Millions of drivers rely on on-street parking, and have no possibility of installing their own home charging stations. This situation, which your correspondent has dubbed the Plight of the Drivewayless, was long seen as a difficult dilemma, but nowadays a visit to Oslo or London makes the solution plain: plenty of on-street public chargers.
Brooklyn-based itselectric offers a simple curbside charging solution with a twist: the company’s behind-the-meter approach simplifies the installation process by eliminating the need for municipal coordination. Through partnerships with cities, itselectric manages the installation, operation and maintenance of chargers at no cost to municipalities or building owners. itselectric’s Level 2 charging posts eliminate the need for utility connections by drawing spare electrical supply from adjacent buildings and sharing revenue with the property owners.
Now itselectric has closed a $6.5-million seed funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to date to $11.8 million. The raise, led by Failup Ventures and Uber Technologies, will support deployments across seven US cities in 2024, including Boston, Los Angeles, Detroit, Jersey City and San Francisco.
“The lack of public charging is one of the leading barriers deterring drivers from making the transition from their current gas vehicles,” said Tiya Gordon, co-founder and COO of itselectric. “Our mission is to make charging easy, convenient and affordable not only for drivers, but for cities, providing the pathway for everyone to go electric.”
“itselectric has designed an innovative public charging solution that addresses the infrastructural barriers that cities face in the deployment of electric vehicle curbside charging,” said Topias Soininen, General Partner at Failup Ventures. “Their thoughtfully designed chargers are a highly scalable solution that will rapidly bring curbside charging to the millions of city drivers who park on the street.”
“Electric rideshare drivers cut emissions up to four times more than regular motorists, but many lack off-street parking and home charging options,” said Camiel Irving, GM of Uber US & Canada. “itselectric is innovating to address this and expand overnight curbside charging, helping more drivers confidently go electric.”
Source: itselectric