Black-owned startups turn around, learning from broken EV charging stations

As the popularity of electric vehicles accelerates, so does the need to maintain public charging stations. Some companies are leveraging technology to both service and learn stations to improve EV charging technology, as opposed to fixing old gas pumps.

More than a quarter of public EV charging stations were found to be non-functional. investigation The study was conducted in California by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and a local nonprofit, Cool the Earth.

That’s why maintenance companies like Charge Enterprises, Smart Charge America, and California-based startup Chargerhelp! It is expanding at lightning speed.

Kameer Terry founded ChargerHelp! Founded just three years ago, the company now serves his EV charging stations across 17 states, he said. For the South Central Los Angeles native, it’s as much a business as it is a personal mission.

“The mass adoption of EVs is very important to me. My mother died of lung cancer just a year and a half ago. I live in an area with very bad air quality. , having me drive an electric car, is close and dear to my heart,” Terry said.

Working with partners such as Tritium and utilities Duke Energy Her company has already touched over 10,000 stations, she said.

But we don’t just solve problems when they arise.

“We need to understand how the stations are performing in the field. We need to understand what problems the cars and charging stations are experiencing,” says Terry.

Help me with my charger! Track information on how stations are being deployed and how they are working to improve their current reliability and build a more reliable and sustainable infrastructure. Terry said the dataset could be useful for network providers, EV and charging station manufacturers, and even governments.

While some investors liken the company to the Valvoline or Jiffy Lube of the future, it’s the data element that really attracted investors like Blue Bear Capital.

“Chargerhelp! has data that goes beyond communication networks, charger types and geographic locations. All these types of components, issues and factors influence why and how charging stations fail.” said Vaughan Blake, General Partner of Blue Bear. capital.

The next frontier could be home charger repair, which opens up a huge and expanding market.

In addition to Blue Bear Capital, it is backed by ChargerHelp! Energy Impact Partners, JFF Ventures, Exelon Foundation, Autodesk Foundation and LA Cleantech Incubator. Help me with my charger! It has raised a total of $21.75 million to date.

CNBC producer Lisa Rizzolo contributed to this production.