The future of transportation is electric vehicles (EVs), Governor Brown of California has taken action to lay the foundation for the future by setting  a target of  1.5 million EVs on the road by 2025. Sacramento was the recipient of $44 Million in investment from VW lending to an increased amount of capital in the EV sector.  Currently half of all EVs sold in the US are sold in California and the market for EVs nationwide is continuing to grow. The market share of EVs has grown from less than 1% a few years ago to greater than 2% today.  

With the growth of EVs Californians have developed a problem which is, Where do they charge their EVs? The growing demand for charging stations has placed a significant strain on the charging infrastructure.  EV drivers are continually finding themselves looking for spots to charge constantly because they don’t want to be caught with low power or at a low powered charge station forcing them to spend several hours charging. A regional company, Charge-X wants to support the transition to EVs by bringing the Tesla Experience to EV charging.

What is the Tesla experience? There are currently four ways people buy their kwh from charging stations.

  • Level one: your typical wall outlet that gives you ~4.5 miles per hour of charging
  • Level two: which can deliver up to 7.2 kwh to your car for 26 miles per hour
  • Level three: Known as DC fast chargers most places limit your time to half an hour or about 90 miles in that time.
  • Level 4: Also, known as the Tesla Supercharger it is the Gold Standard with 120 kwh chargers giving Tesla owners 120 miles in just 20 min.

Tesla not only delivers the most power per charging station, but also is able to accommodate the most cars close to 10 stations on average. Charge-X wants to help all EV users have the efficiency of the Tesla Charging, while illuminating the “white glove service”.Tesla puts 10+ charging stations out delivering more than 120 kwh to a charging tesla. Charge-X wants to do even better, they want multi-charging stations that could be capable of delivering more than 120 kwh with services to help drivers relax while they wait.

The founder of Charge-X, Bill Northup, is reaching out to local utilities, air districts and EV enthusiasts to bring his solution to reality. Working with various groups Charge-X hopes to help push out large groups of charging stations.  Agencies like SMUD, City Governments, other regional utilities, and state boards, have stepped in to help put in EV chargers by funding them, but there has been no equivalent stepping up in the private sector to fill this demand. Why? Margins on energy (just like gasoline) are small. So to justify installing charging stations their needs to be high volume kwh sold.

If you want to learn more about Charge-X contact Bill Northrup at Bill.Northrup@Charge-X.com

Thomas Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas is the Executive Director of CleanStart. Thomas has a strong background in supporting small businesses, leadership, financial management and is proficient in working with nonprofits. He has a BS in Finance and a BA in Economics from California State University, Chico. Thomas has a passion for sustainability and a commitment to supporting non-profits in the region.

Sponsors

SMUD
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RiverCity Bank

California Mobility Center, Revrnt, HumanBulb, Witanlaw, Eco-Alpha, Momentum