The EV Powered Interview: Jordan Brompton, myenergi

In 2016, Jordan Brompton and her business partner, Lee Sutton, created myenergi to try and change the world of electric vehicle charging. Six years later, myenergi is leading the way for renewable energy electric vehicle charging solutions.

In this special feature, Jordan talks to EV Powered about the journey of the company, the challenges it has faced along the way and the importance of home charging in the UK’s transition to EVs. You can read the full interview with Jordan in the EV Powered magazine using this link.

What is the story behind myenergi?

The vision for myenergi came from a conversation over a bottle of wine. We couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a way for EV drivers to charge their cars via solar panels, so decided to create a product based on gut feel alone. We founded the business in 2016 with nothing – apart from a few good ideas and a serious passion for change.

We spent more than a year getting the basics right. By this point, our savings had all but run out. We ran a crowdfunding round with a target of £40,000, but reached just £10,000.

The picture changed when we met Robert Llewellyn in Orkney. He was filming an episode for his EV YouTube channel and loved our product. He featured us and – from that day on – the phone began to ring.

Since then, we’ve grown from a team of two to a team of 350 and attracted funding from investors Sir Terry Leahy and Bill Currie. We recently shipped our 300,000th unit and beyond the UK we now have a presence in Germany, Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands.

What’s the company’s mission statement?

We believe in the electric revolution and commit to pioneering a simple transition to renewable energy. It might sound simple, but it really has been the driver behind everything we do!

What challenges have you faced along the way?

While every day of the myenergi journey has been an exciting adventure, we’ve experienced so many ups and downs along the way. Being an entrepreneur and doing what you love is tough. It’s competitive, it’s challenging, it’s cruel and sometimes it feels like everything wants you to fail.

We’ve been through the rollercoaster of Brexit, component shortages and the pandemic – all in the first five years of our journey – not to mention the premature birth of my daughter. But we’ve taken risks, overcome obstacles and learnt from our mistakes. Perseverance and a desire to be successful have seen us come out stronger than ever.

If I could roll back time and give myself advice at the start of the journey, it would be to expect the unexpected. Things can get pretty sketchy at times, they won’t go the way you want and you’ll be pushed to your absolute limits. Having the tenacity, drive, determination, fight and passion to overcome anything thrown at you will be so important. But don’t give up and don’t lose faith. The early mornings, long nights, headaches and heartache will all be worth it.

Tell us about your partnership with the Xite Energy Racing team?

At myenergi, we’re pioneers. Pioneers of new technologies, pioneers of new ideas and pioneers of a better future. As a leader in the transition to electrification, we’re always looking for new ways to demonstrate the potential of electric vehicles and break down the misconceptions that some drivers still have.

Oli Bennett and I met a few years ago. He has a real passion for sustainability and a number of hugely exciting ventures that aim to reduce humanity’s impact on the planet. We share similar ethics and our approach to business aligns perfectly. He’s also a talented racing driver and runs the XITE Energy Racing team.

We first sponsored XITE Energy Racing during the 2021 Extreme E season and built a strong working relationship. It was clear to see that our two brands go hand-in-hand as innovative, forward-thinking businesses looking to drive the future of sustainability.

This year, we partnered with XITE Energy Racing for the Nitro RX season. The series brings together the fastest off-road EVs with the wildest tracks in rallycross to create a revolutionary new racing format. While the first race is still a few weeks away, we’re looking forward to getting the myenergi brand in front of millions of fans and seeing electric vehicles take centre stage.

In April, we announced that Jenson Button would be joining the XITE Energy Racing team for the 2022/23 season, taking to the track in a myenergi-branded FC1-X all-electric race car.

How important is the role of home charging in the UK’s transition to electric vehicles?

The UK’s transition to electrification is accelerating at an increasing pace, but experts remain concerned that our national charging infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

While investing heavily in the public charging network is a key part of the solution, we also need to encourage EV owners to charge their vehicles at home – whenever possible – to free-up charge point capacities. Over the next eight years, estimates suggest that around eight million home chargers will be installed, making it easily the biggest EV charging market by volume.

While not everyone is fortunate enough to have use of a driveway, insight from the Energy Savings Trust suggests that more than 80% of all EV charging still takes place at home.  Although the cost of living crisis is making people think twice about the cost effectiveness of EVs, findings from The Scottish Sun identify that a VW ID.3 could be charged for as little as £13.75 per month when using the correct home tariff3 – compared to a monthly cost of £91.75 for public charging and an average cost of £258 for a diesel car.

Charging at home is not only cost-effective, but also hugely convenient. As such, I believe it plays a major role in the UK’s transition to electrification.

What excites you the most about myenergi’s future?

Our continued growth really excites me. We’re targeting new markets, we’re experiencing huge demand for our products and we’re quickly becoming a household name. In the future, I’d love to see more people using our products to decarbonise their homes and businesses, becoming totally energy independent and giving back to the environment.

When it comes to electric vehicle charging, we’re very quickly moving from early adoption to the mass market/majority stages. People love our products and get hooked on our software. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved and want to help more people live with less reliance on the grid.