The rolling stock is electrified at a forced pace, and if all the spotlights are focused on the electric vehicle, then the question of charging stations is often evaded. Yet it is an equally important issue for democratizing this movement. Hugo Manteau, 33, a multi-experienced entrepreneur, CEO and founder of QoWatt, offers his innovative vision and solutions to his startup, including a 100% FREE charging station for hosts!
How was QoWatt born?
The idea for QoWatt came after two bad experiences.
The first is personal: when I bought my first 100% electric car at the beginning of 2021, I had to plunge into the jungle of public charging stations: a disaster! Often broken charging stations, QR code payment systems that point to websites that don’t work, incomprehensible per-minute billing methods, charging stations with an often outdated design and no screen with a deplorable user experience…
The second is professional: As a professional commercial park owner and partner, I asked the Common Ownership Syndicate to discuss the possibility of installing a charging station in the commercial park’s public car park so that I could load my car there just like our customers. One thing I didn’t think of… In condominiums, decisions are voted together, and when it comes to paying €30,000 for two charging stations, it’s hard to convince all the owners!
Is this a QoWatt birth certificate?
completely ! This is how I decided to build QoWatt and offer a “100% FREE” charging station solution! Barely nine months after its inception and after raising €10 million in donations, QoWatt is now an “innovative startup” thanks to its hybrid ecosystem that combines its revolutionary charging station solution, thus working towards the adoption of eco-mobility, and the company’s Web3 component. The latter is built on Elrond, the first carbon-negative European blockchain.
Can you tell us about your “100% free” QoWatt solution?
QoWatt is a public operator of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. We install our “Free” charging stations in car parks open to the public in retail parks, supermarkets, department stores, hotels and malls that use our services. Thus we allow all these professionals to comply with the LOM Law: in fact, from January 1, 2025, they will be required to equip 5-10% of their parking spaces with charging stations. We invest between 60,000 and 300,000 euros per site without it costing our hosts even less than a euro. Even better, we donate up to 10% of its profitability based on the kilowatt-hours provided by charging stations. This is how QoWatt contributes to economic mobility in France with its innovative solution, pioneering partners (Vinci-Citeos, AXA, Société Générale, e-totem, etc.) and revolutionary charging stations.
How revolutionary are QoWatt charging stations?
Offering an innovative solution to professionals that will allow them to equip their car parks that are open to the public is one thing, but the ultimate goal is above all to facilitate and support motorists in recharging their electric vehicles. For this reason, we have teamed up with a French manufacturer to offer innovative ultra-fast and semi-fast charging stations, saving on average 40% of green energy. It is equipped with a 10-inch multilingual touch screen (French, English and Spanish), allowing for a transparent billing per kilowatt-hour. QoWatt charging stations are compatible with all mobility operators and have an intuitive, contactless CB payment system. It also allows access to a five-tiered “QoWatt Card” program that offers 2% to 32% discount on shipping thanks to interconnection with our Web3 ecosystem on the Elrond blockchain.
Pricing per kWh and 40% green energy… Can you expand?
90% of charging infrastructure operators still charge by the minute: this allows them to offer a seemingly attractive price to the consumer when in reality the price is excessive, hidden and even discriminatory. In fact, depending on your car model and the technology on board, a car’s ability to absorb energy is not the same. For example, a Tesla Model S can charge 22 kWh on a semi-quick station while a Dacia Spring can only charge 7 kWh. Thus, on a per-minute charging station, the entire Dacia will pay three times more than a Tesla. This is what I call a discriminatory pricing system. At QoWatt, we’re fighting to stop this pattern of minute-by-minute pricing!
In terms of green energy, here again QoWatt sees itself as a pioneer, yet it makes a lot of sense! In economic mobility we find the environment prefix, but for all that, a large part of infrastructure operators do not guarantee the quality of the energy they provide, preferring to improve their profits. At QoWatt, we are committed to delivering, over our entire network of plants, electricity produced at least 40% from renewable energy sources.
And finally, what about your current and future development?
We are currently finalizing the installation of our first infrastructure in a retail complex near Poitiers Airport. We have signed, or at the end of negotiations, with a certain number of commercial or recreational parks in cities such as Metz, Reims, Dijon, Troyes, etc. In addition, we also negotiate agreements with major retailers in France and at DOM-TOMs. Our ambitions go further because we are currently developing our brand licensing network in nearly thirty countries including the United States: the environment has no boundaries and our participation in the transition to ecological mobility must be global.
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