Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, has announced a $1 million investment in SWTCH to help boost electric vehicle (EV) adoption across the country.
“Driving clean growth, increasing competitiveness and reducing pollution. This is how we get to net-zero emissions by 2050,” said O’Regan.
SWTCH offers turnkey EV charging and energy management solutions for both businesses and individuals. The company plans to demonstrate a blockchain-based EV charging platform that aims to significantly reduce the cost of EV charging transactions and improve grid efficiency.
SWTCH is one of several partners contributing to this project, the others being Opus One Solutions, Toronto Hydro, University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, IBI Group and PowerCharge.
“As electric vehicle adoption grows and our energy systems become increasingly decentralized, our blockchain-based solution is poised to deliver the greatest value to all stakeholders involved in integrating EVs into the distributed energy ecosystem,” said Carter Li, CEO of SWTCH.
The transportation sector accounts for 25 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to Natural Resources Canada, which said a greater adoption of EVs is “key to decarbonizing” the sector and transitioning to a low-carbon future.
“By demonstrating an efficient and scalable blockchain-based platform that can record transactions to reduce transaction costs and reduce network congestion, the platform offers a unique option to EV drivers, charging service providers and utilities that would contribute to an increased uptake of EVs,” said Natural Resources Canada in its news release.
Federal funding for the project comes from the department’s Green Infrastructure – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration program.
