QoWatt’s Odyssey at the Crossroads of Emobility and Web3

Discover how QoWatt merges EV charging infrastructures with Web3 innovations to shape the future of connected electric mobility.

[Interview with Hugo Manteau — CEO & Founder of QoWatt]

Tell us a bit about QoWatt, its mission, the problem it is solving, and what sets it apart.

QoWatt is a public operator of charging infrastructures for electric vehicles. QoWatt’s business model was conceived and built to offer a 100% free charging station solution, called the “ZeroInvest” offer. This allows commercial parks, business centers, hotels, other businesses or institutional buildings with private parking, who welcome the public to comply with the “Mobility Orientation Law” (LOM) starting from January 1, 2025, in France, by requiring that at least 5% of all their parking spots (from 20 spots) have public charging stations. By providing hosts with free charging infrastructures, they can enhance the consumer experience, retain and attract new customers looking for charging stations, and above all, increase the value of their parking lot with a share from QoWatt, based on user charges and kWh delivered. This can generate up to 10% profit from a parking area that never previously generated any revenue.

While QoWatt is not the only player in the market that operates through a “third-party investor” system, it stands out from other companies in many ways. Firstly, the charging stations themselves provide a sleek design that perfectly integrates into the landscape of commercial parks with a choice of two colors for hosts. The charging infrastructures are connected to low voltage electric meters, avoiding the installation of a bulky high voltage transformer, but still delivering up to 150kW of power thanks to dynamic charge management, allowing for a charge from 20% to 80% in 30 minutes. Fair pricing is based on the kWh consumed, not the time spent at the station, as many operators have done for too long. There’s also a 10-inch touchscreen, multilingual with one of the simplest and most effective UI/UX on the market. Payments can be made contactlessly with a credit card, or through ApplePay, GooglePay, and several other technological innovations that set QoWatt apart and keep it ahead of the game.

But where QoWatt has truly differentiated itself in the past two years, undertaking a paradigm shift in how a company is defined, created, and managed, is in its integration of Web3 with the development of a utility token that becomes the very foundation of the company. This cornerstone allowed QoWatt to raise 10 million Dollars almost two years ago and to establish a strong community known as the Founders or Ambassadors. This community of over 7,000 investors chose the design of the charging stations, and they also bring “business” to QoWatt with new locations, or host the company’s events, like on October 18, 2023, during xDay in Bucharest where QoWatt was also awarded “Best Real-World-Applicable Project”. QoWatt’s real strength lies here.

Can you go over some of the most significant recent developments, milestones or achievements for QoWatt?

The term “achievements” is certainly the most appropriate for a project like QoWatt; they are essential for the company’s future growth and there are three:

• The first achievement is QoWatt signing its first real estate contract. A negotiation that lasted almost a year. The deal was won by two public infrastructure operators — QoWatt and Vinci. The whole team is very proud of this signature and very grateful for the trust placed in QoWatt by this large national real estate company, whose name cannot be disclosed at this time. This signature should allow, at a minimum, for the tripling of the number of QoWatt charging stations in France by the end of 2024.
• The second achievement is the fruit of an agile company that knows how to adapt to its clients’ needs. During a trip to French Guiana, in a meeting with a local real estate company, the idea was born to create an offer adapted to collective real estate projects ensuring a return on investment for QoWatt, while offering a turnkey solution for hosts, fully financed by QoWatt. This led to the birth of the “FlexInvest” offer in September 2023 from an idea originating back to October 2022. This flexible and scalable offer for hosts, once again innovative and different from our competitors, is currently being negotiated in the context of public procurement bids.

• The third and most notable achievement of 2023 is a major technological advancement: the native integration of cryptocurrency payment directly from our public charging stations. QoWatt now establishes itself as a leader in the field of Web3 connected electric vehicle charging solutions, taking another step in its research and development strategy by becoming the world’s first public operator to offer such a digital currency payment option. QoWatt charging station users can now make their payments in several cryptocurrencies, including BTC, EGLD, UTK, USDT, and DASH, providing unprecedented flexibility. This accomplishment is the result of 6 months of intensive research and development in close collaboration with key industry players such as e-totem, a French manufacturer specializing in the design and operation of public charging station networks, MultiversX, the first European carbon-negative Layer-1 blockchain, highly scalable, secure, decentralized, and xMoney, a leading payment solution that modernizes finance and payments, offering both fiat and cryptocurrency options worldwide.

What are some upcoming features or services that your community should be excited about?

Here, we will talk about “services”. They are as important as they are challenging to implement, but once they are being deployed, they will inevitably have the arguments to elevate QoWatt to the next level:

• The first service relates to QoWatt’s international expansion under the brand licensing model, more commonly known as “the franchise”, although the brand license differs slightly with greater flexibility for licensees and is less binding for the licensor. QoWatt is already a protected brand, registered and operational in the 27 member states of the European Union. Regarding the United States of America, the company’s intellectual property advisors in France and the USA have been working for over a year on the registration and protection of the brand in the American territory, with a conclusion expected during the first half of 2024. Simultaneously, and for over a year as well, the team has been working closely with the company’s franchise law advisors to build and finalize the first definitive version allowing QoWatt to enter the international market. The first targeted countries are Romania, Spain, and Germany. The international rollout will be cautious, and great attention will be given to the final selection of brand license candidates, who will bear the heavy responsibility of representing and developing the QoWatt brand in their respective countries.

• The second service is the ultimate service for QoWatt, and its goal to democratize its e-mobility services linked to the technology of its Web3 services in everyday life. It’s no longer a secret: It’s the “GenX” project through which QoWatt aspires to become an “eMobility Service Provider” — (eMSP), the first of its kind, connected to Web3, with a unique and innovative integration that will undoubtedly set it apart from all its competitors. The eMSP market is a highly competitive one, largely dominated by companies like Chargepoint, Freshmile, or Chargemap, so the goal of gaining market share from a major player will certainly not be easy.

These objectives are certainly high, many obstacles have been overcome and there are undeniably many more to come, but as a motivational quote says:

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

And once you’ve taken a good look at the moon, isn’t it wonderful to gaze up at the stars?