EV Safe Charge Inc.
HEADQUARTERS: Downtown Los Angeles
YEAR FOUNDED: 2016
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: Provides clients range of electric vehicle charging options: permanent installations for sale, charger station rentals and mobile charging services through newly developed mobile charging robot known as ZiGGY. Company bills itself as leading provider of temporary electric vehicle charging services for events and film shoots.
CEO: Caradoc Ehrenhalt
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 7
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: None announced publicly at present. Company aims to deploy mobile charging robots starting in 2024.
ANNUAL REVENUE (2021): Approx. $1 million
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE FUNDING RAISED: Approx. $1.5 million in seed funding; now in midst of raising series A funding round.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: In June, the company launched mobile robotic electric vehicle charger ZiGGY, which also has the ability to display ads.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: Manufacturing ZiGGY and worldwide distribution, with goal of bringing charging service to wherever a person’s electric vehicle is.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: More EV chargers are needed overall. It is difficult to impossible to put in EV charging in many buildings, pointing to the need for mobile solutions.
EVPassport Inc.
HEADQUARTERS: Venice
YEAR FOUNDED: 2020
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: Developer of software platforms for electric vehicle charging station owner/operators and for electric vehicle drivers with the goal of ensuring seamless operations. The company also installs customized electric vehicle chargers for commercial and multifamily property customers.
CEOs: Hooman Shahidi and Aaron Fisher
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 34
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: About 2,750 nationally, including 115 in L.A. County
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE FUNDING RAISED: $1.2 million (as reported by Crunchbase)
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: Signed partnerships with UBS Asset Management’s real estate and private markets multi-family real estate investment trust properties and with information services and consulting firm Cennox. EVPassport was selected as a “World Changing Idea for 2022” by Fast Company.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: EVPassport is focused on removing economic and technological barriers for electrification.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “Charging in L.A. county is scarce and we need a more frictionless process to access (electric vehicle) chargers.”
Chargie
on a private property.
HEADQUARTERS: Culver City
YEAR FOUNDED: 2020 as a separate entity. The company was originally a division of PCS Energy, a major installer of commercial solar systems in Los Angeles. PCS Energy’s parent company, Brentwood-based Corp PCS, has been developing commercial and residential real estate projects for more than 30 years.
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: Designs, installs, manages, and operates electric vehicle charging infrastructure around the country for residential properties, office buildings, retail locations, healthcare facilities, transportation hubs and other locations.
CEO: Zach Jennings
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 60-plus
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: More than 15,000 chargers on over 1,000 properties.
FUNDING: Self-funded
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: Selected as a turn-key electric vehicle charging supplier for Southern California Edison’s Charge Ready program.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY:
• Expansion into other regions as electric vehicle adoption grows quickly across the country.
• Working with an affiliated company, PCS Energy, to incorporate solar panels and batteries into the electric vehicle charging ecosystem.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “Los Angeles continues to be a leader in the adoption of EVs and charging infrastructure. But one of the county’s biggest challenges is ensuring chargers are accessible in multifamily communities. A continued focus on deploying infrastructure at these properties is crucial for easing drivers’ charging anxiety and meeting California’s electrification goals.”
EVgo Inc.
HEADQUARTERS: Sawtelle
YEAR FOUNDED: 2010
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: EVgo is one of the oldest electric vehicle charging companies in Los Angeles County. The company has deployed the nation’s largest public fast-charging network, with more than 850 locations serving more than 60 metropolitan areas in more than 30 states. Its stations can fully charge most electric vehicles in less than 45 minutes. The company has partnerships with automakers, fleet and rideshare operators and retail hosts. Its goal is to provide the tools needed to expedite the mass adoption of electric vehicles for individual drivers, rideshare and commercial fleets, and businesses.
CEO: Cathy Zoi
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 300-plus
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: Stations serve roughly 2,400 parking-stall spaces nationwide; about 450 of those are in Los Angeles County.
REVENUE (2Q 2022): $9.1 million
REVENUE (Full-year 2021): $22.2 million
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES:
• Crossed 500,000 customer milestone in October;
• Launched “auto charge” service in September, allowing customers to plug in immediately without having to swipe a payment card;
• Announced and/or expanded collaborations with: GM, Pilot Company, Cadillac, Toyota, Subaru, Chase, Warner Bros, WinCo Foods, Meijer, Wawa, The Save Mart Companies, CBL Properties, Delta, and the city of Philadelphia;
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: EVgo is continuing to deploy sites of all sizes, both nationwide and across the region. The company is also working with regional officials, staff and stakeholders to help streamline local zoning and permitting that in turn will accelerate the deployment of charging infrastructure and help meet decarbonization targets.
