EVCS has come a long way over a short time. In less than three years, we’ve taken a vision by company co-founders Gustavo Occhiuzzo and Ian Vishnevsky – one that incentivizes responsible mobility through increased access to charging infrastructure – and built upon it. We’ve partnered with state and local DOTs, developed advanced management software, pioneered affordable subscription charging plans, streamlined project installation processes, and reduced financial downsides while maximizing upsides for site owners, just to name a few.
These momentous strides have, incidentally, given us the opportunity to assess America’s transportation sector in real detail, allowing us greater insight into why the EVCS vision is so crucial. As such, here are six of the biggest reasons why we feel America needs us:
1. An Increased Carbon Footprint
According to the EPA, global carbon output resulting from fossil fuel combustion contributed to 78% of total greenhouse gas emissions between 1970 and 2011, leading to damaging effects on the planet’s climate. Not only is America responsible for 15% of this output, which it can curb directly, but it also serves as a thought leader in green technology that can motivate the other 85% to make changes. And EVCS is one of the key drivers of this thought leadership in the EV space.
2. Consumers Want Sustainable Products
Barron’s recently reported on a study by IBM and the National Retail Foundation, which found almost 70% of US and Canadian consumers believe sustainability is important when choosing a brand. Moreover, the same percentage said they would pay a premium for such brands. It’s clear from this that there’s an accelerating trend toward eco-friendly lifestyles; as such, EVCS will continue its campaign of promoting responsible mobility so that more consumers consider EV adoption.
3. The Need for Convenience and Control
A white paper on ecommerce published by First Data sought to address the question, “What Do Consumers Really Want?” The answer? “Mobile commerce appears to support consumers’ thirst for universal convenience… Control [of this commerce] comes from access to information for decision-making, and consumers now rely on real-time data wherever they are.” This is why EVCS developed state-of-the-art software that gives both site hosts and drivers more dominion over charging management while also simplifying their user experience.
4. Customer Service is Lacking
Sadly, customer service ain’t what it used to be. Per Forbes, the NewVoiceMedia 2018 “Serial Switchers” report revealed that lousy customer service cost businesses over $75 billion in lost revenue that year, an increase of $13 billion from 2016. Especially in an emerging market like electrified transit where new technologies will invariably generate questions, EVCS has made customer service a cornerstone of its operation. Our goal is to set the industry standard for positive customer experience.
Tesla Photo by Dominick Vietor
5. Road Travel Increases in Post-COVID World
Americans love to travel, but COVID has significantly impacted their ability to fly to far-off lands. As a result, “huge numbers of Americans are heading out to drivable destinations,” says a recent article in Travel + Leisure. Our belief in maximizing travel experiences while minimizing our collective carbon footprint was evident in our purchase of the WCEH, but the pandemic gave us a real opportunity to boost the appeal of eco-friendly travel as we began upgrading charging infrastructure at top vacation spots across the Pacific Northwest. We next plan to continue this trend in other parts of the US.
6. Americans Are Hurting
A Pew Research survey from last September found that a quarter of American adults have had trouble paying their bills since the start of the pandemic and about one-third have had reduced hours or taken pay cuts. We believe that our mission of creating greater access to charging infrastructure will increase EV adoption, resulting in a reduction of transportation-related costs like vehicle pricing and fueling fees when Americans need it most since, according to a recent Ascent study, such costs account for 16% of average US household expenses (second only to housing).
Here are links to the reports and studies mentioned in this blog:
Commentary on Geotab’s 2020 EV Fleet Trends Article – Part I
At the beginning of this year, Geotab published a very interesting white paper titled “Electric Vehicle Trends 2020: Top 6 Factors Impacting Fleet Electrification.” (The piece can be found in its entirety here: https://www.geotab.com/white-paper/electric-vehicle-trends/) Now that we’re approaching the end of 2020, we thought it might be useful to go back through the assertions made in the paper to determine (1) whether the trends are evolving as Geotab predicted, and (2) if so, how EVCS is able to address those trends, including the targeting of customer pain points. Below are the first three trends referenced out of the six and our thoughts on each.
For EV enthusiasts generally and EVCS specifically, the election results are cause for great optimism. Joe Biden has shown himself to be a true friend to the electric mobility industry, so we thought we’d outline a few ways a Biden presidency will likely benefit our company, our mission and our customers.
Everyone loves top 10 lists, right? After all, David Letterman made them a perennial staple of his popular late-night program for years until they eventually became one of the most anticipated segments of each episode. Not only were they hysterically funny, but they featured just enough truth that the viewer was able to make a connection with reality. Quite often, these lists were also centered around an important and topical subject. And what’s more topical right now than sustainable energy? Or protecting our environment? So, in the spirit of David Letterman, we thought we’d present the top 10 reasons why the state of California needs EVCS.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) bills itself as a pioneer in “leading the state to a 100% clean energy future.” It recently celebrated its 45th birthday and will be launching a “Clean Energy Hall of Fame” by announcing on December 10th awards honoring groups that are successfully contributing to a carbon-neutral California.
On Tuesday, October 13th, our co-founder, Ian Vishnevsky, gave an absorbing interview to San Jose-based media platform ETTV America on the EVCS mission and how our recent partnership with Taiwanese software platform Noodoe is helping to advance that mission.