With all of the positives that electric vehicles provide, they do come with their own set of challenges, many of which have nothing to do with the vehicle. One huge challenge for many electric vehicle drivers is home charging. Where will the vehicle charge? How fast will it charge? NeoCharge’s Smart Splitters make adding an EV charger to your home easier and more affordable for many homeowners and renters.

NeoCharge Smart Splitters let homeowners use a single 220 volt electrical outlet to power two devices. One version of the product uses a common electric appliance outlet to power an appliance and an electric vehicle charger while the second version allows homeowners to safely power two EV chargers from a single outlet. Both were developed to make EV charging easier and more affordable for homeowners and renters.

NeoCharge is the brainchild of two engineers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo bent on lowering the cost of installing an EV charger for homeowners. After interviewing hundreds of EV drivers, it was clear to co-founders Spencer Harrison and Akhil Veluru that the electrical work required to install Level 2 EV chargers in the home was a major financial barrier for many drivers.

Electric vehicle chargers can pull a lot of power, which can translate to thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in costly electrical upgrades to the home. Spencer and Akhil set out to develop a solution and quickly honed in on developing a smart power splitter that allows homeowners to use a single 220 volt outlet to safely and intelligently power two devices. 220 volt outlets are commonly used in homes to power electric dryers, water heaters, heat pumps, stoves, or even another EV charger.

The NeoCharge Smart Splitter emerged as a viable solution to a very real problem. The Smart Splitter plugs into a single 220 volt outlet and intelligently splits power between two built-in outlets. The primary outlet on the left side of the Smart Splitter is able to pull as much power as it requires, while the secondary outlet on the right is throttled to use any additional capacity.

In the case of power sharing with an electric appliance like a dryer or heat pump, the appliance would get priority, with the EV charging ramping up when the primary appliance is not in use.

After years of rigorous testing, NeoCharge received their UL safety certification earlier this year and they are currently working with residential solar, EV charging, electricians, and utility companies. NeoCharge has won many notable awards including Caltech’s RocketFund grant, the LA Cleantech Incubators Innovators Award, and they were accepted as part of the Fall 2019 cohort at the LA Cleantech Incubator, one of the top business incubators in the world.

NeoCharge plans to expand into new product lines to continue to make driving an electric vehicle more affordable for drivers and to further their mission “To empower the people with access to clean and easy electric vehicle charging and home electrification.” NeoCharge is developing a new smartphone app that will let EV drivers charge when utility power is the cheapest, track energy consumption, and get notifications when charging is complete.