Japanese utility firm Ennet Corporation, part of NTT Group, is planning to lead the country’s transition to electric vehicles, aided by smart EV charging services provided by Driivz.

Yuji Kawagoe, president of Ennet, with Doron Frenkel, founder and CEO of Driivz

EVs only account for 0.5% of all new cars sold in Japan currently but new model launches over the next couple of years are expected to drive adoption.

Helping to spearhead their adoption, Ennet will expand into smart energy, integrating EV charging under its EnneEV solution with the help of Driivz.

Driivz will provide its SmartChain Energy Manager and operations management modules to Ennet, while EV drivers will receive access to a white-labelled app in their native Japanese language.

By integrating elements of Driivz’s EV charging management platform into its smart charging service, Ennet will be able to analyse the power usage patterns of its customers, identify when energy grids receive the least demand for charging and make sure fleets are sufficiently charged for use the following day. Functionality to remotely start and stop charging will also be enabled.

Doron Frenkel, founder and CEO of Israel-based Driivz, said: “We are impressed with Ennet and its mother company NTT’s anode energy vision of creating a greener environment for the people in Japan. Our vast experience and advanced smart energy management technology allow us to assist Ennet with integrating EV charging into the ecosystem of local power generation, batteries and demand response solutions.”

Yuji Kawagoe, president of Ennet, added: “We have been using the latest technology and artificial intelligence to provide energy efficiency services and data analysis for a number of years, so moving into smart charging is a logical step on our business journey. We are looking forward to working with Driivz and its internationally-proven system, which is already managing tens of thousands of EV chargers in the North American and European markets.”