“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:

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Committing to Electric

Occhiuzzo points out that approximately 20% of drivers who have owned hybrid electric or full electric vehicles in the past subsequently reverted back to gasoline-powered vehicles. That signals a failure by the EV industry to retain its customers – to generate “EV loyalty,” so to speak. According to a recent Enel X article (https://evcharging.enelx.com/resources/blog/638-breaking-the-barriers-to-ev-adoption-what-your-business-can-do-to-help), the two largest barriers to creating this loyalty are limited EV charging access at MUDs and range anxiety. EVCS aims to address this conundrum by making charging stations much more ubiquitous at MUDs, businesses and public spaces.

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Funding Drives Expansion

The expansion of new technologies in the marketplace is often hampered by a lack of available funds, and electrified transportation is no different. Occhiuzzo notes that EVCS’s ability to expand has been fueled by government subsidization, and where our presence is most prolific is in places where subsidies are most abundant. Therefore, one of the key ways EV drivers can help us expand infrastructure is by supporting government subsidization measures like cap-and-trade or renewable energy grants across more areas of the country.

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Addressing the Lag

Currently, the installation of EV charging stations significantly lags EV auto manufacturing. Occhiuzzo notes that while we’re on track to see 1.5 million EVs on the road by 2030, we’re not yet on pace to see a requisite number of chargers to service such vehicles. Even in LA, there are about 100 EVs for every one public charging station. The impending bottleneck caused by this gap will continue to stifle more robust EV adoption. He admits that we can’t do it alone and that more installers will be necessary to address the type of goals vocalized by California governor Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration.

Occhiuzzo founded ridesharing company Green Commuter

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Partnering with Utilities

We are witnessing an increase in energy efficiency across multiple sectors, from retail products to smart homes, while the transportation industry struggles to keep up. But once it does, says Occhiuzzo, we will need buy-in from utility companies that must shore up their grids to handle the additional load and ultimately find ways to generate power from renewable resources. He acknowledges that this process will likely take 10 to 20 years, but that, in the meantime, EVCS has been buying its electricity from renewable energy producers (even ones that are hundreds of miles away) through certificates that offset electricity generated locally by fossil fuels.

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Carbon Neutral vs Carbon Negative

Occhiuzzo declared our goal to be more than just reaching carbon neutrality; it’s actually reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by replacing current infrastructure with clean energy technologies that amount to becoming “carbon negative.” In addition to our essential mission of installing more chargers, we have engaged in efforts to reach this goal by working with utilities on issues like demand response, battery storage and V2G technology that mark the future of the EV revolution.

You can listen to the podcast episode in its entirety here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0NEFTuZ6M78Ics5RPsuFqj?si=T27kkqnlR2ON0lKaZCu4yw&dl_branch=1&nd=1

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Spectrum News: SoCal Company Looks to Meet Growing Need for EV Charging Stations

Recently, our CEO and co-founder, Gustavo Occhiuzzo, was featured in a Spectrum News 1 segment titled “Inside the Issues” with Alex Cohen. He was able to not only convey the challenges we face as we work toward a more electric future, but also the strides EVCS has already made in addressing those challenges as well as some of our most significant achievements. Examples include our deal with LADOT to install DC fast chargers at 57 city-owned lots, our doubling of non-Tesla chargers in LA since last year alone, and the fact that EVCS has become one of the largest and fastest growing installers of EV charging stations on the West Coast in less than three years. See the interview clip and accompanying article below to learn more.

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EVCS Fast Charging Network to Use 100% Renewable Energy (Newsire)

One of the most common criticisms foisted on the electric mobility industry is that EVs are not technically carbon neutral since the electricity needed to power them is generated through fossil fuels, including coal and natural gas. This argument is not without merit and presents those of us in the EV infrastructure sector with yet another lofty goal – true carbon neutrality through electrical grids powered by renewable energy sources like wind and solar. And our most recent press release discusses how we at EVCS are doing just that.

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We recently employed PR firm Firecracker to help us get the word out about all of the wonderful things EVCS is doing to make an all-electric future a reality. One major step toward this goal was our securing a credit facility that would allow for accelerated expansion of EV infrastructure, giving us confidence that the financial support required would be available when we needed it. Our PR team then went to work, drafting the following press release that outlines the particulars of this momentous achievement:

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.