STATE OF EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Company is working with city of Los Angeles as it pursues its goal of building 15,000 commercial EV charging stations by 2025 and 28,000 by 2030, including 20 fast charging plazas.
WattEV Holdings Inc.
HEADQUARTERS: Long Beach
YEAR FOUNDED: 2020
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: WattEV is building a network of heavy-duty truck charging stations across the nation and making electric heavy-duty transport more affordable and accessible through its Truck as a Service platform.
CEO: Salim Youssefzadeh
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 40
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: Four sites under construction in Southern California are scheduled to open in the first quarter of next year.
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE FUNDING RAISED: $25 million in grants. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised another $1 million from other sources.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: In March, WattEV reached an agreement with automaker Volvo to buy 50 of the latter’s electric trucks.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: The first four stations to charge transport vehicles will be online next year in the Southern California region along with 50 Volvo electric class 8 trucks operating between the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Inland Empire.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “State sustainability mandates along with regional pressures and increasing fuel prices are pushing the demand for EV charging infrastructure for light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles.”
ChargerHelp Inc.
dba ChargerHelp!
HEADQUARTERS: South Los Angeles (Harvard Park neighborhood); research and development office at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator in downtown Los Angeles
YEAR FOUNDED: 2020
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: Provides maintenance and repair services for electric vehicle charging stations. Also trains repair technicians.
CEO: Kameale Terry, also co-founder.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 30
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE FUNDING RAISED: $6.15 million, including $2.75 million in seed funding and a bridge financing round of $3.4 million.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: In September, co-founders Kameale Terry and Evette Ellis were invited by President Joe Biden to the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the most significant pieces of legislation to accelerate electric vehicle adoption and support infrastructure.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: ChargerHelp! is currently providing services in 17 states across the US and is on track to be in all 50 states by the end of the year.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “We believe Los Angeles should take the lead to introduce standards for EV charging stations based on operability.”
Veloce Energy Inc.
HEADQUARTERS: Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator in downtown Los Angeles
YEAR FOUNDED: 2020
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: Developing modular and scalable battery energy storage, site control and communications system for electric vehicle charging stations, making deployment of those stations easier on weaker utility grids and providing charging station network resilience. The company also develops a modular approach to installing charging stations above ground, minimizing the need for trenching and other digging.
CEO: Jeff Wolfe
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 12
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: None to date; company still in the development and testing stage.
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OUTSIDE FUNDING RAISED: $6.5 million
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: Successful temporary pilot installation in Santa Fe Springs.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: Working on orders in the pipeline and on final development and testing of additional products. The company is also raising series A financing to further scale up; it’s looking to close the funding round early in the first quarter.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “Los Angeles is a leader in vehicle electrification, but is still behind in meeting the goals needed to combat the growing impacts of pollution and climate change. Los Angeles needs to enable methods of accelerating the deployment of EV charging across fleet, public, transit, workforce, and multifamily charging. This acceleration will require new ways to work within existing utility constraints and new ways to streamline design and installation.”
Green Wealth Energy
HEADQUARTERS: Pasadena
YEAR FOUNDED: 2017
BUSINESS NICHE IN EV CHARGING MARKET: GreenWealth is an EV charging infrastructure developer that specializes in providing services to fleet, commercial, multifamily and public-sector buildings. Company partners with electric vehicle charging manufacturers and works with clients to provide one-stop service for their electric vehicle charging needs.
CEO: Ariel Fan
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 14
# EV CHARGING STATIONS DEPLOYED: About 800
ANNUAL CONTRACT AWARDS: $18 million in contracts in the past 12 months
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS/MILESTONES: Awarded $8.1 million contract from Southern California Gas Co., a unit of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, deploy/install and then manage 722 EV chargers across 29 sites in Southern California. Also awarded $3.2 million contract from Brighton Management to deploy/install and then manage over 160 EV charging ports at 14 hotels and retail properties across California; construction slated to begin in first quarter of next year.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COMPANY: GreenWealth is on a mission to accelerate EV infrastructure implementation by making it affordable and at scale. The company is raising venture funding to expand its services nationwide and continues to seek partnerships with public agencies, fleet operators, commercial/multifamily building owners and operators. The company aims to close its current venture capital funding round in the first quarter of 2023.
STATE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE: “The Los Angeles County region has the highest density of electric vehicles per capita in the country. As such, we have the eyes of the entire country looking to learn from how the EV charging market develops here from a business and policy perspective. We can do that through making sure our hiring is equitable, that we are making decisions around social impact in our local communities, and that our turnkey EV charging services can be accessible at all income levels.
