there's not a lot of other electricity demand and it's easier for the utility to serve those EV customers. 34 00:02:59,121 --> 00:03:02,651 As for me, I've been with Weave Grid for about three and a half years now. 35 00:03:02,651 --> 00:03:05,863 I lead our marketing and communications efforts. 36 00:03:05,943 --> 00:03:18,837 And what that means is everything from announcing new fundraising and partnerships and utility programs to managing our event presence and booth set conferences and what our 37 00:03:18,837 --> 00:03:22,418 website looks like and our brand identity and all of those things. 38 00:03:22,418 --> 00:03:25,019 So how we really appear publicly as a company. 39 00:03:25,017 --> 00:03:26,977 can you describe how WeaveGrid it's like driver. 40 00:03:26,977 --> 00:03:31,602 program specifically like benefits, both EV owners and also the electrical grid. 41 00:03:31,602 --> 00:03:37,779 I think that's where there's a really interesting kind of crossover with your team's offerings. 42 00:03:38,278 --> 00:03:39,149 Yeah, absolutely. 43 00:03:39,149 --> 00:03:42,322 So we really strive to always put the EV driver first. 44 00:03:42,322 --> 00:03:52,111 Obviously, we're trying to optimize for the grid at the end of the day, but we want EV drivers to have the best possible experience with their at-home charging because they're 45 00:03:52,111 --> 00:03:53,633 going through a transition themselves, right? 46 00:03:53,633 --> 00:04:03,522 They're switching from filling up every time that their gas tank near is empty to kind of charging more consistently at home, usually overnight. 47 00:04:03,904 --> 00:04:13,711 So the structure of each of our programs actually varies a little bit by utility and that just is in terms of, you know, whether there's an upfront incentive or what the goal of 48 00:04:13,711 --> 00:04:15,492 the actual program is. 49 00:04:16,313 --> 00:04:20,857 In some cases, it's very explicitly to use renewable energy for charging. 50 00:04:20,857 --> 00:04:25,580 For example, our Xcel Energy Charging Perks program in Colorado. 51 00:04:25,884 --> 00:04:33,381 is using EV charging to absorb excess renewables like wind or energy that would otherwise be curtailed. 52 00:04:33,381 --> 00:04:34,101 So that's awesome. 53 00:04:34,101 --> 00:04:40,597 That's like 100 % charging on clean electricity at times that are cheaper for the driver. 54 00:04:41,178 --> 00:04:46,843 But kind of across the board, all of these programs offer some sort of sign up incentive. 55 00:04:46,843 --> 00:04:49,045 And so it's free for the customer. 56 00:04:49,045 --> 00:04:52,848 They're even essentially being paid to join these programs. 57 00:04:53,300 --> 00:05:02,666 And then they receive some sort of compensation for staying engaged in the program, either after six months, after a year, or even ongoing monthly in some cases. 58 00:05:03,327 --> 00:05:09,192 On top of that, we're helping them charge at the times that are cheapest for them based on their electric rate. 59 00:05:09,192 --> 00:05:19,999 So if drivers are on a time of use rate where electricity is cheaper at certain times of day when demand is lower for the utility, then we'll ensure that they're always charging 60 00:05:19,999 --> 00:05:21,800 during those cheapest times. 61 00:05:21,856 --> 00:05:31,351 So it's really kind of a aiming to be a set it and forget it style experience where you kind of just get used to coming home, plugging in when you get home, not worrying too much 62 00:05:31,351 --> 00:05:36,084 about it and knowing that your car will charge at the cheapest time for you. 63 00:05:36,664 --> 00:05:38,245 I'm in this world, right? 64 00:05:38,245 --> 00:05:47,890 I'm thinking about this kind of stuff all the time, but I've literally written, you know, my peak power hours on my fridge because I keep forgetting when it's cheapest to, you 65 00:05:47,890 --> 00:05:51,012 know, run my dishwasher, run my laundry. 66 00:05:51,184 --> 00:05:57,668 But with my car, I know I can just plug it in and it'll charge at the time that's cheapest because WeaveGrid is taking care of it in the background. 67 00:05:57,668 --> 00:06:03,171 And I am enrolled in a WeaveGrid program, so it's fun to get to be a user of the product as well. 68 00:06:04,232 --> 00:06:18,329 And then on the grid side, it's kind of like I said through that renewable program or even like the time of use rates, the electric utilities have built the grid planning for homes 69 00:06:18,329 --> 00:06:19,324 to pop up. 70 00:06:19,324 --> 00:06:27,369 where they are, to be built where they are, but not necessarily to like double the load of those homes by plugging a car in there as well. 71 00:06:27,710 --> 00:06:34,215 And so a lot of the challenges that utilities face are actually at that more local distribution level. 72 00:06:34,215 --> 00:06:43,761 And that's something that's not always captured by those time of use rates, which is actually more thinking about the electricity generation or bulk power level. 73 00:06:43,761 --> 00:06:48,024 And so what we'll do is take in more granular data from the utility. 74 00:06:48,092 --> 00:06:59,987 and ensure that the cars are charging at times that are better for that local system so that they don't have to, you know, build more infrastructure to deliver power to homes and 75 00:06:59,987 --> 00:07:08,260 that they can kind of prolong the assets they have, which will over time actually keep electric rates lower for customers as well. 76 00:07:08,301 --> 00:07:10,562 So it's really multifaceted. 77 00:07:10,562 --> 00:07:12,032 gets a little bit convoluted. 78 00:07:12,032 --> 00:07:16,244 But the idea is that we're kind of taking away the complexity from 79 00:07:16,272 --> 00:07:23,621 everyday people and even from the utilities to some degree and kind of just helping all of this stuff operate smoother in the background. 80 00:07:24,863 --> 00:07:25,383 Yeah, that's great. 81 00:07:25,383 --> 00:07:32,295 And I think, I mean, one of the things I want to ask you about was like, how does this kind of integrate and utilities involved? 82 00:07:32,295 --> 00:07:40,058 know you mentioned Colorado is when the program for those who are listening, like right now, what are the biggest markets or what are the best ways? 83 00:07:40,058 --> 00:07:44,399 say that someone is in a market that we've grades technology isn't currently active. 84 00:07:44,399 --> 00:07:49,401 What can they do maybe to try and get a pilot or other kind of program there to take advantage of it? 85 00:07:49,702 --> 00:07:56,915 Yeah, so it is kind of still early days in this broader, you know, EV managed charging industry. 86 00:07:57,575 --> 00:08:03,698 Some of the biggest markets that we've grids in right now are Maryland, Colorado and California. 87 00:08:04,338 --> 00:08:08,910 Baltimore Gas and Electric and the Exelon utilities are really kind of at the forefront here. 88 00:08:08,910 --> 00:08:10,741 Same with Exel Energy. 89 00:08:10,741 --> 00:08:14,373 And then the California utilities, there's just higher EV adoption here. 90 00:08:14,373 --> 00:08:17,980 So they're kind of having to deal with some of those. 91 00:08:17,980 --> 00:08:25,404 distribution level challenges already, where it's something that other utilities are just starting to try to understand and plan for. 92 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:35,720 And so we have a program that we're running with Pacific Gas and Electric here in California that's really focused on three counties where EV adoption is the highest and 93 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:40,432 trying to do that distribution level optimization. 