WeaveGrid gets $35M Series B to help power grid respond to coming wave of EVs • TechCrunch | Rare Techy

Today, it’s electricity The grid works because it’s a playbook that has been tested by tools. They may not know exactly when you do your laundry, but they do know that washers and dryers run more in the evenings or on the weekends. The wind blows when the temperature drops, and the lights click away during the dark winter months.

But in the coming years, the playbook goes out the window. Renewables will rebuild the grid, but EVs will be the biggest challenge. Utilities may know how many solar panels and wind turbines are connected, but how many EVs will be plugged in each night? They probably have about a dollar.

That’s where WeaveGrid comes in. The SaaS company’s enterprise is a platform that integrates data from equipment manufacturers, car manufacturers, and drivers to help utilities manage the load that EVs put on the grid. This information will become even more important in the next decade, when half of the estimated 280 million US vehicles will be electrified.

WeaveGrid hopes to not only help utilities plan for new manufacturing capacity, it also wants to help identify areas where they can improve their distribution infrastructure. correction. The average age of grid transformers, for example, is 25 years.

“If 280 million vehicles all start charging at the same time overnight, it will put a lot of pressure on the old infrastructure that is not equipped to handle all these big batteries charging on the misunderstanding,” says WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv. Bhargava.

To help coordinate millions of charging vehicles — and ensure they’re ready when drivers need them — the WeaveGrid platform pulls data from equipment, engines, and even drivers. electricity to create a picture of when and where the grid is most needed.

The company is announcing a $35 million Series B round led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from new investors Activate Capital, Emerson Collective, Collaborative Fund, and MCJ Collective. Existing investors Coatue, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Grok Ventures, and The Westly Group also invested in the round. This is the first time Salesforce Ventures has led a weather technology investment.