Businesses and residents in California will soon be able to offer their charging points to other drivers through a mobile app, in what’s said to be the first network of its kind in North America.

Electric vehicle drivers can search for available charging points via an app.

The system is based on German company MotionWerk’s Share&Charge platform; an app which enables peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing of charging points belonging to everyone from households to large corporates, and is already live in its home market.

In turn, this enables owners to set suitable access times and pricing, and receive direct payments for usage from the user, transacted via a highly secure blockchain-based system.

“In today’s marketplace, the availability of public EV charging is still of concern to potential EV drivers. However, P2P charging opens the opportunity to break free of infrastructure limitations and gasoline oligopolies to access electricity for their cars,” explained Dietrich Sümmerman of Share&Charge.

“By establishing networks of individuals willing to share their EV charging stations, we are opening up more charging options to EV drivers, while at the same time ensuring station owners are compensated accordingly.”

Share&Charge is compatible with any charging point which uses eMotorWerks JuiceNet technology, including the JuicePlug adaptor which enables equipment for other manufacturers to be integrated into the network.

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