Denise Schuler, Giorgio Gabba, Cristina Lurati, and Nabil Nazha took their first steps in the electric mobility sector with Protoscar, a historic company founded over thirty years ago by Marco Piffaretti, one of Switzerland’s pioneers in the field.
In 2019, Protoscar merged with Swisscharge, becoming part of the Energie 360° group, continuing to work towards accelerating the decarbonization of road transport. Today, with its Ticino office located at Impact Hub Ticino, Swisscharge is a key player in advanced charging solutions and strategic consulting, committed to making electric mobility more accessible and sustainable.
Here is the story of Swisscharge and their positive contribution to a low-emission future.
Hello! Can you tell us what Swisscharge does and who are the Ticino's team members?
Swisscharge is a company active in the electric mobility sector, providing services, charging solutions, and consulting. We offer charging station operators a system that allows remote management of the stations, including payment, charging authorizations, and monitoring. Over 15,000 charging points in Switzerland are connected to our network, and more than 160,000 users have downloaded our app, which enables charging both from our network and from almost all other networks in Switzerland and Europe through roaming.
As a provider of charging solutions, we offer the best charging experience for the real estate sector, electric vehicle fleets, and public areas. Our consulting services are aimed at municipalities, cantons, and private individuals, helping them develop electric mobility strategies, analyze needs, locate and plan charging points, and determine how and when to electrify vehicle fleets.
The office at Impact Hub Ticino focuses on consulting and marketing, with Denise Schuler, head of marketing and consulting, Giorgio Gabba, Cristina Lurati, and Nabil Nazha working there.
What is your entrepreneurial journey? Where did you start, where are you now, and what are the main challenges?
Our journey began more than thirty years ago as Protoscar, founded by Marco Piffaretti, one of Switzerland’s pioneers of electric mobility. Protoscar played a key role throughout the evolution of electric mobility, from the visions of a few dreamers to the mass production of electric vehicles. We developed prototypes, managed pilot projects, developed charging stations, and in recent years, focused increasingly on consulting services.
We also ventured down some dead-end roads: in the first decade of this century we participated, with various projects, in the car manufacturers' innamoration of hydrogen, which was then followed by a great disillusionment that, fortunately, did not affect the path to decarbonization, thanks to the enormous technological progress of Lithium batteries, which brought electric cars to success.
In 2019, we became part of the Energie 360° group based in Zurich, and after merging with Swisscharge, another company in the group, we became its Ticino office.
What positive impact do you want to have (globally, in Switzerland, in Ticino)? How are you achieving it concretely?
We aim to contribute to the decarbonization of road transport in Switzerland, which is responsible for almost one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, by offering those who use or will use electric vehicles the best possible charging experience, staying aligned with technological advancements.
Our contribution to those managing charging infrastructure consists of developing effective strategies, promoting the best technical and management solutions, and fostering emerging technologies.
What made you choose Impact Hub Ticino as the place for your activities? What value does it bring you?
With the growing focus on consulting activities, Protoscar’s old office became too large. Our alternatives were to find a smaller office, either independent or within a co-working space, easily accessible by train, since Swisscharge has offices in Zurich and its historic headquarters in Gossau (SG).
After evaluating various options, it was an easy choice to select Impact Hub, as it is an environment, like ours, oriented towards sustainability. This gave us added value: sharing space with others who pursue sustainability in various ways different from our own.
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