Revitalize Charging Solutions has already disrupted public charging for electric vehicles and now the Fort Worth startup wants to innovate the home charger unit, too.
Edward Morgan, founder and CEO of Revitalize Charging Solutions, equipped his public chargers with 18.5-inch high-definition screens that can display advertisements, which offsets some of the installation cost. The chargers all come with two J1772 level 2 chargers. Electric vehicles and hybrids can plug in for $1 an hour.
Morgan launched the company in 2013 and wants to be ahead of the curve as EVs become more popular.
“I’ve always been a forward-thinking type of person,” said Morgan, a former senior technical engineer for AT&T. “I was very passionate about helping the industry as a whole get to the next level. I knew infrastructure would be a great opportunity for us to get in at the ground floor.”
Revitalize Charging Solutions is housed inside TECH Fort Worth where Morgan said his startup has received invaluable mentorship and business advice.
WHAT MAKES THESE CHARGERS DIFFERENT
Typically, public chargers are installed by businesses at their cost. Morgan came up with his own business model where Revitalize Charging Solutions pays the upfront capital costs for the units and continues to own them once they are in operation.
“We provide the equipment, we own it, and they provide electricity that’s needed and a location to put it,” Morgan said. “A portion of the revenue from charging sessions and advertising sold there goes back to the host partner, which helps them retrieve the cost for power.”
Having a public charger attracts customers who have EVs and furthers corporate green initiatives, Morgan said. For the bigger picture, Morgan said his goal is to make Dallas-Fort Worth a leader in EV infrastructure and relieve range anxiety for EV owners.
“We’re not into it for the money, we’re making green initiatives work and drive traffic to our partners.”
Edward Morgan
Morgan started a pilot program with the city of Fort Worth to install a charger at the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center. He’s also got a unit installed at Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth and at the McDonald’s on Central Park Boulevard in Bedford. In addition, he’s targeting hotels and other places where people typically stay for an hour or more.
First, customers sign up on the Revitalize Charging Solutions website where they will enter their credit card number and load up their account with $15. Then, they will be mailed a RFID card that will activate the public charging unit.
The $1 an hour rate equates to about 15 to 16 cents per kilowatt hour.
“We believe for the drivers that’s fair,” he said. “We have to make money not only for us, but for our partners. We’re not into it for the money, we’re making green initiatives work and drive traffic to our partners.”
HOME CHARGING UNIT WILL LAUNCH NEXT YEAR
Having tackled the public charging space, Morgan and his team are now developing a home charging unit that will launch in March.
The home charger will be a dual charger capable of powering up two EVs at a time. It also will have smart capabilities, meaning users can check the status and control the charger via a website portal or through the app.
It will tell users exactly how much electricity they are using to charge the vehicle and even the price of the electricity they are paying per charge. There’s also a notification so drivers don’t forget to charge their vehicle.
“Most people who charge today don’t know how much they use on their energy meter or how much they’re paying,” Morgan said.
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