Evailable: How Corporate Innovation and Perfect Timing Transformed E-Mobility Maintenance

Corporate Entrepreneurship Stories #6 – Interview with Evailable

We sat down with Stefan Herr, Managing Director of Evailable, a corporate venture of E.ON. Evailable provides AI technology to optimize charging infrastructure operations. Stefan’s journey in e-mobility and innovation management began at Innogy, an energy company later integrated into E.ON. In 2021, while working in E.ON’s e-mobility department, the team identified a growing need for predictive maintenance in charging infrastructure. After launching a solution and web app, a press release gained significant attention, which led to the decision to offer the product on the external market—now known under the brand Evailable. In our conversation, we discuss Evailable’s journey, from the initial idea to becoming a successful market offering, and the role that E.ON played in supporting its development.

Sophia Kuther, Pioneers:
Hello Stefan, great to meet you! To start, could you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you identified the problem you aimed to solve with Evailable?

Stefan Herr, Managing Director Evailable

Thank you! Absolutely, I’d be happy to share. I started working in e-mobility at Innogy in 2009, back when the industry looked very different. For example, I was involved in developing one of the first charging stations in Germany, and I was proud that we were able to charge the first Tesla Roadster with it. When Innogy merged into E.ON, I had the unique opportunity to combine innovation and e-mobility.

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when the idea for Evailable was born, but I clearly remember when the e-mobility department approached me, saying:
“Our IT system shows that everything is functioning, but it doesn’t detect simple issues. If someone sticks chewing gum into a charging plug, we wouldn’t know.”
That was the turning point. There was a clear lack of tools to detect charging station failures early on and prevent negative customer experiences. The concept of predictive maintenance was a logical solution, as it was already being used in other industries such as power grids, gas networks, and power plants. Consequently, we began tackling the problem internally at E.ON.

How exactly did you continue after identifying the need?

At first, we focused on user behavior, analyzing the limited data we had. We looked for irregular charging patterns, which often indicated vandalism, faulty displays, or blocked access. As we gathered more data, we expanded our analysis to the entire communication process between charging stations and the IT backend, which led us to develop two key AI-driven models:

1. A Health Index – A system that evaluates the condition of a charging station and detects anomalies.
2. A Fault Detection Model – A system that learns from human experience to determine the best response to different errors.

These models worked, but the challenge was: How do we make them usable?
We developed a dashboard, which we later transformed into a web app by the end of 2022. Then came the breakthrough: A press release generated unexpectedly high interest and the positive response to our product was overwhelming. 

How did the product development process proceed with E.ON as the responsible company? Was there a structured approval process and was it challenging to secure funding from the board?

At E.ON Group Innovation, funding is managed through a pitch process. Each idea is developed in collaboration with the relevant department, and for each project phase, a new pitch is required to secure funding—for example, for building the web app and later for entering the external market. 

We had support from the board because the idea aligned with E.ON’s strategic goals and addressed an internal problem within the company. I would say that it is a lot easier to get management approval if an internal need is answered. 

In general, Group Innovation provided a lot of autonomy to us —they let the experts take charge of the operating business and stepped in only when needed, particularly in corporate discussions regarding the financials.

Who exactly was involved in the product development process? 

I had a dedicated team for this project, with the business unit providing expertise and support. For an external solution to become successful, it simply needs more resources than a business unit that is mainly active in line operations.

I like to call my team a “superhero team”. It was a mix of internal and external experts and I never made a difference between the two. In the beginning, it was just an internal IT specialist, an external expert, and myself. Internal team members understand the corporate structure and know how to navigate within it, while external experts bring specialized market knowledge and a fresh, unbiased perspective. 

We’ve now talked about the development process and the project team. What happened after the product was finalized?

Typically, innovation projects at E.ON are handed over to the relevant business unit. However, in the past one to two years, there has been a growing recognition that some solutions—especially those like Evailable, which are unique and not yet available on the market—have the potential to scale externally. Particularly the positive response from the press demonstrated significant market opportunities—which we seized. 

Obviously, there was some tension with the department since our solution also strengthened the competition, but we pursued our market entry. We offered the product on the external market under the Evercharge brand in early 2023. By mid-2023, we had our own booth at Power2Drive in Munich—and were completely overrun by demand. A year later, we renamed the brand to Evailable.

But is Evailable still owned by E.ON?

