Houston EV charging station startup gets ready to roll out services across the country
revving up for growth
A Houston startup is revving up the region's — and the country's — supply of charging stations for electric vehicles.
The company, Refuel Electric Vehicle Solutions (REVS), recently installed its first two charging stations. They're at two properties in Houston: the Briar Forest Lofts apartment complex, located in the Energy Corridor, and Lakeview RV Resort, located at North Holmes and Hiram Clarke roads.
REVS plans to roll out its offering — consulting, installation, and management services for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — to multifamily and commercial real estate properties across the U.S. Those properties include apartment complexes, office buildings, hotels, and shopping centers.
In the coming weeks, REVS plans to set up EV charging stations at properties in Texas and California.
Customers of REVS can take advantage of revenue-sharing and marketing arrangements, as well as green or carbon credits.
Commercial real estate veteran David Aaronson, president and CEO of REVS, and son Mike Aaronson, head of operations, founded the company to address what they say is a growing need for EV charging stations in the commercial real estate and sustainability sectors.
Miami Beach, Florida-based Blink Charging Co. makes the EV charging stations installed by REVS. Blink, which is publicly traded, recently raised $232 million in equity to fuel its growth.
As EVs "become more prevalent, it is imperative that commercial real estate and multifamily owners and operators realize that their assets will provide the future infrastructure for charging these vehicles," David Aaronson says in a news release.
One forecast predicts the global market for EV charging stations will surpass $248.2 billion by 2030. Another report anticipates the number of EV charging stations around the world will grow from more than 2.1 million in 2020 to nearly 30.8 million by 2027.
In the U.S., the number of EVs is poised to take off. A study by The Brattle Group, a consulting firm in Boston, forecasts the number of EVs in this country will jump from 1.5 million in 2020 to between 10 million and 35 million by 2030.
The study goes on to say that an infrastructure investment of $75 billion to $125 billion would be required to accommodate 20 million EVs on U.S. roads by 2030. Those dollar figures include the addition of 1 million to 2 million EV charging stations.
In North America, an estimated 80 percent of EV charging happens at home, but experts expect the share of charging done at office buildings and other places to increase.
"When it comes to electric vehicles, commercial real estate owners and operators face one fundamental question: Do they wait for a tidal wave of EVs on the road to add charging stations to new and existing buildings, or get ahead of that tsunami?" Commercial Real Estate Executive observed last year. "The answer increasingly is if they dawdle, they run the risk of finding themselves behind the times."
