This Startup Wants To Keep Your City Streets From Being A Mess Of EV Charging Wires
New York-based itselectric is rolling out a clever plan for urban Level 2 charging that could solve several problems at once.
“Nobody drives in New York City. There’s too much traffic.” Cliché as that joke is, the truth is that New York’s streets and parking garages are full of more than 2 million registered cars, with countless more coming in and out daily from New Jersey, Connecticut and other places.
Even with efforts to improve public transit and make more car-free spaces, those vehicles probably aren’t going anywhere for a long time. Now, imagine a future where most—if not all—of those cars are electric. Right now, about 42,000 EVs are registered in New York City (not counting the ones parked in the city that are registered elsewhere) but like EVs everywhere, that number is growing quickly. Where, and how, will they all stay charged?
Brooklyn-based startup itselectric has one potential solution to this problem: curbside EV chargers that draw electricity from spare capacity in residential and commercial buildings, and supply power to cars via detachable cables that drivers take with them. The chargers themselves are discreet, sleek-looking silver posts placed close to the curb, and they don’t need the bulky frames seen on other streetside options.
