Building EV chargers in America’s densest, most chaotic city can be a logistical nightmare. Space is scarce, real estate costs are exorbitant and the permitting processes can drag on for months or even years. That’s why reliable and easy-to-access charging networks have been limited in New York City. But the tide is turning, thanks to aggressive expansion efforts from the City of New York as well as startups like Revel and Google-backed Gravity.
Gravity, especially, is out to prove that EV charging can be both fast and flawless. It reached 40,000 charging sessions in its first year of operation at its flagship charging station in Midtown Manhattan. That may pale in comparison to Electrify America’s 16 million customer charging sessions in 2024. But Electrify America’s now-improved user experience has come after years of reliability issues. Gravity said its uptime—when the chargers were functioning and not broken—was 100%.
The start-up claims the indoor charging station in Manhattan also broke charging speed records for several EVs, including the Tesla Cybertruck (289 kW), Cadillac Escalade IQ (369 kW) and GMC Hummer EV (374 kW). The Cybertruck, however, charges faster on Tesla’s own V4 Superchargers with owners reporting a peak of as high as 325 kW.
Last year, it installed 24 DC fast chargers inside a parking lot at 401 West 42nd Street, just a block from Times Square. Each dispenser delivers 500 kilowatts, the fastest any U.S.-based company has claimed so far.
If you can make high-quality and reliable charging work in New York City, you can make it work anywhere, Gravity CEO Moshe Cohen told InsideEVs. “We’re literally building for one of the most constrained areas in the world, like Manhattan,” Cohen said.
“We design the hardware and software and we operate sites,” he added. “So, we have a unique ability to react to different things that happen in the market and adapt the technology.”
In addition to its vertical integration, the company also benefits from Google’s backing, with several former engineers from the tech giant now helping the start-up accelerate its charger expansion. “We have an excellent software team with leaders that have spent many years at Google, many years at Microsoft,” Cohen said.
Gravity DEAP Tree Curbside Charger
Its chargers are claimed to charge at a rate of 2,400 miles per hour, enough to add 200 miles of range in just five minutes. But that also depends on the type of EVs being charged and their voltage architecture. Plus, charging speed alone isn’t the metric for success. A truly seamless experience requires intuitive design, ease of access, reliability and low cost compared to refueling a gas car.
The Manhattan station didn’t require any utility upgrades to work. It uses surplus electricity from the block, which is adequate to power the site at any given time. Its chargers are mounted high on the walls, keeping the floor space uncluttered, while overhead cables eliminate the hassle of heavy, unwieldy cords.
I charged at this station a couple of times and faced no issues. But like a Tesla Supercharger, these dispensers don’t have screens displaying information like charging speeds and amount of electricity being added. We’re seeing a growing number of charging companies such as the Ionna consortium bring key charging information in the direct line of sight of users, to make the experience more gas-station-like.
For now, Gravity employs an on-site attendant to initiate charging, with users paying after their session like a checkout at a grocery store. But Cohen says a more streamlined system is coming, including an app-based interface and possibly a large on-site display.
“A lot of the for hire vehicle drivers want to come in and authorize a specific amount of charging, like $15,” Cohen said. “So we’ve had that attendant to understand the different populations and what they need in terms of future plans.”
A huge number of New York City cab drivers went electric in the recent past due to the Green Rides Initiative, which requires the city’s rideshare fleet to be fully electric or wheel-chair accessible by 2030. As a result, 12% of the city’s for hire vehicles, or nearly 13,000 cars are now fully electric, according to public records. And the number is expected to increase gradually in the coming years.
These drivers were incentivized to go electric, but initially got little charging support in return, with many of them losing hours of business due to long lines at charging stations. That’s beginning to change. With new fast-charging hubs from Revel and Gravity, wait times are dropping and charging access is improving.
Gravity is seeing at least 12% month-over-month growth in traffic and utilization is approaching 30% overall utilization, Cohen said. It also has big expansion plans this year, with 20 more sites currently in development, including in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
“What I would like to see next is that we realign what we’re doing,” he added. “You have to buy an EV not just because it’s good for the planet, but because it’s cheaper, faster and better for your life.”
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