Installation of the Month (April 2021): Hilton Hotel & Plaza San Gabriel

Hilton is one of the most recognizable and respected organizations in the world. They own 18 different brands and more than 6,400 properties in 119 countries. Since 1925, they’ve been a model of the hospitality industry – synonymous with customer relations, integrity and innovation, which extends into areas like sustainability and the environment. Their website’s “Corporate Responsibility” page cites a commitment to fighting climate change, stating: “We seek to operate and grow sustainably, reducing our consumption of natural resources… We are proud to have set carbon reduction targets aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement.” And they continue to back up this commitment, including recently asking us to install EV charging banks at one of their key Los Angeles locations.

As such, our featured site for April is the Hilton Hotel & Plaza located at 225 and 227 West Valley Boulevard in the city of San Gabriel, about 10 miles northeast of downtown LA. See it here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hilton+Los+Angeles%2FSan+Gabriel/@34.0798006,-118.1020363,15z/data=!4m8!3m7!1s0x0:0xcc63da5b0a5522ce!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d34.0798006!4d-118.1020363

The 4-star property features luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites with signature Hilton Serenity beds, blackout curtains, mini fridges, Italian marble bathrooms and bath amenities by Peter Thomas Roth. Downstairs, hotel guests can make use of a fully functional business center, conference rooms, fitness center, indoor lap pool and modern restaurant serving Asian fusion dishes. A rooftop terrace with fountain and spacious ballroom each offer stylish event accommodations. Next door, the Plaza boasts dozens of shops, eateries, even a day spa. Moreover, the property is less than a mile from the San Gabriel Square Mall and just a short drive from key points of interest like the Staples Center, Little Tokyo and downtown Arts District. See more on the Hilton website here:

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/laxsghf-hilton-los-angeles-san-gabriel/

Much of our focus has been on installing chargers at social and leisure destinations – areas outside of commuters’ workplaces and homes – to facilitate electric mobility as a viable lifestyle alternative to internal combustion. Retail outlets and hotel chains are a critical part of that strategy, especially now that COVID has led many more people to opt for road trips over flying, making this a prime time to exploit EV technology. For the San Gabriel property, our installation included four DCFCs on the hotel side of their underground parking garage and another four on the plaza side along with four Blink Level 2 chargers. The DCFCs are 50 kW Slim Lines with integrated cord retractors, 15-inch color displays, up to 480 VAC, and a better than 90% efficiency rating. The Blinks boast an ergonomic pedestal design, ground monitoring circuits, and an output voltage of 208 to 240 VAC.

The convenience of being able to charge your EV overnight during a hotel stay, while shopping or while attending an event at the property cannot be overstated. According to a recent Autolist.com poll of 1,600 car shoppers, two of the top three reasons given on why EVs would not be a consideration were driving range and lack of charging infrastructure. Overcoming biases against EVs will, therefore, require increasing publicly available charging sites that eliminate concerns about range, accessibility and convenience. Brands like Hilton are in an especially enviable position to motivate a change in attitudes, not only because they have innumerable locations, but also because they can offer complimentary charging for guests, further reducing the cost of transit, which addresses the third most cited reason for avoiding EVs.

All this said, we want to thank our client Hilton for trusting us with this installation and for giving their patrons not only the choice but an added incentive to go electric – yet another reason why they continue to be leaders in the world of hospitality!

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“Who’s Saving the Planet?” Podcast Interviews Gustavo Occhiuzzo

EVCS co-founder and CEO Gustavo Occhiuzzo recently spoke on the “Who’s Saving the Planet?” podcast about the electric mobility revolution and what we as a company are doing to help realize a truly carbon-neutral future. During the conversation with hosts Anthony Noto and Jessica Miles, Occhiuzzo made several critical points that help listeners understand where we are now in that mission, the obstacles we face, what EVCS has done to overcome those obstacles, and what we can do better as a global community. Here are some of the most prescient points:

Installation of the Month (June 2021): Hyatt Place Riverside/Downtown

The ability to travel is something many of us take for granted. Our Interstate Highway System allows us to freely traverse state boundaries – to go wherever we choose whenever we choose – from the snow-capped Colorado Rockies to the soupy Everglade swamplands to the historic lighthouses of coastal New England. However, EV drivers are more acutely aware of their travel limitations because many areas of the country have yet to adopt pro-electric infrastructure policies, often leaving them with few ground-travel options other than ICE vehicles. We knew getting more Americans to embrace the electric revolution would require buy-in from the hospitality industry. As such, much of our focus has gone toward hotels that, by serving as site hosts for charging stations, can help kickstart that ubiquitous access required to convert many EV holdouts.

Wall Street Journal Piece Brings Up Questions… And We Answer

Stephen Wilmot’s recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Investors Look for an EV Charge,” debates the merits of investing in EV infrastructure, admitting that while chargers likely make for better investments than cars, the sector still holds many potential pitfalls that should be considered before jumping in. While that may be true, many of the examples backing up this assertion cite the business models of the largest EV installers in the country while failing to consider what less visible but faster-growing companies like EVCS are doing to mitigate such risks. Below are a few quotes from the article and our thoughts on them, including how we’re different.

Commentary on EV Industry Profitability Claims

In a recent Driving.ca article titled “EV-Charging Industry is Doing Everything Except Making Money,” author David R. Baker makes a compelling argument that the EV infrastructure sector is a revenue desert, essentially incapable of generating enough cash flow to sustain profitability due to a lack of interest from motorists. “The dilemma boils down to demand,” he states, before adding that “lots of people still driving gasoline-powered cars won’t consider going electric until they see charging stations widely deployed.”

Installation of the Month (May 2021): LADOT Lot 656

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) notes on its website that ICE vehicles are one of the city’s top contributors to air pollution, accounting for 19% of all greenhouse gas emissions, before proclaiming, “We can do better… We’re investing in public transit, testing new technology, and adopting mobility innovations for a cleaner environment and brighter future.” At first, it might just sound like flowery rhetoric, but we can personally attest to that commitment. Starting in 2019, LADOT partnered with us to install DCFCs at 57 city-owned lots, with almost 30% of those installations now completed. This alliance has been integral in promoting our goal of zero-emission mobility in the City of Angels by facilitating greater access to infrastructure.