– KEPCO and Kakao Mobility signed ‘Service Development Cooperation to Build an Electric Vehicle Charging Platform’
– Recommendation of optimal electric vehicle charging stations and provision of simple payment service with parking fee discounts
Korea Electric Power Corporation (CEO Kim Jong-gap), which has Korea’s largest electric vehicle charging infrastructure, will provide a new electric vehicle charging service in cooperation with Kakao Mobility (CEO Ryu Geung-seon), which owns Korea’s largest comprehensive mobility platform ‘Kakao T’ used by 28 million people. He said he had a plan.
The two companies signed an MOU on ‘Service development cooperation to build an electric vehicle charging platform’ at the Kakao Mobility headquarters in Seongnam-si on Friday, May 14.
KEPCO plans to develop a customer-friendly charging service through cooperation with Kakao Mobility, which has big data and advanced analysis know-how accumulated through operating various mobility services.
The two companies plan to link Kakao Navi and ChargeLink to provide a Charging Planner service that allows navigation to find the optimal charging station along the driving route and even make payments.
ChargeLink, a roaming platform developed by KEPCO, is a service that connects all electric vehicle charging operators and users, allowing electric vehicle charging operators to charge using chargers from affiliated companies even in areas where the company does not have its own chargers.
Based on the navigation map, the optimal charging station is recommended considering the nearby location along the route, charger status (whether the charger is broken, whether the charger is currently in use), and fee information. It also provides a charging reservation function that allows users to recharge at their desired time and a simple payment service through the Kakao Navi mobile app.
In addition, KEPCO plans to develop a parking fee discount and simple payment service. First, the Kakao T parking lot operated by Kakao Mobility will be linked to KEPCO’s roaming platform ChargeLink to automatically receive a discount on parking fees when leaving after charging an electric vehicle, and plans to expand to all unmanned parking lots in the future.
Currently, local governments are operating a system that provides discounts on parking fees to customers who use chargers installed in public parking lots. However, in order to receive a parking fee discount in an unmanned parking lot, there was an inconvenience in that when the user requested a parking fee discount from the parking lot call center when leaving the parking lot, the call center checked the charging details through CCTV and gave the discount.
Lee Jong-hwan, Vice President of KEPCO Business, said, “If Kakao Mobility’s powerful MaaS-type platform and advanced data analysis technology are combined with KEPCO’s largest infrastructure and roaming network, we can provide a higher level of charging service to electric vehicle users. “We hope that the cooperation model between the two companies will be an opportunity to contribute to the expansion of electric vehicle distribution,” he said.
Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-seon said, “We expect this agreement to be an important turning point in seeking ways to build an ecosystem in the fragmented electric vehicle aftermarket market beyond simple platform connection and service partnerships, and in accelerating the popularization of domestic electric vehicles.” “The two companies plan to discuss various ways to improve the charging service experience of electric vehicle owners through an ongoing strategic partnership, rather than a one-time cooperation limited to a specific business,” he said.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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