GULPLUG is to supply the automatic plug-in solution that enables electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles to charge without human intervention.

Grenoble, the 11th of March 2021 - GULPLUG, a start-up company that accelerates the energy transition and clean mobility thanks to the automatic plug-in of electric vehicles, has signed a development, supply and license agreement with Westfalia Technologies,Inc.(Westfalia), one of the world’s leading suppliers of automated parking systems and logistics solutions for warehouses and distribution centers.

The agreement covers the development and supply of key components necessary to automatically charge electric vehicles within automated parking systems (APSs). Westfalia designs and manufactures APSs that use robotic technology to store and retrieve vehicles in a secure, space-efficient manner. After parking their vehicle inside the transfer cabin, the APS transports the vehicle to its designated parking space where it awaits retrieval. This entire process is controlled by Westfalia’s Savanna.NET® Parking Control System (PCS) and requires no human intervention. An increase in demand for electric vehicle (EV) charging within the APS prompted Westfalia to look for a fully automated solution to charge EVs. The use of the newly developed products, utilizing GULPLUG’s patented technology, in conjunction with robotics provided by Westfalia, will result in a flexible and competitive solution.

“We wanted a simple, robust and user-friendly solution for charging EVs in our automated parking systems. After carefully benchmarking available options, we selected GULPLUG to help develop key components of our solution based on their extensive experience charging electric vehicles and its patented technology. In 2020, GULPLUG developed and delivered a prototype for us which we have been successfully testing at our facility in York, PA. Our agreement with GULPLUG means that the technology deployed in our automated parking systems will be highly reliable and compatible with all models of electric vehicles”, said Ian Todd, Director of Automated Parking Systems, Westfalia Technologies, Inc.

“We feel very honored to have been selected by Westfalia to develop a new solution for them based on our PAM! (Plug-In is Automatic with Magnets!) technology. This agreement enables us to develop the final version of the products this year which will be tested in real-life conditions in an APS as soon as possible and deployed on a larger scale there after. We are proud to develop the only automatic plug-in solution compatible with all types of electric vehicles for Westfalia”, added Xavier Pain, CTO andco-founder of GULPLUG.

“We are very happy that GULPLUG has signed this Agreement. It is the result of substantive work carried out for several years by this company, especially its participation in the “Ubimobility” actions that we organize to promote the growth of French automotive players in the USA. GULPLUG owns an innovation that will accelerate the transition toward clean mobility, while offering various applications which might change our daily lives” concluded Georges UCKO, Head of Transportation at Business France.

Read the full press release here.