Munich-based Depotcharge has closed a €2.7 million pre-seed round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds, alongside a partnership with Germany’s road freight association to open private depot chargers to other fleets.
The round also drew in xdeck Ventures, Kopa Ventures and Prequel Ventures, together with angels from logistics, e-mobility and energy. Depotcharge will spend the money on its platform and on expansion beyond Germany.
Alongside the raise, the company has partnered with the Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung, or BGL, the national road freight association. Together they have launched BGL Charge, a shared charging network for German road haulage.
Chargers that sit idle
Electric trucks charge mostly at base. Operators therefore size their depot chargers for their own peak, and those points then stand unused for long stretches of the day. Drivers out on the road meanwhile pay more at public chargers.
Depotcharge connects that spare capacity into shared networks. Depot owners set their own prices, access rules and opening hours. The company handles access control, invoicing and payment, and its platform works independently of charging hardware, backend systems and vehicle manufacturers.
How BGL Charge works
Through BGL Charge, hauliers can open unused points at their depots to other fleets. In return they gain access to infrastructure run by other participants. The network handles marketing, access control, invoicing and payments, while each depot operator keeps control of pricing, availability and access conditions.
E.L.V.I.S. AG has joined the initiative as well. The purchasing cooperative will pool demand from its partner companies and represent them inside BGL Charge. Its members therefore gain extra charging locations, while their own depots pick up additional traffic.
A members’ club for chargers
Joscha Specks is chief executive and co-founder of Depotcharge. “The idea behind Depotcharge is simple: logistics companies share their charging infrastructure with one another and unlock economic value across the sector,” he said.
He added that the principle “translates ideally to associations, by members, for members, with a clear benefit for everyone involved”.
Next comes integration with day-to-day dispatch. Depotcharge plans to add reservations, open interfaces and links to existing transport management systems. Charging would then sit inside the planning tools hauliers already run, rather than beside them.