94 00:08:41,893 --> 00:08:46,996 We also have a statewide California program that's funded by the California Energy Commission. 95 00:08:47,004 --> 00:08:58,739 And that one isn't tied to a specific utility, but it's helping to kind of build understanding of where all of these vehicles are charging and how they're charging so that 96 00:08:58,739 --> 00:09:01,690 we can better inform these types of programs in the future. 97 00:09:01,690 --> 00:09:11,404 So for folks in those states and others, you can actually, you can go to our website, to the driver page, and we have links out to all of the different utility programs. 98 00:09:11,404 --> 00:09:16,836 And they're kind of, you know, spanning the country, but in certain utility territories. 99 00:09:17,136 --> 00:09:29,604 And if you're not in one of those territories, but you want to see offerings like this, you could always kind of write into your local utility commission or into your utility and 100 00:09:29,604 --> 00:09:32,686 ask when these types of programs might be available. 101 00:09:32,686 --> 00:09:36,718 And that'll kind of help push them to get these things running. 102 00:09:37,025 --> 00:09:37,625 That's great. 103 00:09:37,625 --> 00:09:45,919 And you know, that's really interesting when you're talking about when you look at California, Colorado and Maryland, those are obviously three geographical different 104 00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:56,853 locations, but also pretty different in a lot of ways, not just where they get their power from, but also obviously Colorado's got the mountains, not that California doesn't, but it 105 00:09:56,853 --> 00:10:01,665 just a lot of different types of different parts of the country. 106 00:10:01,665 --> 00:10:05,887 And so I'm kind of curious, are there any trends or interesting things that have kind of already 107 00:10:05,887 --> 00:10:17,213 stood out to the Weave Grid team, maybe between these different territories and what maybe EV drivers are doing differently or how they interact with Weave Grid and the utility. 108 00:10:18,332 --> 00:10:32,086 think those states, it's just that the state level policy has really been aggressive in enabling EV adoption and pushing forward towards goals for percentage of EV sales and 109 00:10:32,086 --> 00:10:32,766 things like that. 110 00:10:32,766 --> 00:10:38,557 And so that's why those utilities are also kind of at the forefront of this problem. 111 00:10:39,578 --> 00:10:48,440 In terms of trends across those areas with the folks that are involved in our programs, 112 00:10:49,144 --> 00:10:58,530 We've really found that kind of the more tech savvy early adopters are really interested in trying to figure out how to optimize all this stuff themselves. 113 00:10:58,530 --> 00:11:09,176 But as we are getting into like more mass market EV adoption, which I think we're like still kind of on that upswing, but as there have been more and more EV makes and models 114 00:11:09,176 --> 00:11:15,130 available and people are testing them out, they kind of just want everything to be. 115 00:11:15,130 --> 00:11:20,247 handled for them and to know that they're saving money and like doing the right thing. 116 00:11:20,628 --> 00:11:22,661 And I think it's hard to know that. 117 00:11:22,661 --> 00:11:29,070 And so that's why I think these programs can be really helpful in just taking away some of that complexity for them. 118 00:11:29,801 --> 00:11:30,531 No, that's great. 119 00:11:30,531 --> 00:11:38,507 mean, with the kind of setup that you're going with one of these utilities and kind of approaching them, can you kind of share? 120 00:11:38,621 --> 00:11:43,050 I think there's probably a lot of, has someone's kind of worked in that space. 121 00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:51,476 Obviously there's like cyber security and those kinds of concerns, but I'm kind of curious, like, with a lot of the transformations we're seeing in utilities, I would say 122 00:11:51,476 --> 00:11:58,271 more often not, especially like now versus like a few, even a few years ago, they're much more open to these kinds of conversations, but 123 00:11:58,271 --> 00:12:07,644 I'm just kind of curious, probably security is one of them, but what are maybe either areas of pushback or just concerns you kind of hear when you first start speaking with the 124 00:12:07,644 --> 00:12:09,917 utilities and kind of the other groups involved? 125 00:12:10,502 --> 00:12:14,713 Yeah, cybersecurity is definitely one of the concerns. 126 00:12:16,554 --> 00:12:21,315 Also, access to these programs for their customers. 127 00:12:21,315 --> 00:12:32,928 think sometimes, you know, even as recently as a few years ago, and even still, like Tesla is the largest share of EVs on the road, and those have, you know, historically been seen 128 00:12:32,928 --> 00:12:34,058 as a luxury product. 129 00:12:34,058 --> 00:12:40,356 And so utilities want to be sure that they're not subsidizing their more. 130 00:12:40,356 --> 00:12:45,140 affluent customers and at the expense of everyone else. 131 00:12:45,140 --> 00:12:57,891 And so there's been a lot of effort to figure out how to provide these types of programs for the broadest possible group of people and to also ensure that these programs are 132 00:12:57,891 --> 00:13:01,194 creating value for folks who don't even have EVs. 133 00:13:01,194 --> 00:13:03,435 And so that's why... 134 00:13:04,754 --> 00:13:16,893 some of this distribution level optimization, the idea is to put downward pressure on EV, on rates, electricity rates overall, by using the equipment that they have now more 135 00:13:16,893 --> 00:13:17,853 efficiently. 136 00:13:17,853 --> 00:13:27,280 So instead of having to like build up additional power plants or, you know, poles and wires and all of that infrastructure to serve EVs. 137 00:13:27,290 --> 00:13:39,498 If we can move when the EVs are charging into times where like there's already a demand deficit and there's excess power, then that can actually create cheaper overall rates or 138 00:13:39,498 --> 00:13:41,709 at least not increased rates. 139 00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:44,492 And it ends up benefiting everybody. 140 00:13:44,492 --> 00:13:49,955 So I think that's actually a really big concern that we see from the utility side. 141 00:13:50,536 --> 00:13:57,180 From the automotive side, because we have these active partnerships with automakers as well, 142 00:13:57,224 --> 00:14:09,164 They just want to know that their drivers are having the best possible experience, that they're saving money on charging when they can, that this transition from a gas-powered 143 00:14:09,164 --> 00:14:22,704 vehicle to an EV is something that's going well for them so that the investments that they're making in producing new lines of EVs are going to be beneficial for both them and 144 00:14:22,704 --> 00:14:23,984 for their customers. 145 00:14:25,205 --> 00:14:27,106 Yeah, that's, I think that all makes sense. 146 00:14:27,106 --> 00:14:34,400 And it's kind of interesting when you think about it from like the larger utility objectives and making sure that, cause I think that's something we see pretty regularly 147 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:42,174 with pilots and new technologies is like, how do you justify this as being beneficial to all the rate payers? 