Back in 2016, Heather Hochrein was a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara imagining a world, not too far in the future, where everyone drives electric vehicles (EVs) powered by renewable energy. Tesla hadn’t unveiled the Model 3 yet, but carmakers around the world were starting to realize that someday, EVs would replace internal combustion vehicles. While Elon Musk was preparing to unveil what has become one of the best-selling luxury cars of the decade, however, Heather was focusing her attention on another problem: the limited number of places to charge EVs.

The demand for charging has grown significantly over the past decade, but high costs have limited the number of new installations. It costs about $11,000 to install a dual-port Level 2 (240V) charger and upwards of $50,000-$100,000 to install a DC fast charger (such as a Tesla Supercharger). Heather’s research found that by leveraging the sharing economy, we can increase the number of charging locations without spending large amounts of money. And so, EVmatch was born.

With a peer-to-peer network of shared chargers, the EVmatch app opens up private charging stations for public use, immediately increasing the number of reliable charging places without requiring expensive new installations. Anyone can list their home or business charger for rent on EVmatch to earn extra money and help others confidently drive electric. People who rent out their chargers— called charging hosts—can set custom availability and prices so sharing is easy and tailored to their needs.

Heather isn’t a product of Silicon Valley, but her cleantech solution is making it easier for EV drivers nationwide to find and reserve charging, especially renters and multi-unit dwellers who don’t have access to home charging.

EVmatch will donate $20 or more to the Sierra Club for every chapter member that signs up, so join online or through the app today. Find out more at www.evmatch.com.