Gravity Mobility, a Google-backed EV infrastructure startup, has introduced some of the fastest electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the country to New York City. The company unveiled 24 of its 500-kilowatt chargers in Midtown Manhattan this week, with plans to expand nationally in the future.
“Automakers love to tout their EVs’ top driving speed, but what matters more than anything for drivers is how fast a car can charge,” said Moshe Cohen, the CEO and founder of Gravity Inc. “Our technology that can provide a car with 40 miles of range in just a minute of charging. With these speeds, we can push the entire industry to vehicles with faster-charging batteries.”
With a charge rate of 2,400 miles of range per hour, these devices are capable of fully powering up an average EV battery in under five minutes. Most public fast chargers typically require anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to achieve a similar result. The increased speed of Gravity Mobility’s chargers comes from the strength of their electrical output, which surpasses that of traditional fast chargers by over 40%.
Despite this increased power, the chargers themselves are compact, measuring only about the size of a carry-on suitcase. This stands in contrast to the gas station-sized pillars commonly associated with EV charging stations.
“Gravity’s Distributed Energy Access Points function as EV chargers but are capable of much more,” the company said in a statement. “They directly interface with other sources and uses of power and augment electrical grids, flexibly stabilizing and allocating power to prevent costly new demand spikes and eliminating the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.”
Gravity Mobility has ambitious plans to roll out thousands more of its high-powered chargers across the country in the coming years. Their ultimate goal is to rival Tesla’s extensive Supercharging network, which accounted for more than half of all fast chargers built in the U.S. through the first half of last year.
“In terms of infrastructure, we’re literally at a turning point where the new equipment that we’re launching across sites throughout the five boroughs for ourselves and for everyone is going to give everyone, meaning any car manufacturer, an experience that is as good as a supercharger at Tesla or better,” Cohen said.
While competing with a company that currently dominates over 60% of the nation’s fast chargers may seem like a daunting task, Gravity Mobility has some advantages. With chargers offering twice the power cap of those on Tesla’s network, this startup has the potential to revolutionize the EV industry and emerge as a major player in the market.
“Gravity’s innovative charging technology is a market changer that will allow the public in one of the largest and busiest cities in the world the ability to ‘charge and go’ more quickly thereby providing a more enjoyable driving experience,” said Richard Kauffman, the chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