148 00:14:42,435 --> 00:14:53,110 And I think to me, what really stands out is if you're really figuring out where and how you're taking advantage of the energy and the EVs, I mean, to me, the biggest thing that 149 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:54,471 really stands out is like, 150 00:14:55,147 --> 00:15:02,243 having this technology could be a big way to avoid having to use a peaker plan or some of these other things when the grid starts getting more taxed. 151 00:15:02,243 --> 00:15:15,974 And it seems like that would probably be a pretty quick path for your company's technology to more or less show in our ROI, but obviously provide that value to all rate payers more 152 00:15:15,974 --> 00:15:16,504 importantly. 153 00:15:16,504 --> 00:15:25,361 kind of like that conversation, when you look at what is going on with automakers too on the other side, 154 00:15:25,437 --> 00:15:27,380 What do you see? 155 00:15:27,777 --> 00:15:31,748 I know even in my own work and kind of talking to others, there is. 156 00:15:33,749 --> 00:15:44,798 I guess maybe just to say it bluntly, there is like an apprehension with data sharing and like what APIs are like what level of sharing that you're or that they will kind of open 157 00:15:44,798 --> 00:15:49,002 up to you to be able to kind of work off of on your side. 158 00:15:49,002 --> 00:15:59,310 Are there any like levels of like, I guess if let's say I'm automaker ABC company or something, ask me company and I want to work with weave grid. 159 00:15:59,310 --> 00:16:03,037 Do you know like what are kind of like the basic things you would need from 160 00:16:03,037 --> 00:16:10,493 our autom, our vehicles to start really providing value to the data side and helping both you and the utility. 161 00:16:11,206 --> 00:16:21,584 Yeah, so this has been, there's been a lot of evolution in the space and in telematics access to vehicles over even the past few years. 162 00:16:22,505 --> 00:16:34,175 So at first, I think a lot of the automakers were just starting to understand the value in the data that they have from their vehicles as these vehicles were becoming much more tech 163 00:16:34,175 --> 00:16:35,275 enabled. 164 00:16:36,412 --> 00:16:47,160 And now with most new cars, you kind of operate the majority of the car from an app on your phone as opposed to like your key and things within the vehicle. 165 00:16:48,862 --> 00:16:54,666 I think there's kind of two approaches in the managed charging space. 166 00:16:54,726 --> 00:17:02,226 One is kind of using third parties to access the app that the drivers are using. 167 00:17:02,226 --> 00:17:07,020 to scrape some of the data from the app and enable some controls of the vehicle. 168 00:17:07,341 --> 00:17:20,944 What WeaveGrid's doing is partnering directly with the automakers and in some cases the charging manufacturers to create a connection with their API through direct authorized 169 00:17:20,944 --> 00:17:21,755 means. 170 00:17:21,755 --> 00:17:28,020 And so what we're seeing is this kind of shift amongst the automakers towards 171 00:17:28,432 --> 00:17:37,039 trying to make that a much more secure access point only to partners that they're actively working with. 172 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:44,867 And so that has a lot of implications for the industry at large, kind of this section of the managed charging industry. 173 00:17:44,867 --> 00:17:51,212 But also the automakers are trying to monetize that data availability. 174 00:17:51,332 --> 00:17:56,955 EVs require a little bit less ongoing operation and maintenance support. 175 00:17:56,955 --> 00:18:02,138 And so if they're losing revenue there, they want to be making it up somewhere else. 176 00:18:02,558 --> 00:18:06,020 these telematic subscriptions are a way to do that. 177 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:16,125 What's interesting about that, though, is that a lot of the telematic subscriptions come free for the first year or two when you buy a new EV. 178 00:18:16,125 --> 00:18:21,318 And that allows you to do things like participate in these utility managed charging programs. 179 00:18:22,416 --> 00:18:30,218 It's really unfortunate though, when you hit that year or two year point and you said, you know, you get some kind of notice, hey, you need to start paying to participate in this EV 180 00:18:30,218 --> 00:18:30,708 program. 181 00:18:30,708 --> 00:18:34,269 And that really reduces the value of the program for you, right? 182 00:18:34,269 --> 00:18:39,921 Like that cost might outweigh the benefits that you're getting from the utility incentives. 183 00:18:40,141 --> 00:18:51,728 And so that's another area where our relationships with the automakers really help enable these programs to be effective because we can wave that 184 00:18:51,728 --> 00:19:03,877 fee for the driver because we've kind of worked it out with the automaker to enable the cars enrolled in WeaveGrid programs to continue allowing access to the telematics without 185 00:19:03,877 --> 00:19:05,459 the driver having to pay for them. 186 00:19:05,459 --> 00:19:07,810 So there's a lot of things kind of happening at once. 187 00:19:07,810 --> 00:19:17,007 The automakers are trying to kind of lock things down for the sake of both cybersecurity and for alternative revenue streams for them. 188 00:19:17,786 --> 00:19:25,372 And so I think that's why that direct partnership approach is really important to enabling the long-term success of these types of programs. 189 00:19:26,165 --> 00:19:36,172 Yeah, I think that's a really interesting call out about a lot of these newer telematics things because so much of the additional kind of that software layer that was added to a 190 00:19:36,172 --> 00:19:43,798 lot of these new EVs was because of that transfer essentially going from combustion engine to electric vehicles. 191 00:19:43,798 --> 00:19:45,278 And you're totally right. 192 00:19:45,278 --> 00:19:54,699 I think so much of, especially in fleets, we just saw so much of it being much more reactive and there would be kind of. 193 00:19:54,699 --> 00:19:56,441 costs associated with that obviously. 194 00:19:56,441 --> 00:20:08,361 Now with electrification, now with a software layer, can really move towards a much more proactive approach to your fleets, especially when going through electrification. 195 00:20:08,582 --> 00:20:16,559 The downside obviously is unless you're like leasing them for two years at a time, you're right, you start kind of hitting this buffer where it's like, yeah, the first year or two 196 00:20:16,559 --> 00:20:18,951 years is great. 197 00:20:19,392 --> 00:20:21,185 then you start like, okay, 198 00:20:21,185 --> 00:20:23,145 Now it just seems like it, I agree with you. 199 00:20:23,145 --> 00:20:25,265 I'm not sure what the answer is to that. 200 00:20:25,265 --> 00:20:36,605 And obviously not all the automakers are doing it quite the same way, but I could see that being definitely a bit of a, I don't want to say hindrance, but definitely can be kind of 201 00:20:36,605 --> 00:20:43,425 a weird experience for the end consumer when they've been using this and they've kind of gotten spoiled and really enjoy it. 202 00:20:43,425 --> 00:20:46,285 And now they're being kind of hit up with this second side of it. 203 00:20:46,285 --> 00:20:49,697 guess, is there stuff that 204 00:20:49,697 --> 00:20:58,457 We've grid can do, let's say whether I guess my question would be, I, this may be a kind of a complicated one. 205 00:20:58,457 --> 00:21:07,057 there ways that we've grid, let's say maybe you're not paying for the full telematics thing, but we've grid can kind of use that and kind of get around that to still provide a 206 00:21:07,057 --> 00:21:16,665 lot of value and kind of get that, uh, overall better return for like a fleet member or even just someone who has a regular UV that's trying to be a part of this. 207 00:21:17,328 --> 00:21:23,983 Yeah, with our partnerships with the automakers that we're working with, that's part of the contract. 