Brooklyn-based startup It's Electric is reinvigorating the electric vehicle charging game in New York City. Public roadside chargers are installed in front of commercial facilities and residential areas, and the owners are compensated for the electricity supplied.
This comes as the United States aims to have half of its cars sold electric by 2030. In New York City alone, the number of EV registrations is expected to jump from the current 62,000 to about 3 million within that period.
But one of the big questions is where to charge the millions of new cars, especially in a city like New York where few people have driveways or garages at home and instead rely on street parking. It's about finding out.
With the tagline “Power from the People,” It's Electric aims to expand its charging network in New York City from 1,400 EV chargers to 10,000 by 2030.
The company's chargers are smaller than a fire hydrant. “We got rid of the big things, the bad things, and the ugly things. [from charging stations]” co-founder Nathan King told NYNext.
Customers who use the charger pay about $10 per session and can download the company's app or pay using a credit card. Most of that money goes to those who provide the location and electrical connection.
“We just put a little charger in the alley in front of someone's building,” added Tiya Gordon, Nathan's wife and co-founder. “And they're potentially making thousands of dollars a year offsetting their annual electric bill.” [and] It puts money in their pockets. ”
The company estimates that the average New York homeowner family with shared electricity can expect to earn $3,500 a year by having It's Electric install a charger.
“And we measure the electricity usage used by the charger separately, so your electricity bill won't even go up,” Tiya said.
It's Electric is focused on building so-called Level 2 chargers, which use relatively little electricity but take four to 10 hours to fully charge a vehicle. These are perfect for areas where you plan to charge your car overnight.
Level 3 chargers, like the ones at startup Gravity's newly opened hub on 42nd Street, can fully charge a car in less than an hour, but they require much more energy. This is why the Department of Energy and Transport is promoting the introduction of this charger. Level 2 chargers will be built seven times as many as Level 3.
It's Electric has raised a total of $11.8 million from major venture capital firms including Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and Uber, betting that the company can bring more electric vehicles into its ride-sharing business.
Despite now raising millions of dollars, Mr. King, 49, an architect, and Mr. Gordon, 46, a museum designer, said their relationship as a married couple was initially He said that was one of his biggest concerns.
“That's a red flag for some investors. [they think] That’s too risky,” Gordon explained. “My counterargument is that we should only invest in married couples, because we've been together for over 20 years…We're not two kids who just met in a dorm. We're not going to walk away. I don't mean to. This is our life…”
The pair, who live in an apartment in Crown Heights, decided to start the company after buying an EV during the pandemic and seeing how difficult it was to find a place to charge the car.
King immediately started thinking about how he could build a solution.
“EV charging is an urban design issue…a construction issue,” he said. “When you build things in cities, you have to think about how to design things so that they can be easily deployed.”
“The hardware itself and the business model of connecting with private building owners really solves a lot of the permitting issues,” Gordon added.
Chargers cost thousands of dollars to build and even more expensive to install. It's Electric will send you a free cord to connect your TV to a charging device, but that cord will cost you about $100 more.
And the initial investment won't pay off until the company's chargers are widely adopted and used frequently. But Gordon and King see this as an investment in infrastructure, much like building railroads in the 1800s.
“We are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime period of transformation in the transportation industry,” King said. “Charging an EV is very similar to plugging in your cell phone at night. You just need that outlet. And that's effectively the infrastructure that we're putting out into the world.”
It would also be profitable to develop an EV network quickly. By 2030, the charging industry alone is expected to be worth $150 billion.
The company currently has several chargers installed near its headquarters at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and on private property in Brooklyn. Some in Detroit are planning to roll out hundreds more in the new year in seven cities, including Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles.
“I was very skeptical about EVs before I started driving them,” Gordon added. now?
“I would never think of buying a gas car again, and I think once people start discovering EVs they'll figure it out…I'm very optimistic.”
This article is part of a new editorial series called NYNext, which focuses on innovation across various industries in New York City and the people leading the way.
