Solana-based DePIN protocol DeCharge heats up as EV charging market dives further into the sector
DeCharge Overview - September 25, 2024
Welcome back to the DeCharge Overview.
DeCharge is a protocol focused on supporting the electric vehicle (EV) charging network through DePIN technology and other web3 functionalities and elements like tokenization and real world assets.
It won second place in Colosseum’s Solana 2024 Renaissance Hackathon for the DePIN category and qualified as one of the top 10 teams in the Colosseum cohort.
Once a month, we’re diving into the DeCharge and broader DePIN community to get up to speed on its latest updates, metrics, insights, ecosystem developments and more – all in one place.
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DeCharge DePIN by the numbers
Locations with deployed EV chargers: 211 (+10%)
With ~300 locations in the pipeline
Minutes of charging EVs: 400,941 (+735.3%)
Repeat customers: 53% (-13.1%)
Partners: 3
These metrics are accurate upon publication. The percentages are based on month-over-month change, unless noted otherwise.
⚡Debriefing with DeCharge⚡
The DePIN space isn’t new. But there are “novel frameworks” emerging that change the way startups and businesses can scale well known concepts, in addition to new ones, Prakash Kamaraj, co-founder of DeCharge said on its quarterly webinar with Token Relations.
In recent months, the sector has seen expansion as more use cases pop up, consumer and business demand grows and innovation for the networks scale.
For DeCharge, it has surpassed its expected 300,000 charging minutes by the end of September, reaching 401,000 minutes for electric vehicle (EV) charging, up 735% month-over-month, according to internal data shared with Token Relations.
“It’s been an accelerated journey,” Kamaraj said, following the team’s Colosseum hackathon win earlier this year. The Solana-based startup has been building “with a laser focus on energy and setting up EV infrastructure,” Mohan Ponnada, DeCharge co-founder, said during the webinar.
Its growth continues to point to the scale of adoption and demand for DeCharge’s infrastructure and the technology. The protocol’s deployed EV chargers also increased 10% to 211 locations at the time of publication.
“If you go to a room full of people and ask how many of them have Teslas or have heard of them, you’ll see a room full of people lift their hands,” Ponnada said. “But it’s important to understand that in Southeast Asian markets, there are more electric two-wheelers in any particular country than all Teslas combined.”
As a result, DeCharge and others are dealing with a very large scale, but this isn't a well known narrative in Western audiences, Ponnada said. “Our work has been to fill the gaps in this market.” DeCharge’s goal is focused on building solutions for fleets and three-wheeler or two-wheeler vehicles. “They’re the ones that need to reduce their costs.”
“That is one of the biggest drivers for us,” Ponnada said. “We have onboarded two very large fleet operators and we are addressing the demand for all their EV vehicles. They have about 6000 EV vehicles used on a daily basis…across over 65,000 riders.”
In the background, DeCharge is working with a number of Solana ecosystem players and projects that are bridging to the chain to expand its operations. In turn, this could accelerate the DePIN growth and reach new audiences.
“Solana has been an amazing ecosystem to work with,” Ponnada said. “The sheer scale and innovation in this ecosystem allows us to scale at speed.”
Some of these will be announced in the coming months, both co-founders shared.
“To meet the demand we have today will take at least another two to three months to set up the infrastructure,” Ponnada said. “It’s only going to grow as we go.”
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.