Sonepar, ChargePoint join forces to deploy EV charging stations in France

Sonepar and ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. have announced a strategic partnership in France. This partnership includes the deployment of more than 1,400 charging stations in Sonepar's network in France, which covers more than 500 sales offices, six distribution centers, and headquarters by mid-2022.

As of December 31, 2021, 53,667 charging stations were available in France. With the addition of 1,400 additional terminals, Sonepar and ChargePoint will significantly increase the available offer. Through this partnership, ChargePoint becomes the exclusive EV charging software partner for all charging equipment installed in Sonepar's network in France.

Based on this partnership, Sonepar in France will now be able to offer all its customers a complete solution for charging electric vehicles and will strengthen its position in a growing market, whose value is estimated at one billion in sales. 2025 with 50 percent installations in private companies.

In addition, this will contribute to the efforts to electrify its company fleet while Sonepar in France is already committed to a sustainable approach which is finding its first concrete results with a target of 25 percent battery-electric vehicles and 75 percent electric plug-in hybrids by 2023, with a shift to 50-50 by 2025.

This will enable Sonepar to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in France by 50 percent (scope 1 and 2) by 2025. It is also a clear indication to its partners and customers that the electrification of vehicles is the future of transportation and that connected networks will become the new normal - up to 50 percent of corporate electric vehicle chargers (those sold for commercial use) will be cloud-connected by 2025, providing users with ChargePoint's service.

Jérôme Malassigne, President of Sonepar France and Sonepar International Services, said: "By providing access to more than 1,400 electric vehicle charging stations, Sonepar offers an innovative service to its 100,000 customers and its 5,000 employees. Sonepar's French network represents a major opportunity to make a significant contribution to achieving France's ambition for electric charging stations. This sustainable service available 24/7 will significantly reduce carbon emissions. Jérôme Malassigne adds:

"We thank the Group for making this partnership with Chargepoint, at the forefront of innovation, available to the Sonepar network in France. »

Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, said: "We have an established partnership agreement with the Sonepar Group globally and we are delighted to expand electric vehicle charging in France by collaborating with Sonepar. This partnership demonstrates ChargePoint and Sonepar's commitment to promoting the future of transportation and advancing the electrification efforts of thousands of businesses across France.

ChargePoint's open software solution will be used to operate all charging stations sold by Sonepar in France, giving customers a choice of well-known hardware brands with a host of advanced features to make charging a simple and streamlined process.

This includes implementing simplified billing, access control, centralized reporting, and real-time data on energy used and greenhouse gases saved.

Through the ChargePoint app, drivers and businesses have direct access to around 95 percent of public charging ports in France and hundreds of thousands of other ports in Europe, as well as data on their charging usage, energy, costs, and greenhouse gas savings.