Yes, we have completed a spin-off in which Evailable remains 100% owned by the E.ON Group. However, Evailable has transitioned from E.ON Innovation to E.ON One as its shareholder. With E.ON One, we now have a partner that manages multiple startups and consolidates digital solutions within the corporation. E.ON One brings strong scaling capabilities that will help accelerate our growth.

How would you describe your relationship with E.ON now?

Currently, we still have a strong connection to E.ON, particularly with the specialized department, and we remain part of the corporation. However, we have established our own brand identity because our customers also include E.ON’s competitors.

In general, we benefit greatly from external customer relationships, as they provide valuable feedback for further developing our solution—something that ultimately benefits the entire E.ON Group. With E.ON’s eMobility subsidiaries, we maintain a more traditional customer-supplier relationship.

What’s next in the coming years? Will E.ON remain involved in the long term? 

An exit or partnership is currently not a priority. As I have mentioned, E.ON One as our new shareholder can support us in scaling our business and accelerate our digital solution. We’re not looking for a strategic investor at this stage—having two parties involved would likely complicate things further. 

Our big goal now is to become the leading platform for operational management within the E.ON ecosystem.

Thank you for your detailed overview of Evailable’s story. To conclude, do you have additional key learnings in developing the solution that you would like to share with us?

My most important key learning is timing. No one worked full-time on the project in the beginning—it was meant purely as an experiment. There was no urgency to launch something quickly, because at the time, the market wasn’t ready for the idea. Had we introduced the solution too early, it probably wouldn’t have gained any traction. Timing is everything in innovation. We entered the market at exactly the right moment. By mid-2023, predictive maintenance was still an emerging topic, but at ICEMAC, one of the leading e-mobility trade fairs, charging anxiety suddenly became a major discussion point. While charging station operators focused primarily on expanding charging infrastructure in the last years, the priority has now shifted toward cost-efficient operations.

My second key learning is that resources and know-how from a corporate environment provide a clear competitive advantage in relation to startups. From the very beginning, our vast data foundation has helped us test our models. Additionally, we receive direct feedback from the eMobility department, which has been invaluable for further development. I had an idea, but I’m not an expert in the day-to-day operations of a charging station. Without input from the specialized department, it would have been difficult to develop a truly practical solution. Another major advantage is IT infrastructure. We don’t have to deal with cybersecurity or AWS ourselves—that’s handled by the corporation. Unlike startups, we’re not reliant on investors or funding rounds, which allows us to focus more on our core business.

At the same time, of course, there are drawbacks. Decision-making processes are more complex than in a startup, and sometimes we have to wait a long time for certain tasks to be completed from different departments.

However, I had full freedom from management to assemble the team and experiment with different approaches. My top priority was ensuring that everyone was passionate about the project and fully committed. Another critical factor in building a strong team is transparency across all topics. Alignment and trust are only possible when everyone understands the team’s direction, challenges, and achievements. For me, this level of openness is essential to building a cohesive and motivated team.

My third key learning is that corporate innovation requires persistence. You need a long-term mindset to push ideas forward in a corporate environment. In my case, that persistence has paid off—today, we’ve grown into a team of 20 people, and I’m currently transitioning the team from a project-based setup into a fully structured business unit.

 

Thank you for your interesting insights! An inspiring story that shows how corporate entrepreneurship can work while remaining in the possession of the parent corporation. Thank you for your time, Stefan, and much success for your future plans!

Key Learnings:

The expertise and resources of the parent company represent a significant competitive advantage. Evailable could leverage its access to corporate data, which has been crucial for testing models. Direct feedback from the eMobility department has also been invaluable in developing a practical solution. Additionally, Evailable benefits from corporate IT infrastructure and capital.

Solving an internal problem with the solution is a major benefit when securing management buy-in. E.ON itself faced challenges with insufficient maintenance of charging infrastructure. Evailable’s solution effectively addressed this need and thereby aligned with the group’s strategic objectives.

The right timing was crucial for the success of Evailable’s solution. Earlier, operators were focused on scaling charging stations, while infrastructure efficiency became a key concern just as the solution entered the market.

A fully committed and passionate team unlocks new possibilities. Stefan had the freedom to hire employees, whether internal or external, who were 100% dedicated to the solution, allowing him to combine the best of both worlds – internal resources and external networks.