Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: It’s Complicated

For commercial properties like car dealerships, office buildings, parking garages, retail shops and restaurants, installing electric vehicle charging stations isn’t simply a matter of calling up the electrician. It’s a complicated and time-consuming process, especially when taking advantage of government and utility company incentives that can cut the cost to zero.

 That’s where EVKON can help. Founded by local residents, the company is a sort of soup-to-nuts EV charger installer, helping owners navigate the complex regulations, mechanics and intricacies of adding infrastructure that caters to the growing number of electric vehicle owners.

 “Things are changing all the time,” said Luther Bates, a Chatham resident, Harwich business owner and co-founder and CFO of EVKON. “There’s nothing static about what’s happening” in EV charging.

 Bates will talk about EV chargers and EVKON at the Cape Cod Technology Council tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 6) at 7:30 a.m. at Cape Cod Community College.

 EVKON began two years ago when Bates got together with Mike Gorman, a founder of Mahi Gold and owner of Peter Millar in Boston’s Seaport District, and tech guy Chris Angelou. Gorman brought knowledge of business, Angelou knew the tech side, and Bates added his entrepreneurial skills.

 “I like the idea of solving problems that haven’t always been around,” Bates said.

 Angelou recognized that the EV charging market was taking off after experiencing his brother-in-law’s effort to install one. He saw an opportunity for a company that provided the research, knowledge and services needed to install chargers. Bates said the field is complicated. In Massachusetts, the two major electricity utilities, Eversource and National Grid, have different incentive programs, as well as millions of dollars in state and company subsidies available for EV charger installation that can pay up to 100 percent of the often not-insubstantial cost.

 “Nobody knew what the steps were,” Bates noted. “It became a matter of identifying who were the most likely candidates” for the company’s services.

 It took EVKON 18 months to get its first project going. But a chance encounter at a Chatham beach led to the company being hired to coordinate installation of chargers at Jack Madden Ford in Norwood. Ford, Bates said, required that its dealers install chargers in order to sell EVs, but didn’t help them with the process. EVKON has now installed chargers at two Ford dealerships and is working on three others.

The company is also working to bring EV charging infrastructure to a number of parking garages, including a six-story facility in Boston and another in Hoboken, N.J. Other clients include resorts, large parking lots, multi-unit housing developments and commercial real estate facilities. The company has 40 active projects going throughout the Northeast, Bates said.

The process is not easy or simple. “The administration is arduous,” Bates said. Each site is unique and has specific needs, and specific steps must be followed with the utilities in order to qualify for subsidies.

 EVKON has yet to work with municipalities. That’s more of a challenge, said Bates, a member of the Chatham Economic Development Committee. Towns have their own processes for developing, researching and funding projects and must follow procurement laws. Not every community has a staff member familiar with EV charging stations, which can lead to poor choices in terms of charging level and locations. EVKON is currently working with the Cape Cod Commission on developing policies that Cape towns can follow in developing charging stations “to make sure they’re going in the right direction,” Bates said.

 With more and more EVs on the road, having robust charging infrastructure is critical to the Cape’s future. For homeowners, especially those with older homes, electrical services might not be capable of handling higher level charging stations. But at some point visitors will demand the service, even at rentals. Bates said he stopped in at a rental he owns in Brewster and found an extension cord stretching from the house to the EV in the driveway. 

Regulations requiring charging stations at new homes and new commercial developments will help, he said.

 EVs are still relatively new, and promoting the technology to early adopters poses problems no one has had to solve before. “Even if you go to Europe, there’s a totally different electrical grid,” Bates noted. “You can look to California, but they have a lot of different policies in place.”

 A long-time commercial fisherman, Bates co-ownes The Nines Gallery in Harwich Port with his wife, Lauren DiFerdinando. He is also a father who knows that fossil fuel reliance must be reduced.

 “There are so many positive benefits for the environment,” he said of green technology.

“Luther is a multi-talented Cape Codder who is now at the forefront of an emerging industry to provide the infrastructure needed to power electric vehicles in our communities,” Technology Council Executive Director Steve Smith said in a press release. “In many ways, it’s an industry still in its infancy. We’re looking forward to hearing what Luther has learned and how charging station technology is being implemented in commercial applications.”

 To register for Friday’s talk, visit cctechcouncil.org/.