Electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction among mainstream consumers, favored for their cheaper fuel and low carbon emissions. However, the issue of range anxiety still hampers the EV industry. Potential buyers may feel hesitant about the lack of consistent infrastructure that would guarantee they never get stuck somewhere without a place to charge.
What is one of Israel's forefront solutions?
One of Israel’s forefront solutions to range anxiety comes via ZOOZ Power (formerly Chakratec), which has developed an ultra-fast charging station with a footprint of only two parking spaces. The company has signed a binding memorandum of understanding with an unnamed leading global car rental services provider (CRP) to collaborate on the launch of a joint pilot project in the United States.
According to the agreement, ZOOZ’s proprietary system is to be installed at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The partnership’s goal is to have the pilot site operational during the second quarter of 2023, and to have it operate for one year. During that time, ZOOZ will optimize its products to support the CRP’s specific use cases, and the CRP will determine whether it makes sense to deploy ZOOZ Power systems in other sites under its control.
This agreement follows three similar pilots between ZOOZ and companies operating within the United States.
“We are moving forward with a fourth significant pilot that we are launching in the USA, and we do so at a perfect timing, as it becomes clearer that the global electric-vehicle revolution is stepping up its acceleration,” said ZOOZ CEO Boaz Weizer.
ZOOZ’s technology is constructed in order to overcome grid limitations that would prevent more traditional charging stations to be installed at certain locations. Weizer further explained the strategic value that his company offers to CRPs.
“The transition to electric vehicles is no longer a mere vision but already takes the form of an accelerated implementation process which is at the heart of car rental service providers’ strategy all over the world. Those companies carry out massive procurement of electric vehicles to join their fleets in order to meet the growing clients’ demand for electric car rentals,” he said.
“Given the absence of an adequate public charging infrastructure, and in order to provide their clients with a high level of service that goes hand in hand with efficient operation of their sites, car rental service providers are required to equip their car rental and operational sites with ultra-fast charging infrastructure. The build of such infrastructure is challenged and/or delayed in a substantial part of those sites due to power-constrained [electrical] grids, and that is precisely the gap that we address and provide with a solution,” said Weizer.