In 2009, the few electric vehicle users circulating in Barcelona had a hard time finding a charging point: there were only about twenty in the entire city. In a situation that was repeated in most cities, Xavier Cañadell and Jordi Rodríguez created Electromaps to facilitate the search for those charging points that were then beginning to be installed.
Fifteen years later, Electromaps has more than one million users globally, and has managed 1.5 million recharges through a platform that started as a map of charging points and has evolved to incorporate tools such as a manager for charger owners and the activation and payment of charging from its application.
Electromaps, which belongs to Wallbox since 2020, took its first steps when Cañadell and Rodríguez decided in 2009 to transfer gas station maps for drivers to electric mobility. "When we founded Electromaps, the idea of an electric vehicle still seemed distant to many and the charger map was practically empty," Cañadell highlights.
In 2011, they brought their map to the app format and, in 2013, the initiative changed its model and became a totally collaborative project: users themselves began to share information about chargers. And it is that, in those four years, not only had the company grown, but also the number of electric cars and charging points in the streets of cities.
Two years later, Electromaps took another leap: the connection of charging stations to its platform allowed its users to activate and pay for recharges from their app. Since then, its platform has managed 1.5 million recharges through this remote payment and activation function. In addition, in 2016 it launched Electropass, a physical card that allows users to activate sessions and pay for them without the need to use the application. The company began to open up to other markets, focusing mainly on Europe, and also expanded its activity: in 2019 it launched a system to manage chargers from different manufacturers, which at the same time allows charger owners to share their infrastructure with all Electromaps users.
The company embarked on a new stage in 2020: Wallbox acquired Electromaps. The purchase of the charger company, also from Barcelona, allowed Electromaps to accelerate its growth. Thus, in 2023 it exceeded 750,000 registered users and, in 2024 it has surpassed one million. In addition, last year it launched a new tool that allows users to optimize charging sessions by recommending the most suitable points for their case, based on factors such as plug type and charging speed, with real-time data analysis.
Since its foundation, the Barcelona-based company has grown in parallel with the electric vehicle fleet and charging infrastructure. "It's impressive to see how charging points have become part of the everyday landscape," Cañadell emphasizes. At the state level, there are more than 38,700 operational public access charging points, which represents a 32% increase over the previous year, and the forecast and objective is for them to continue to increase. In these 15 years of trajectory, moreover, the company has generated a collaborative community present in more than 100 countries. "Our goal has been to make life easier for electric vehicle drivers and build a community that accelerates this transition," says Cañadell.
To commemorate these 15 years, Electromaps has recognized various actors who have contributed to the promotion of electric vehicles from diverse fields, including industrial and institutional. The company awarded companies such as Tesla, the Catalan manufacturer Floox, the charging network born in Palencia Zunder, and the Madrid-based Powerdot, in its desire to contribute to the advancement of electric mobility.