208 00:21:23,983 --> 00:21:32,690 And so we are either covering that cost or have kind of negotiated for a bulk cost that's much reduced from what an individual would pay. 209 00:21:32,690 --> 00:21:36,203 And we are absorbing that to some degree. 210 00:21:37,424 --> 00:21:42,818 the end EV driver doesn't have to worry about that piece of it. 211 00:21:43,573 --> 00:21:44,191 Yeah, that's great. 212 00:21:44,191 --> 00:21:45,267 I guess. 213 00:21:46,933 --> 00:21:51,218 What we're talking about, and you kind of alluded to before, was obviously the security side of it. 214 00:21:51,218 --> 00:22:03,112 So I'm kind of just curious what you can share about what WeepGrid is doing for not just security, but obviously privacy of user data when these EVs are connecting to WeepGrid and 215 00:22:03,112 --> 00:22:04,783 the larger grid in general. 216 00:22:05,574 --> 00:22:06,784 Yeah, of course. 217 00:22:06,785 --> 00:22:18,810 So WeaveGrid is SOC 2 type 2 certified, which means we're taking the utmost level of security and customer data privacy and all of that. 218 00:22:18,810 --> 00:22:24,512 And that SOC 2 is really kind of regarded as the gold standard for data security practices. 219 00:22:24,972 --> 00:22:34,756 And then since we have those direct authorized integrations with the automakers and charging manufacturers, there's no third party in between WeaveGrid and your car. 220 00:22:35,092 --> 00:22:40,317 that kind of offers another step where something might happen with that data. 221 00:22:41,158 --> 00:22:44,682 And we have more control over the data that is being shared. 222 00:22:44,682 --> 00:22:50,747 So we only collect the information that we absolutely need in order to kind of stop and start charging. 223 00:22:51,568 --> 00:22:58,855 And then, you know, we make sure we've deleted anything that like anything that might be PII. 224 00:23:00,050 --> 00:23:02,262 So we do take that very, very seriously. 225 00:23:02,262 --> 00:23:06,627 Utilities also take consumer protections very seriously. 226 00:23:06,627 --> 00:23:13,214 And so that's something we pay really close attention to because we're dealing with somebody's car. 227 00:23:13,214 --> 00:23:14,955 You don't want to be locked out of your car. 228 00:23:14,955 --> 00:23:17,858 You don't want anybody accessing your car that shouldn't be. 229 00:23:17,918 --> 00:23:20,070 So that's very, very important to us. 230 00:23:21,409 --> 00:23:21,969 Yeah, that makes sense. 231 00:23:21,969 --> 00:23:31,662 And I know we've really been talking a lot about the actual, kind of financial incentives and some of that, but obviously a large part of the reason people go to electric vehicles 232 00:23:31,662 --> 00:23:32,852 is kind of the environmental. 233 00:23:32,852 --> 00:23:38,074 And I think it kind of alludes to what I mentioned earlier about the peaker plants, but I'm kind of curious. 234 00:23:38,554 --> 00:23:48,267 yeah, I think as we've talked about, there's kind of like the fleet, there's the utility, and then there's the end consumer and the end consumer probably, while the financial 235 00:23:48,267 --> 00:23:49,717 benefits are definitely nice. 236 00:23:49,717 --> 00:23:56,380 I think a lot of people, especially in that early adopter phase are kind of more interested in like the environmental impact and kind of value that that has. 237 00:23:56,380 --> 00:24:06,023 And so, I know you've mentioned it a little bit, but it would be curious to learn more about what we've grid really helps unlock with, the EV driver and kind of helping with 238 00:24:06,023 --> 00:24:08,284 environmental benefits of the technology. 239 00:24:09,030 --> 00:24:12,281 Yeah, so think that's exactly right with the peaker plants. 240 00:24:12,281 --> 00:24:14,604 mean, historically, those were coal-fired plants. 241 00:24:14,604 --> 00:24:20,407 They're more often now gas-powered plants that can kind of turn on and off quickly. 242 00:24:20,407 --> 00:24:23,830 And those are some of the dirtiest forms of electricity. 243 00:24:23,830 --> 00:24:34,128 And so making sure that the cars are charging when there's excess capacity in the baseload power, which is usually cleaner electricity. 244 00:24:34,128 --> 00:24:42,972 is step one, you don't want to buy an EV and then learn that you're charging on coal power because that's just as bad if not worse than driving a combustion engine. 245 00:24:43,452 --> 00:24:48,675 So that's a big part of it and it's a little more convoluted. 246 00:24:48,675 --> 00:24:54,418 There's a lot of things going into your power mix in the background and you don't always know where your electricity is coming from. 247 00:24:54,418 --> 00:24:58,679 But if we can ensure it's not at those dirtiest times, then that's step one. 248 00:24:59,750 --> 00:25:05,602 And then it really depends on the specific utility program design. 249 00:25:05,602 --> 00:25:18,475 Like I said, I think one of our favorite ones to talk about is that Excel Energy Charging Perks program because it's very specifically taking a day ahead wind and solar forecast 250 00:25:18,475 --> 00:25:25,347 and then making sure that cars are charging during the times when there's a lot of solar power available or a lot of wind power available. 251 00:25:25,347 --> 00:25:26,297 And that's awesome. 252 00:25:26,297 --> 00:25:28,488 Then you really know you're charging. 253 00:25:28,844 --> 00:25:30,195 on renewable electricity. 254 00:25:30,195 --> 00:25:34,908 And so we're hoping to launch more programs like that. 255 00:25:34,908 --> 00:25:43,884 We're also, we have a program with Luma Energy in Puerto Rico where we're helping people like optimize their own solar systems on their home to make sure they're charging off 256 00:25:43,884 --> 00:25:45,255 their own solar. 257 00:25:45,315 --> 00:25:55,792 And so that's kind of another thing that we're looking into as well, like taking in as much data as we can on the electricity mix that's present at any given time and then 258 00:25:55,792 --> 00:25:58,694 helping people charge at the cleanest times. 259 00:25:59,487 --> 00:26:00,618 Yeah, that's, that's really interesting. 260 00:26:00,618 --> 00:26:12,645 The example you just shared is that I guess to think through that, would that essentially be, depending if the solar and someone's home might be, whether it is a, I'm drawing a 261 00:26:12,645 --> 00:26:22,440 blank of the word, but essentially getting paid back to go on the grid, or is it essentially once you've kind of, you're producing more solar than, the home needs, you're 262 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:23,731 just putting it right in the battery. 263 00:26:23,731 --> 00:26:27,553 Can you walk through a little bit more of like what that looks like for the user data? 264 00:26:27,782 --> 00:26:28,492 Yeah, totally. 265 00:26:28,492 --> 00:26:32,514 Honestly, I'm not deep in the specifics of that program. 266 00:26:32,514 --> 00:26:39,606 My understanding is that a lot of people, we get this question a lot with our California drivers too. 267 00:26:39,606 --> 00:26:45,298 They're like, I have solar, wouldn't it, wouldn't it make more sense for me to charge during the day versus in the middle of the night? 268 00:26:45,598 --> 00:26:49,039 And we're like, well, your solar is kind of feeding back into the grid. 269 00:26:49,039 --> 00:26:52,180 So you're not necessarily consuming right off of your home. 270 00:26:52,568 --> 00:26:57,710 And so that's helping like the overall grid, but it's still best for you to charge in the middle of the night. 