Honda, Ford and BMW united to promote their electric cars

Major automotive manufacturers American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Ford Motor Company and BMW Group announced the signing of an agreement to create ChargeScape, LLC, a new company whose ownership will be divided equally.

This alliance will create a unique and profitable platform that will connect service companies, automotive manufacturers and customers interested in electric vehicles.

• It will not only benefit both customers who prefer these types of cars but also the entire electrical services industry in the US and Canada;
• Plus, it will unlock a whole new value that those vehicles can provide to the power grid.
• At the same time, it will enable electric vehicle customers to realize financial benefits through a variety of managed charging and energy sharing services that have never been possible with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.The closing of the transaction and subsequent formation of ChargeScape is pending regulatory approvals and the company is expected to be operational early next year.

  The three manufacturers (BMW Group, Ford and Honda) will take advantage of years of cross-sector research around the so-called Open Vehicle Grid Integration Platform (OVGIP) to create that single platform to manage the energy use of a broad set of electric vehicles .

  Building on OVGIP's years of cross-industry collaboration, ChargeScape's single platform will eliminate the need for individual integrations between each automotive brand and each electric utility company.

  It will also give electric utilities access to battery power in a broad set of electric vehicles. Participating customers will have the potential to gain financial benefits for charging at “grid-friendly” times through flexible, managed schedules.

  Such customers will also eventually have the opportunity to make an even more significant impact by sharing the energy stored in their electric vehicle batteries with the grid during times of peak demand through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications.

  The development of this project comes at a time when electric vehicle sales and infrastructure growth are increasing rapidly, creating new opportunities to address power grid challenges.

  More electric vehicles on the roads mean more demand for electricity from utilities to charge them.

  The three founding members welcome other automakers to join in and take full advantage of the opportunities offered by ChargeScape's network service offerings once the company is fully operational.