Developing Chargers from the Inside Out: Research, Development & Innovation  

You may have guessed that there’s more to a powerful electric vehicle charger than hardware, plugs, and screens but did you know there’s a Kempower team dedicated to Research, Development, & Innovation (RDI) to ensure the ultimate charging experience?  

At the heart of every Kempower charger is a world of software, cloud-data, and management systems. It’s a network that goes unnoticed to the untrained eye but these elements are crucial to create the best end-to-end user experience. 

We spoke with Kempower Chief Technology Officer Mikko Veikkolainen and R&D Manager Mikko Kotola to take a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes with RDI. They shared about how RDI plays such a key role in Kempower’s success and how they are looking to expand their RDI team. 

The Finnish growth company that keeps on growing 

Kempower was awarded Finnish growth company of the year 2022 and the company has seen exponential growth in both sales, production space, and employee headcount. 

However, the manufacturer of DC fast charging solutions for electric vehicles isn’t slowing down anytime soon.  

In fact, Kempower is continually striving to grow their talent base to strengthen business even further, especially in the RDI department. 

So, what makes Kempower the best next step for those interested in RDI and contributing to a cleaner planet? CTO Mikko Veikkolainen and R&D Manager Mikko Kotola have some answers. 

The role of RDI at Kempower 

CTO Mikko Veikkolainen has the honor of being employee number 1 for Kempower. He’s been with the company from the beginning, moving over from the sister company Kemppi to Kempower in 2018. 

What attracted Veikkolainen to Kempower was the “opportunity to combine [his] previous knowledge and experience for a new attractive market.” 

“My role [as CTO] is to combine customer understanding, our technology, and our competence.  

The men and women behind the product make a big impact because they are envisioning what customers may need in the future. 

Cooperation between talents is the biggest thing. That’s when innovations occur, when two talents from different background are working together.” 

The overall company culture of Kempower also encourages innovation.  

“Our communication in the RDI department is really open and we are not worried about mistakes. We are failing fast, then we are working on it internally, and we can fix those problems if they occur. 

Naturally, there’s pressure on our team, but it’s good pressure because that makes us work efficiently and reminds us we need to act responsibly as our role is so big.” 

RDI makes a greener future attainable 

R&D Manager Mikko Kotola leads the ChargEye and Data Science team at Kempower.  He shares:

“Our team builds tools for our customers, Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and bus depot operators, and for our own colleagues. 

The biggest impact that our team makes is providing our customers with tools that they can really use: a charger management system. With this type of system, customers have a good overall picture of how their fleet of chargers are doing. 

We have a lot of data about how the chargers are doing in the field, what’s happening, how they’re communicating with the vehicles, and we have to refine that data and make it serve our business and our customers. 

I think that what we’ve built, the ChargEye system, is a world-class charger management system. We’re very proud of it, but also there’s responsibility. We work in the DevOps model. We build services and take responsibility for them. 

I think our team is both fun to work with and true experts at what they do. We work on a cutting-edge, cloud native stack, and people really enjoy working with it.” 

Are you looking for a new career challenge? Join the Kempower team

The RDI department is looking for team members with all types of engineering backgrounds like electronic, mechanical, or software who are open minded & enjoy taking responsibility. 
 
Does an opportunity like this inspire you? Check our open Kempower positions or contact Mikko Veikkolainen or Mikko Kotola directly.