271 00:26:57,710 --> 00:27:01,151 And I think that's sometimes hard for people to wrap their heads around. 272 00:27:01,572 --> 00:27:08,825 My, I think, and I might be wrong about this, with the Luma program, those are grid tied assets. 273 00:27:08,825 --> 00:27:20,609 And so people kind of just receive a, you know, an additional incentive when they're charging at times where there's high solar production to, you know, help them feel better 274 00:27:20,609 --> 00:27:22,146 about the fact that they're charging. 275 00:27:22,146 --> 00:27:25,778 at times when there's a lot of solar power. 276 00:27:25,778 --> 00:27:27,899 But it is tricky. 277 00:27:27,899 --> 00:27:39,896 We would need to be doing kind of a whole home optimization to help people charge during those excess solar times as opposed to just pulling from the grid. 278 00:27:39,896 --> 00:27:42,226 And I that's something that we're exploring more for sure. 279 00:27:42,226 --> 00:27:46,158 We've gotten a lot of requests for that in California specifically as well. 280 00:27:46,847 --> 00:27:53,901 Yeah, I think that's an interesting layer because, there's obviously that's like the ideal situation. 281 00:27:53,901 --> 00:28:06,717 think a lot of people want to do that, but of course, so many of these systems, especially with, even solar panels on homes, a lot of them until maybe as recently as the last five 282 00:28:06,717 --> 00:28:11,679 to 10 years, but so many of them weren't even internet connected. 283 00:28:11,743 --> 00:28:23,543 So trying to get that level of data, having it communicate with an inverter, communicating with the utility, communicating with the actual, home power panel is a really kind of. 284 00:28:23,543 --> 00:28:37,305 think under, I think people just underestimate how difficult that challenge actually is to get all of these different systems to work in a perfect use case. 285 00:28:37,305 --> 00:28:40,565 And I think everyone might see like, well. 286 00:28:40,565 --> 00:28:50,201 You look at like a Tesla Powerwall and that stuff and the marketing of it's great and the end goal is great, but it is just so difficult for all these different systems to kind of 287 00:28:50,201 --> 00:28:51,972 communicate and work together. 288 00:28:51,972 --> 00:28:59,736 But I think this is such a, in a lot of ways, it's a really great first step for people no matter where their. 289 00:29:01,597 --> 00:29:07,671 Solar panels are the actual kind of backend technology they have is at whether it's brand new or 15 years old. 290 00:29:07,671 --> 00:29:08,361 is. 291 00:29:08,415 --> 00:29:12,797 Still an overall kind of big step forward to make sure that the solar energy is being utilized. 292 00:29:12,797 --> 00:29:20,950 And then the car itself, like you're saying is being charged while not maybe off your own solar at all times, but it could be off wind or other kinds of sources. 293 00:29:21,271 --> 00:29:33,616 And with, with that, mean, is there kind of a end point that you see as far as what kind of like the next evolution of weave grid is or versus where it's at today that you can 294 00:29:33,616 --> 00:29:37,177 share about what the technology is kind of like hoping to achieve with it. 295 00:29:37,702 --> 00:29:49,992 Yeah, I think we're constantly listening to both our automotive partners and our utility customers to figure out what they want that next evolution to be and then how we can 296 00:29:49,992 --> 00:29:51,103 support that. 297 00:29:51,103 --> 00:30:03,332 And so that might look like expanding into other EV use cases beyond residential and multifamily, which is largely where we're focused now to talk about fleet optimization. 298 00:30:04,084 --> 00:30:10,467 or even expanding out into other places where people charge like workplaces or public chargers. 299 00:30:11,287 --> 00:30:18,150 Or it would be expanding within the home to optimizing solar systems and batteries and thermostats. 300 00:30:18,150 --> 00:30:20,031 And I think those are all things. 301 00:30:20,031 --> 00:30:32,016 Well, and then the third expansion I would say is beyond V1G or managed charging, which is what we're doing now, looking at vehicle to grid or vehicle to home V2X. 302 00:30:32,442 --> 00:30:38,114 as the next more depth of technology side of the space. 303 00:30:38,495 --> 00:30:46,248 And so we're exploring all of those options and our platform is capable of supporting all of those options. 304 00:30:46,248 --> 00:30:58,493 But I think it'll come down to what makes the most sense for us as a business in order to stay focused and keep delivering on our core competencies that we have now while also 305 00:30:58,493 --> 00:31:02,364 reacting to the market and what folks are asking for. 306 00:31:02,536 --> 00:31:12,696 I think vehicle to grid is a super interesting one, kind of like what we were talking about before with this, you know, optimizing your whole home and then, you know, sending 307 00:31:12,696 --> 00:31:14,236 power back to the grid. 308 00:31:14,236 --> 00:31:17,116 And people are really excited about that concept. 309 00:31:17,136 --> 00:31:28,896 Personally, I think a more near term use case is vehicle to home and either using your car as backup power or actually just like pulling your house somewhat off the grid at really 310 00:31:28,896 --> 00:31:31,004 expensive or strange times. 311 00:31:31,004 --> 00:31:43,251 by using your car to power some key appliances or even your whole home, as opposed to like skipping that and going all the way back to the grid, which would require an inverter and 312 00:31:43,251 --> 00:31:51,924 a whole pricing mechanism and like a whole lot of optimization that gets really, really complicated when you get into it. 313 00:31:52,097 --> 00:31:58,370 And I think that's something everyone's really interested to figure out, but has not quite figured out yet. 314 00:31:59,201 --> 00:32:00,521 Yeah, I think that's a great call out. 315 00:32:00,521 --> 00:32:09,521 That's definitely something we've talked about on this show a lot before is the concept of vehicle to grid is a great one. 316 00:32:09,521 --> 00:32:18,781 And it's not like it requires fusion or some sort of new extreme form of technology, but it does require a lot of technology all to be communicating with each other. 317 00:32:18,781 --> 00:32:27,121 And it still is kind of like out on maybe like a five to 10 year horizon to be much more, at least widespread. 318 00:32:27,329 --> 00:32:29,509 And I think it's a great call about the vehicle at home. 319 00:32:29,509 --> 00:32:38,309 Cause I mean, if you even look at the EV market, it's only within the last few years that there's actually, I mean, obviously you've, you've only been really around for a decade, 320 00:32:38,309 --> 00:32:45,689 but then even within that, there's only a small subset that support vehicle to grid or vehicle to home technology as it is right now. 321 00:32:45,689 --> 00:32:53,781 And so I think what you're talking about exactly with either specific use cases of either a house or a 322 00:32:53,781 --> 00:32:55,352 fleet electrification opportunities. 323 00:32:55,352 --> 00:32:58,725 It really is kind of the only thing that we have at the moment. 324 00:32:59,066 --> 00:33:07,913 Obviously a big step forward, but it's kind of, I think a lot of people get that image in their head, like, you just plug this in and everything just kind of automatically works 325 00:33:07,913 --> 00:33:08,913 together. 