Yet another special Year.

The year 2021 has been like no other at Wirelane. As a company we are deeply committed to shape the future of electromobility and empower people to move towards a clean future. This year, we were faced with the challenges to keep ourselves focused on our ambitious development goals in times of uncertainty on the one side but given a breakthrough situation of electromobiltiy in all aspects on the other side.  So let us rewind 2021 for a moment before we enter into an even more exciting year 2022.

The promise of technology in the context of the global pandemic

We’re still in the midst of a global pandemic that came unexpectedly and was even less expected to dominate all of our lives over such a long period of time. Technology (here: vaccination), however, once again proved to be capable of solving mankind’s most pressing issues.

Globalization is a broken concept

What began as the so called chip chrises turned into a much more profound crises of the global supply chain. Over the past decades, globalization was the main driver of ubiquitous access to cheap products, keeping inflation under control at the cost of massive environmental problems. The return of nationalism in combination with the aforementioned pandemic lead to a situation in which local production (at a significantly higher cost, thus spurring inflation) might be rather the norm than the exception. From an ecological perspective, this development bears potential to a more sustainable economy and a more even distribution of wealth. 

A circular economy is possible

Solar energy became the cheapest form of energy production (at least in most parts of the world). This means nothing less than a revolution as we will rapidly move away from centralized power generation towards a prosumer (producer/consumer) based energy system, allowing for the electrification of almost any asset (including cars and all other forms of mobility). Technological progress in upcycling and recycling allows for uninterrupted production of consumer products without creating landfill. Our vision must be to reach 100% renewables and a 100% circular economy as quickly as possible.

From an overall economic and a specific corporate perspective, the speed and scale of recovery from a stock market crash in 2019, pandemic fragility and the collapse of the global supply chaing was mindblowing. Share prices hit a all time high in most economies and the high demand for talent speak for itself. Now, it’s on us to use this momentum for a purposeful agenda. ‍

Climate Change: Time for Action.

Weeks of fires, floods, storm damage ... while the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 in Glasgow or the current IPCC Climate Report discuss and record the consequences of our actions, the effects of the last decades can be seen in the images that shaped this year. By now, at the latest, everyone should have realized what has always been our aspiration at Wirelane. When we founded Wirelane, our planet was at a tipping point. Greenhouse gas emissions have led to global warming, but the state of technology has shown us an opportunity to break the vicious cycle. Well-directed technological goods are helping society rethink its behavior and develop new patterns. For us, this means in a nutshell: charging electric vehicles must be easy and possible everywhere.

"To be able to achieve the goal of climate neutrality in combination with the mobility revolution, electric vehicle charging must be a basic right, like unrestricted access to the Internet."‍

E-Mobility – a Driver for Change.

E-mobility has arrived. Current figures speak a very clear language. In lead markets such as Norway, electric vehicles have already accounted for more than 50 percent of new registrations. But in Germany, too, we are now talking about double-digit percentages; in the first half of 2021, around 149,000 purely electric vehicles and 164,000 plug-in hybrids were registered. According to the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, this means that around one in four newly registered vehicles is equipped with an alternative drive system. This is nothing less than a revolution in people's mobility behavior. The car, which has long been considered to be harmful to the environment, is experiencing a renaissance.

However, the total number of charging points is still far too small for the current surge in e-mobility. The VDA demanded for 2,000 new charging points per week at the beginning of the year. As of August 2021, there are 46,200 publicly accessible charging points, according to the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

"One million public charging options by 2023 and a network of 1,000 fast charging points across Germany - that's what drives us, day in and day out."‍

Wirelane at a Glance.

Working remotely for more than 18 months was also a challenge for our team. But we mastered it - with constant growth. We doubled in people size, moved to larger offices in Munich and upgraded our Berlin development center to accommodate it. At the same time, working in a home office has also taught us a few things. Not every appointment has to take place on site, but if it does, a fundamental Wirelane principle applies: no domestic flights.

We are also proud to look at a continuously growing base of partnerships with new customers, electrician and installation partners joining our community while we see the market potential for charging infrastructure growing exponentially year on year.

"Learning and growing together" - our customer base has also grown a lot this year with companies like InterG Plus, Prizeotel, Leonardo Hotels, Run this place, Swarco, Bosch, just to name a few.

We successfully closed our second round of financing. Having strategic partners like ABACON CAPITAL or MOMENI Digital Ventures on board complements our strong shareholder base and confirms our mission equally. We are now prepared to take the next step in our development path with talents and partners on board that are 100% committed to our mission:

"Defining the Rules for Mobiltiy of Tomorrow".

With these achievements behind, we conclude 2021 with obtaining necessary compliance to German weights & mesure regulations (Eichrecht) for our tap payment solution for our Light & Charge product line. From 2023, card terminals will be mandatory at all newly installed charging stations in public areas. As we strongly beleive in the need to make charging as seemless, easy and convenient for users as possible as well as accessible everywhere, we ever since anticipated that requirement coming and are now one of the leading providers of charging solutions with tap payment functionality to the market.

Charge. Pay. Done.

Thank you.

2022 will become and without any doubts an exciting and great but also challenging year for Wirelane. The world is getting more complex, and the challenges we face as society continue to be interrelated, requiring all sectors- businesses, civil society, and governments- to work even closer in tandem to fight climate change.  

But looking at the foundation we have built over the past years and the incredible passion of our employees, customers, partners, suppliers and shareholders, provides us with the confidence and optimism that we will master our ambitious plans and projects in 2022. We would like to thank you all for supporting our mission and are proud to have you on our side. We will remain focused on strengthening relationships, solutions and offerings to deliver great value to our customers and community.

For us, this is just the beginning.

Happy Holidays and a great New Year.