bp ventures is leading has announced an investment of $7 million (£5m) in smart electric vehicle (EV) charging company IoTecha.

The EV firm uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology to connect charging points with the electricity grid, homes and buildings.

It also simplifies charging for EV drivers by removing the need for charge cards and multiple payment systems and creates savings by enabling unused power to be sold back to the grid, through a process called Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) or bi-directional charging.

IoTecha’s Intelligent Power Platform gathers information over time, identifying patters and the energy requirements of each user across all forms of EV charging.

Oleg Logvinov, President and CEO of IoTecha said: “The transportation and electrification industries have developed for the last hundred years without substantial interactions with each other. The rising tide of transportation electrification is rapidly fusing them together. Smart and interoperable charging will make it possible.

“IoTecha is proud to join the ecosystem of bp ventures and we look forward to supporting the acceleration of decarbonisation through collaboration and co-innovation.”

The investment in IoTecha – part of a $13.2 million (£9.5m) investment round – is aligned with bp’s aim to provide more than 70,000 public EV charging points worldwide by 2030.

Richard Bartlett, SVP future mobility & solutions added: “IoTecha is at the forefront of the trend towards electrification and their unique technology combines EV charging with smart connectivity to deliver cost and energy savings.

“As demand for EVs continues to grow, we are excited to explore how IoTecha can connect with bp’s wider EV infrastructure, in support of our EV charging point targets.”