326 00:33:08,914 --> 00:33:15,179 And soon you're going to be backing up the grid with your new electric vehicle that you bought. 327 00:33:15,319 --> 00:33:21,584 One of the questions I guess I have around that is the idea that you're kind of talking about, 328 00:33:22,945 --> 00:33:26,805 all these different use cases of how these technologies are working together. 329 00:33:27,085 --> 00:33:31,445 And when you hit on that, we haven't really talked much about is kind of the multifamily side of this. 330 00:33:31,445 --> 00:33:39,605 And I think that's actually a really large component currently to kind of getting wider, EV adoption, more widespread. 331 00:33:39,605 --> 00:33:48,485 And would love kind of hear what WeaveGrade is doing in the multifamily home aspect of this to really kind of start unlocking and getting that snowball effect for some of these 332 00:33:48,485 --> 00:33:49,925 larger use cases. 333 00:33:50,716 --> 00:33:58,418 Yeah, multifamily is kind of a challenging one because it's often a shared EV charger parking space, right? 334 00:33:58,418 --> 00:34:08,822 And so if you only have access to it for a short amount of time, you don't want to then have your charging curtailed during that time or being told that this is a peak time when 335 00:34:08,822 --> 00:34:13,433 you can't charge if that's kind of the window that you have and then you need to give it up for somebody else to use it. 336 00:34:13,433 --> 00:34:14,863 So. 337 00:34:17,608 --> 00:34:20,690 That's why it's been a little bit harder of a space. 338 00:34:20,890 --> 00:34:31,038 But that being said, utilities are really interested in it because of that equity question we were talking about earlier and wanting to provide access to these types of incentive 339 00:34:31,038 --> 00:34:36,021 programs to everyone that drives an EV and not just people in single-family homes. 340 00:34:37,583 --> 00:34:43,987 We are soon launching a multifamily program with Portland General Electric. 341 00:34:43,988 --> 00:34:45,074 I am not. 342 00:34:45,074 --> 00:34:56,447 personally super in the weeds of that one, but I think we're excited to be expanding out into that space and gathering more learnings from how to best run those multifamily 343 00:34:56,447 --> 00:34:57,647 programs. 344 00:34:58,068 --> 00:34:59,868 Because to my knowledge, there haven't been a ton. 345 00:34:59,868 --> 00:35:06,680 I think the initial market was really focused on that single-family home use case for a number of reasons. 346 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,371 That's kind of where EVs were popping up first. 347 00:35:09,911 --> 00:35:14,152 That's where utilities have the least insight into where 348 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:22,943 a charger is being put in because you don't necessarily need to get a building permit or something to go ahead and do that. 349 00:35:22,943 --> 00:35:24,864 And you don't need to notify your utility. 350 00:35:24,864 --> 00:35:34,447 Whereas these multifamily buildings that have a bank or bay of chargers has probably informed the utility to some extent that they're doing that. 351 00:35:34,687 --> 00:35:38,008 And so they have a little bit more information and can plan for that. 352 00:35:38,315 --> 00:35:48,334 Well, I think that's a really interesting call out too, because I mean, from the utility side, for all they know, you're just using your, maybe your home washing machine or 353 00:35:48,334 --> 00:35:48,865 something more. 354 00:35:48,865 --> 00:35:57,222 There may be seeing a slight little peak in your overall usage, but they can't really, or traditionally haven't really been able to attribute that to an electric vehicle. 355 00:35:57,343 --> 00:36:04,561 And in the scheme, one house, not a huge difference when you start getting to a lot, but especially in the multifamily where you have so many. 356 00:36:04,561 --> 00:36:06,323 In one area they're trying to do this. 357 00:36:06,323 --> 00:36:11,667 It seems like that there's a large amount of value in what can be unlocked with that. 358 00:36:11,948 --> 00:36:15,121 Is as far as kind of like pilots, I mean, I think that makes a lot of sense. 359 00:36:15,121 --> 00:36:15,852 That's really interesting. 360 00:36:15,852 --> 00:36:21,577 Are there any other kind of pilots that your team is working on or kind of doing right now that you're able to share with us? 361 00:36:22,732 --> 00:36:31,257 Most of our, we're kind of in the phase right now of trying to transition a lot of our pilots to full scale programs. 362 00:36:31,257 --> 00:36:44,304 I would say the, the like technology that we're deploying in more pilot phase, but that has expanded to full program in a few cases is our disco products, which is distribution 363 00:36:44,304 --> 00:36:47,432 integrated smart charging orchestration. 364 00:36:47,432 --> 00:36:50,940 And I had talked about this a little bit before, but really focusing on that. 365 00:36:50,940 --> 00:36:54,842 distribution level of the electric grid. 366 00:36:54,842 --> 00:37:05,993 And so that's kind of the poles and wires, the transformers that bring electricity like to the home and making sure that we can help utilities avoid the need to upgrade or replace 367 00:37:05,993 --> 00:37:15,880 or add more of those assets, especially at a time where like the supply chain is still kind of messed up from the COVID days and tariffs are not necessarily helping that. 368 00:37:16,321 --> 00:37:20,348 And it's, you know, there are long lead times to get additional. 369 00:37:20,348 --> 00:37:23,569 transformers and they're getting more expensive. 370 00:37:24,029 --> 00:37:36,302 so most of our, again, pilots that we're launching with utilities are taking that kind tried and true managed charging product and adding on this distribution level optimization 371 00:37:36,302 --> 00:37:43,315 to prove that that can be even more cost effective for the utility to then kind of go and expand that further. 372 00:37:43,315 --> 00:37:46,655 So that's the main thing that we're focused on right now. 373 00:37:48,486 --> 00:38:02,471 Like I said, we're also kind of exploring things like VitaX and Multifamily and some of those other spaces where we have really strong partner client interests to go forward with 374 00:38:02,471 --> 00:38:04,102 one of those pilots. 375 00:38:04,427 --> 00:38:10,260 Are you able to kind of expand upon what some of those findings are from the transmission side? 376 00:38:10,361 --> 00:38:14,062 Because I know just a lot of different programs right now. 377 00:38:14,263 --> 00:38:22,438 Transmission is kind of the thing people don't talk about, but it's what really holds back a lot of like kind of the evolution of more everything from micro grids to renewable 378 00:38:22,438 --> 00:38:28,161 energy on the grid to sometimes even just another DC fast charting for EVs. 379 00:38:28,161 --> 00:38:31,647 So if there's yeah, if there's anything around that you can expand on one like. 380 00:38:31,647 --> 00:38:35,807 what some of those wins are and kind of optimizing around that that we could help with. 381 00:38:35,807 --> 00:38:37,231 think that'd be really interesting. 382 00:38:38,556 --> 00:38:42,298 There's other folks on our team who are much deeper in that space. 383 00:38:42,298 --> 00:38:55,606 We're actually hopefully soon going to be publishing something about kind of the transformer issues specifically and kind of some of the initial findings from our 384 00:38:55,606 --> 00:38:56,506 programs. 