Brampton, Ont.-based Soneil Spark is focusing on innovation and flexibility for its customers with a mobile electric vehicle (EV) charger and a line of residential and commercial wall chargers.

Earlier this month, the company unveiled its Spark Mobile EV Charging Station and the first release of Level 2 AC wall chargers for residential and commercial properties.

The mobile charging station is a trailer that can be hauled behind a car or truck to serve as an energy reserve where needed. It services a small but growing segment of the EV market, providing power in areas where access to charging is limited.

“We see our mobile charging trailer is meeting a gap in the market,” Sonya Jain, founder and CEO of Soneil Spark, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

With its two kinds of chargers, the company “can meet products where they are now as well as grow with the market and grow with evolving needs,” she said.

Founded in 2023, Soneil Spark develops hardware and software for EV chargers. It is a branch of the Soneil Group of Companies, which consists of real estate and electronics businesses. Soneil Spark draws upon decades of experience from Soneil Electronics, a firm which designs and manufactures battery chargers.

EV charging on the go

Traditional electrical infrastructure is struggling to keep up with EV chargers, and upgrades to accommodate the hardware are expensive and time-consuming, Jain said. With its mobile trailer, Soneil Spark looked to provide an immediate, scalable solution for areas where the infrastructure is not prepared for EVs.

The Spark Mobile EV Charging Station is equipped with a battery pack and AC and DC chargers. The standard battery pack is 430 kilowatts, with the option to have a bigger or smaller capacity. It allows for multiple EVs to be charged at once; Jain said it can have from four to six chargers, for example.

The trailer is ideal for uses such as emergency charging, providing power for remote events like festivals and races, and businesses in need of “instant charging infrastructure,” she said.

In addition to charging EVs, the trailer can connect to a building to reduce reliance on the grid during periods of high demand. In the future, Jain hopes it can serve as a “mini microgrid on wheels,” expanding its uses to the energy industry more broadly.

It can be charged through any Combined Charging System Combo 1 port, which includes a standard residential AC charger.

The company has received interest from a variety of customers to support a range of needs, Jain said. “I would say our current main application right now is EV charging, but that doesn’t limit us.”

The Spark wall chargers

Soneil Spark's first release of Spark AC wall chargers covers five models with 40-, 48- and 80-amp capacities. The most popular wall charger to date is the 40-amp NEMA for residential properties, Jain said.

Complementing the wall chargers is the Spark Mobile App. It allows users to schedule, monitor and control charging activity and history. It includes more technical features such as creating custom charging schedules and setting utility energy rates specific to an area.

The app is a foundation for more features and an improved user experience, Jain said. Soneil Spark plans to add more artificial intelligence-powered solutions to enable more energy-efficient charging or dynamic pricing in a commercial property, for example.

Soneil believes in electrification

Soneil Spark is selling its wall chargers in Canada and the U.S., with plans to market the products in Mexico and other markets later this year.

The company is focusing sales of the Spark Mobile EV Charging Station in the Americas. But like its range, the product can be sold in any market, Jain said.

Soneil Spark has sold its chargers to customers in the transportation, vehicle rental, medical and electrification industries, plus the office, commercial and residential real estate sectors.

Jain is optimistic about the long-term adoption of EVs. The federal government’s efforts to get more affordable EVs is a key reason, she said. For example, the Canadian government negotiated a deal to remove most of the tariffs on Chinese EVs, which are among the most affordable in the sector.

While the nation’s EV adoption rate has slowed compared to past years, it is still growing, she noted.

“We believe in electrification,” Jain said.