Portland electric vehicle charging station manufacturer OpConnect is starting the new year with a big new deal that will see hundreds of its charging stations deployed nationwide.
St. Louis-based Acertus, which offers vehicle management services, is adding EV charging to 41 of its 67 locations nationwide and it will using OpConnects systems. These sites are used for vehicle storage and prep.
OpConnect makes EV charging stations that are aimed at fleet and multifamily customers. This means charging stations for customers like school districts, cities or others that run their own fleet vehicles, or for apartments and condo complexes.
This deal with Acertus will see anywhere from four to 12 units per location, said OpConnect founder and CEO Dexter Turner. But, there is expectation for more growth as EVs are added to fleets served by Acertus.
“Even if it's 25% per year (growth), in a couple years they will need more chargers. This is a great long-term relationship,” said Turner.
Acertus’ service includes vehicle transport, storage, maintenance and compliance.
"Our customers range from original equipment manufacturers to fleets, and all have very different needs as they prepare for an influx of electric vehicles in market,” said Trent Broberg, CEO of Acertus, in a written statement. “Our nationwide transportation hub and storage locations vary drastically in terms of the power that's available, and we needed a partner that could provide a truly customized solution."
OpConnect’s charging stations are a combination of a base EV charger made by a partner company that OpConnect’s production team then customizes with its own software. The resulting charger is “smart” and can offer energy management by adjusting charging levels up or down, and it can track energy needs and costs. All that information is communicated to the company’s software.
OpConnect has more than 300 customers and operates in 26 states plus Puerto Rico and Canada. The company has more than 3,000 of its units deployed.
The deal with Acertus is the result of more than a year of work, Turner said. That time to sale is built into the company’s sales strategy.
“In our business, I have found, that you need a pipeline of short-term deals that close in the next month, medium-term deals in the next six months and then get out there trying to hit a home run,” he said.
In the case of Acertus the two companies did not have a prior relationship.
“They took the time to get to know us over the year and get comfortable with us,” he said. “This is a big purchase for them, too.”
Last year also saw OpConnect close a big deal with engine maker Cummins, said Turner. That company is using OpConnect's charging stations as part of its own EV platform play to sell EV engines along with a charging system.
OpConnect is venture-backed. The company raised a seed round in 2021 and closed a $5 million Series A last year. Turner expects the company will be profitable this year.
Turner also expects to hire across the board this year. The team is now 25 and he anticipates that number to double in 2024. Production happens at the company’s southeast Portland headquarters. The company ended 2023 producing about 100 units a month. Turner expects that to ramp up to 400 units a month in the middle of this year.
He anticipates maxing out his production space by the end of the year.