385 00:38:56,506 --> 00:39:07,502 I think there's also an additional study that's coming out relatively soon that we've been advising on that's looking deeper into like what managed charging can do to help. 386 00:39:08,105 --> 00:39:22,542 like prolong the life of some of these assets and bring the costs to serve customers kind of at the end point of electricity distribution in a more efficient way. 387 00:39:22,783 --> 00:39:26,807 But I'm not in the weeds there, unfortunately. 388 00:39:27,093 --> 00:39:28,734 No, no, no worries at all. 389 00:39:28,954 --> 00:39:39,332 but I guess kind of going off that, like when you're like, let's say, I guess a step back and like, what are some of the challenges maybe like EV drivers might face when they're 390 00:39:39,332 --> 00:39:40,803 using managed charging service? 391 00:39:40,803 --> 00:39:45,747 I know we've kind of mentioned kind of a, alluded to a couple of them, but I just be kind of curious about that. 392 00:39:45,747 --> 00:39:49,339 And like some of the ways that we've created can address them. 393 00:39:50,236 --> 00:39:58,059 Yeah, I think the biggest challenge, know, managed charging program aside for EV drivers is knowing the right time to charge. 394 00:39:59,100 --> 00:40:05,142 And I think what managed charging programs do is help take that piece away from you. 395 00:40:05,142 --> 00:40:06,273 Like you don't have to worry about it. 396 00:40:06,273 --> 00:40:15,546 You just plug in when you get home and the program will make sure and the telematics integration will make sure that you're charging at the time that's cheapest for you and 397 00:40:15,546 --> 00:40:16,927 best for the grid. 398 00:40:17,207 --> 00:40:19,910 And then once you're using a managed charging service, 399 00:40:19,910 --> 00:40:29,027 The next biggest challenge may come from how your automaker, your charger, and your utility are actually communicating with one another. 400 00:40:31,290 --> 00:40:42,920 If you're thinking about how should I be participating in this program, should I be using my OEM automaker app, should I be engaging with my utility directly? 401 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,283 There's this other company like WeaveGrid that's involved. 402 00:40:47,804 --> 00:40:53,947 And that starts to feel really disjointed and difficult to understand, you know, who's the source of truth. 403 00:40:53,947 --> 00:41:00,079 Like if I change my charging schedule on my automaker app, will that override WeaveGrid? 404 00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:02,030 Will WeaveGrid override that? 405 00:41:02,770 --> 00:41:08,232 And so like that still has been kind of tough across the whole industry. 406 00:41:08,353 --> 00:41:15,236 And like I said before, like in some cases, that telematic subscription disappears and then it costs you money. 407 00:41:15,236 --> 00:41:16,634 In other cases, 408 00:41:16,634 --> 00:41:26,370 EV drivers have actually gotten locked out of their OEM app because there's a third party that's like pinging it for data constantly and it appears to their like bot sensors like 409 00:41:26,390 --> 00:41:27,871 it's a bad actor. 410 00:41:28,304 --> 00:41:29,012 Yeah. 411 00:41:29,012 --> 00:41:41,750 And so when we work with those vehicle and charger manufacturers directly, we're making sure that the drivers won't be locked out of their app, that the telematics access remains 412 00:41:41,750 --> 00:41:42,520 free. 413 00:41:42,588 --> 00:41:53,999 But ultimately, the next evolution will be integrating our whole software platform into the OEM app so that there is actually no WeaveGrid experience that you're interacting 414 00:41:53,999 --> 00:41:54,640 with. 415 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,082 You're just doing it through your Toyota app. 416 00:41:58,463 --> 00:42:00,926 And we're kind of operating in the background. 417 00:42:00,926 --> 00:42:03,078 And ideally, you don't even know that we're there. 418 00:42:03,078 --> 00:42:06,821 Right now, it's a very co-branded experience. 419 00:42:06,821 --> 00:42:07,932 And so we're 420 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,242 really leaning on the utility branding on the automotive branding. 421 00:42:11,242 --> 00:42:18,706 And there is a little bit of Weave Grid present, but we kind of want to fade entirely into the background to make this easier for everyone. 422 00:42:19,446 --> 00:42:23,008 And with Toyota, we've been working really closely with them. 423 00:42:23,008 --> 00:42:29,302 They recently invested in us as well to put all of that into the app. 424 00:42:29,302 --> 00:42:36,896 And so that kind of in-app experience should be launching relatively soon in a few markets and then hopefully expanding more broadly. 425 00:42:37,296 --> 00:42:45,161 So that we kind of, you know, pull ourselves even further out of the equation to make that process a lot simpler for the driver. 426 00:42:46,022 --> 00:42:56,668 But in summary, I think right now it can be a little bit confusing who you as an EV driver should be interacting with to like fully engage in these types of programs. 427 00:42:57,334 --> 00:43:07,377 Yeah, it sounds like longer term then it would be mostly kind of on the utility side with some automaker partnerships Is that how you're kind of viewing it? 428 00:43:07,516 --> 00:43:09,056 Yeah, that's the idea. 429 00:43:09,976 --> 00:43:14,659 Like I said, you know who your electricity provider is. 430 00:43:14,659 --> 00:43:24,213 Sometimes you might be frustrated with them, but you know that brand and you trust them because they are allowing you to turn your lights on, run your appliances, now charge your 431 00:43:24,213 --> 00:43:25,103 car. 432 00:43:25,183 --> 00:43:27,694 You also trust your automaker brand. 433 00:43:27,694 --> 00:43:29,975 You're looking at it every day when you get into the car. 434 00:43:29,975 --> 00:43:32,966 You see the logo right there. 435 00:43:33,067 --> 00:43:36,027 Increasingly, you need to use that app to run your car. 436 00:43:37,306 --> 00:43:40,358 you don't need to deal with another brand. 437 00:43:40,358 --> 00:43:50,976 And so that's actually been a huge challenge of mine as a marketer is making sure that our brand is well known with automakers and with utilities. 438 00:43:50,976 --> 00:44:00,912 And we, to start, have to make it somewhat known with drivers as well so that they trust that we're a trusted player in this space. 439 00:44:00,912 --> 00:44:06,456 But ultimately, we will want to kind of like fade our consumer brand into the background and really lean on. 440 00:44:07,153 --> 00:44:17,604 the utilities and the automakers to own that experience with us just enabling them to offer the best experience to their drivers or to their joint customers in EP Driver. 441 00:44:18,305 --> 00:44:26,631 So longer term, it probably would be at least from the consumer standpoint, you might get some email or something from your utility saying, hey, we've got this new program. 442 00:44:26,631 --> 00:44:29,373 You tap in the app or opt into it. 443 00:44:29,373 --> 00:44:35,827 And then it just kind of all works in the background without ever knowing that it was actually WeaveGrid technology parent, all of this. 444 00:44:36,220 --> 00:44:38,661 Yeah, that's actually kind of the case right now. 445 00:44:38,902 --> 00:44:44,866 As much as possible, we lean on our automotive and charging partners to send those recruitment emails. 446 00:44:45,126 --> 00:44:46,708 Same with the utilities. 447 00:44:46,708 --> 00:44:52,812 Utility sent emails are kind of the gold standard for marketing these programs to folks. 