The U.S. has been slow to make the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), but this Brooklyn-based company is about to speed things up. Itselectric is a startup working to ensure EV chargers become a common sight and seamless part of our communities.
Last year, New York became the latest state to announce a ban on gas-powered vehicles by 2035. It's a monumental, ambitious step forward, but Americans at large are still slow in making the move to EVs. One of the main reasons may be the lack of charging stations, forming "charging deserts."
One way of implementing charging stations in Australia and other countries has been modifying utility poles, but the road to clean cars here will be different. On top of station maintenance problems, installing a charger to a city's grid in the U.S. is an expensive, permit-heavy, and often lengthy process.
Nathan King and Tiya Gordon, founders of itselectric, recognized the need for a faster and simpler method to install EV stations if the U.S. is to ever reach its goal of eco-friendly cars hitting the mainstream. Itselectric plans for a more personal approach to charging, with property owners directly involved.
Here's how it works: Property owners will be able to have a curbside station quickly installed into their personal electric grid. The station uses excess power, the equivalent of a household dryer or oven, to slowly charge the car overnight. With an app, portable charging cable, and sleek design, the stations would be simple to use and easy to produce.
Since the chargers would be accessible to the public, the property owners earn a portion of the profits whenever they're used — potentially starting at $1,000 per charger yearly. Essentially, itselectric is turning EV charging into a reliable side hustle.
The vast majority of EV owners are middle-aged white men earning $100,000 or more annually, which is a small portion of the population. It's clear that the EV market has to expand to reduce our carbon footprint. Itselectric hopes to meet this challenge by incentivizing property owners and bringing its stations to more diverse communities.
With its initial round of successful funding complete, itselectric recently unveiled its first stations in Brooklyn. The waitlist is open now, so curbside chargers — and all of their benefits — may soon be coming to a city near you.
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