448 00:44:52,812 --> 00:44:58,896 And then, you know, we have like a customer support team who 449 00:44:59,014 --> 00:45:06,712 A lot of times people don't know that they're talking to WeaveGrid and not to their utility, but we want to take that off of the utility's customer service team's plate 450 00:45:06,712 --> 00:45:10,676 because, you know, ultimately we're a little bit more in the weeds of these programs. 451 00:45:11,978 --> 00:45:18,544 But yeah, the idea is to keep most of that experience with the utility or with the automaker. 452 00:45:19,797 --> 00:45:20,067 Gotcha. 453 00:45:20,067 --> 00:45:21,378 No, that, that makes a lot of sense. 454 00:45:21,378 --> 00:45:31,383 guess one of the things, obviously we've grid kind of promotes its side of being like a big part of this is kind of the AI focus. 455 00:45:31,383 --> 00:45:40,558 Can you share a little bit of like, for those listening, like what is that AI layer that's really adding to weave grid or kind of making it stand out or what, what, what does that 456 00:45:40,558 --> 00:45:40,859 really mean? 457 00:45:40,859 --> 00:45:43,150 I feel like AI is around a lot. 458 00:45:43,150 --> 00:45:45,871 And I think what your team is leveraging is pretty interesting. 459 00:45:45,871 --> 00:45:48,592 So I think it might just be really great to kind of highlight that. 460 00:45:49,023 --> 00:45:53,885 since I know we haven't quite kind of talked too much about that on this conversation so far. 461 00:45:54,472 --> 00:45:56,652 Yeah, there are a few aspects. 462 00:45:56,832 --> 00:46:00,252 One is we actually have an EV detection product. 463 00:46:00,252 --> 00:46:17,672 And so that takes AMI advanced metering infrastructure data and analyzes the electric load patterns at a home to determine whether or not we think there's an EV there based on 464 00:46:17,672 --> 00:46:20,352 spikes in electricity usage. 465 00:46:20,352 --> 00:46:24,156 And that uses machine learning to understand what 466 00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:30,678 the spikes look like and then identify them as EVs and then take that back to the utility and say we think there are EVs here. 467 00:46:30,678 --> 00:46:36,599 And then we will often use that list that we've generated to market to those customers to pull them into programs. 468 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:43,701 There's also an AI component to the distribution optimization work that we're doing. 469 00:46:44,101 --> 00:46:53,904 Kind of taking, it's almost like a game of Tetris, taking all of the cars and what we know about how much charge they need. 470 00:46:54,054 --> 00:47:07,255 And then kind of fitting that into the dip in demand as it exists by taking in all the other grid information about what they expect demand to be even in that hyperlocal area. 471 00:47:07,255 --> 00:47:20,596 And so again, I'm not a technical person, but my understanding is that there is an AI component to that work just coming up with the most optimal solution for charging all of 472 00:47:20,596 --> 00:47:22,958 these vehicles in a set amount of time. 473 00:47:24,417 --> 00:47:25,117 Yeah, that's great. 474 00:47:25,117 --> 00:47:32,817 I think it's kind of self explanatory, but I really kind of appreciate you covering that just because like I said, I feel like AI is so much in the space right now. 475 00:47:32,817 --> 00:47:40,317 Um, but I feel like you're one of the companies that are actually kind of been the ones actually leveraging it, uh, to have a lot of these things unlocked by it. 476 00:47:40,537 --> 00:47:49,417 Um, I know we've kind of covered quite a bit today and so I'm just kind of curious Kindle for anyone that isn't either. 477 00:47:49,513 --> 00:47:59,506 sure if their utility is using WeaveGrid currently, like what's the best way for them to either get ahold of you or get ahold of the WeaveGrid team to see if they can either sign 478 00:47:59,506 --> 00:48:02,279 up or get it at least on their utilities radar. 479 00:48:03,078 --> 00:48:18,481 Yeah, our website, www.weavegrid.com slash drivers has, if you scroll down a little bit, there's a list of utility programs and it's kind of like a wheel that you can click out to 480 00:48:18,481 --> 00:48:22,684 utility programs that are available that we're operating. 481 00:48:22,684 --> 00:48:31,791 And so if you see your utility there or you live in California and you can join the Charge Perks California program, that's not utility specific. 482 00:48:33,210 --> 00:48:42,696 You can kind of click through and see if you're eligible for that program based on your zip code, like what type of utility rate that you're on, the vehicle that you have, the 483 00:48:42,696 --> 00:48:44,167 charger that you have. 484 00:48:44,528 --> 00:48:55,375 We're working on creating a space for folks who, if they go through that, find that they're not eligible, can like write in, we can keep that interest list. 485 00:48:55,435 --> 00:49:01,759 But right now we also have like a contact form on our website where you can write in and ask if you're... 486 00:49:02,820 --> 00:49:06,132 if a program will soon be available in your area. 487 00:49:06,132 --> 00:49:15,968 And then, I think, like I said before, you can always try to, it takes a little bit of research, but either like writing into your utility commission or like public service 488 00:49:15,968 --> 00:49:28,526 commission, or even to your utility and asking about these types of programs will just help to kind of push this innovation along and show that there's customer demand for these 489 00:49:28,526 --> 00:49:29,606 sorts of things. 490 00:49:30,785 --> 00:49:31,506 Well, that's perfect. 491 00:49:31,506 --> 00:49:33,358 And thank you so much for coming on today, Kendall. 492 00:49:33,358 --> 00:49:37,474 This was really fascinating and great to hear kind of more of the stuff that WeaveGrid's been working on. 493 00:49:37,474 --> 00:49:44,373 And we'll definitely have to have you or someone or both, you and I, some of the other members of the WeaveGrid team back on soon. 494 00:49:44,373 --> 00:49:46,395 So thank you so much for coming on today. 495 00:49:46,588 --> 00:49:47,348 Yeah, thank you. 496 00:49:47,348 --> 00:49:48,537 It was great talking with you. 497 00:49:53,662 --> 00:49:55,825 Thanks for tuning into this episode of Grid Connections. 498 00:49:55,825 --> 00:50:03,538 A big thank you to Kendall Cody for sharing her insights on how WeaveGrid is helping shape a smarter, more resilient energy future by bridging the gap between electric vehicle 499 00:50:03,538 --> 00:50:05,141 drivers and utilities. 500 00:50:05,751 --> 00:50:13,551 If this conversation sparked new ideas or helped you think differently about electrification, share it with a colleague or friend who's just as passionate about energy 501 00:50:13,551 --> 00:50:15,171 transition as we are. 502 00:50:15,171 --> 00:50:17,731 And if you haven't yet, please take a moment to leave us a review. 503 00:50:17,731 --> 00:50:22,251 It's one of the best ways to support the show and help others discover these important conversations. 504 00:50:22,451 --> 00:50:25,031 Plus, don't forget Grid Connections Consulting is now live. 505 00:50:25,031 --> 00:50:29,751 We're here to help organizations make sense of the rapidly evolving EV ecosystem. 506 00:50:29,751 --> 00:50:32,051 Learn more at gridconnections.co. 507 00:50:32,093 --> 00:50:40,181 And finally, sign up for our newsletter using the link in the show notes to stay informed on new episodes, industry updates and actionable insights from across the grid until next 508 00:50:40,181 --> 00:50:40,362 week. 509 00:50:40,362 --> 00:50:42,753 This is the grid connections podcast signing off.