Huge thanks to Arcady for joining me for this show. There are *very few* people in the charging industry as passionate and knowledgable as he is. I think it’s the best video we have from CES because we are sharing some true deep knowledge and passion, I really enjoyed this chat!
I assume a charger like this would be 800v+ rated? So are we talking 150kw for 400v systems and 300kw for 800v? If so that is awesome on air cooled cables. no instant derating when cables break would be awesome
Great company. Gotta see where in my community FreeWire can set up multiple chargers and battery storage locations. It would be nice if he stated how much space would be needed for each charging station and vehicle(s) space(s). With and without the battery storage unit(s).
They will fail due to the same thing that killed Westinghouse and GE, among others: inadequate field tech support. A lot of companies made really great products but failed to support them adequately and the consumers went elsewhere.
Great video! In fact, I wrote my state representative (Michigan) to suggest we look into getting these chargers. Here in Lansing, we have one EA and one Charge Point station. Since we're in the process of installing our home charger, we've had to rely on them. Michigan is beautiful! We have a tourism industry. These chargers would be welcome here, I believe.
7:34 This is a point where I'll push back a bit. The problem with the strategy of deploying one charger and waiting for demand to justify installing a second, third, or fourth charger is that a single-charger site (even when splitting power between two posts) is simply not compelling enough to assess the actual demand for that site. An example of this is the single Freewire Boost charger sites installed along I-5 through California. In theory, those should be super high demand locations; however, only having a single charger means that it's a huge risk to target that as a stopping point. No one wants to exit a freeway and take a couple minutes driving to a charging site only to find that the only charger at the location is occupied. Now, if those locations were all two-unit sites with three CCS heads and one CHAdeMO head, they would jump way ahead of most ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo sites along that same route in terms of prioritizing a stop.
That is a good observation. Without some sort of accurate and universal communication to show charger status, that will always be a problem for low stall # locations. That is a nice feature of the Tesla ecosystem, you know how many stalls are available.
@@cifey Even knowing the status might not solve the issue. A number of 4 to 10 charger sites along I-5 can be fully occupied with a queue, so any stop at a site with only a single charger is a risk. Also, with a single charger, how do you capture demand data if you can't see how many people arrived during a charge session and left (rather than waited) because the site was occupied? I've also found ICEing to be an issue with Freewire chargers because they are often located at busy gas stations, and I've had to confirm (the hard way) that the cable will not reach across spaces if your charge port is on the opposite side.
I agree. For this reason, I personally avoid single-charger sites on road trips unless there are either no other options. That said, maybe single-charging sites are still ok if you're talking about the daily driving needs of apartment dwellers, rather than people on road trips. If the charger at the grocery is full, you just shop and park without charging and try again another time. If one's daily commute uses only a small portion of the battery, it is very unlikely that the charger will be full 5-8 times in row, particularly if you shop during an off-peak hour, and all you need is one successful charge to avoid needing another one for quite awhile.
@@ab-tf5fl I see these as more of an option for rural gas stations. My local gas station only has two gas pumps, and it rarely serves more than a few customers at a time. So these would be perfect for that.
Great video! Super interesting and informative. I’m a utility guy.. spent my entire career in grid operations, so I know firsthand the hold ups of getting infrastructure built and improved. A lot of times, we can’t even get what we want/need for grid operations, so customer upgrades can really take a long time. I’m happy to see companies like Freewire doing something to help charge point operators manage their expenses and make it possible (and profitable) to put more chargers in the ground.
And the Electric Cables underground too since there's so many storms that knockout the overhead powerlines. But it'll be harder for future Upgrades. The Utility companies have the Smarts to figure how to cost effectively upgrade powerlines underground without increasing the costs to its customers. At least not too costly.
I'm a utility guy, I spent my career in the USAF for 4 years than 34 years in grid operations, 7 years running the electric system for Arizona. Most of the time, you could not get a thing done, But I managed to circumvent bureaucracy many times and get things done. As system operator, I just did it myself and answered questions to the VP later, saved the grid many millions of dollars. I kept the only 50 year record of Hoover Dam operations when I was manager of the Arizona Power Authority, saving the State of Arizona many millions of dollars when California sued Arizona. Tesla is the only answer to the problems on the grid right now as well as electric charging, everyone else is just blowing smoke.
@@tedmoss 💯. Tesla is light years ahead. I love how they install them.. so efficient. I’m hoping for the CCS cars that these chargers will help. I love the idea of bus ties to balance the batteries and if you can put these in places like the parking garage he mentioned in San Francisco, I’m all for it.
Most impressive presentation from CES so far that I have seen. This makes so much sense and this company seems well positioned for the future of EV charging.
I’m not an EV owner but am very interested in EVs and have been casually browsing the ID.4 market for the past few months. Having watched many Out of Spec Reviews videos, and seeing the struggles CCS DCFC has been experiencing as of late, watching Arcady explain his technology with true passion excites me. We need more people like Arcady in the EV charging world to truly make adopting EVs more feasible for much of the population! Great video as always Kyle!
Likewise. I have a ICU SUV and looking to get a Sedan or Compact for my work and vacation trips. Tesla's are out of my price range and not enough EV inventive in Ontario, Canada (compared to Quebec), so I'm looking at the ID.7, but honestly want the ID.3. Fingers cross they come to Canada if not the US. Also live in an apartment unit that has no plans for EV charging in the basement or guest parking spaces, so I'll be heavily reliant on quick charging technologies. Hopefully the CCS network can get their sh*t together with cold climate charging. Imperative during these months here.
@@saadsyed6690 I followed your logic up to the last 2 sentences. I wouldn't hold your breath on "CCS getting their """' together" They've been at least "discussing" standards for 14 years..... and here we are.
Awesome interview. Very few DCFC in my area in Central Texas so I’m constantly checking out the new construction when announced. Was stunned to see a full site with 4 charger stations go up from ground breaking to ready to go in less than 10 days! Freewire units with 2 charge cables each. Most other planned sites in our area still waiting for utility upgrades. These guys are gonna succeed big time!!!! Can’t wait to try one of their chargers out!
Big thumbs up for a very good business level discussion about current and near future EV charging infrastructure and grid challenges. Arcady is a very good presenter - factual, concise, on point and enthusiastic. Great video!
Thanks Kyle, our BC and Alberta Chevron on the Run charger network has Freewire as the manufacturer, that is why they are so reliable, great to know!!! So far Chevron have been the best experience in Western Canada for EV charging.
This was incredibly interesting. I’m a recently retired CFO for electrical manufacturing company and if I was 30 years younger I’d be looking to get into the battery/EV charging industry. This is the future solution for EVs & Grid management challenges.
This battery charger looks like the perfect units to install in rest areas along interstates. It's more difficult to get the right utilities out to rest areas for other chargers, but this doesn't need that. Then, if it's cost effective, these can add solar panels and/or the new style of wind turbines to generate and supply the power to charge the batteries to work more off grid. Especially at rest areas, there's the land space to install them.
This was a great video. Glad to see that Freewire is listening to both EV drivers and their CPO customers to make notable improvements to the product line to benefit all.
Especially in the US, canopies with PV panels would keep cars cooler and fill up the batteries. I'd also note that more and more I think 50 kW chargers are the sweet spot for supermarkets and fast food restaurants - that's 25 to 30 kW while the car is parked and no need to run out and move the car. I could see a system like this allowing a supermarket rolling out a few dozen of 50 kW chargers without needing to get major grid upgrades and allowing them to use night rate grid electricity and any solar they have installed.
I know that Out of Spec is based in northern Colorado and so am I! This means that you do a great job of addressing our local conditions like mountain driving, the need for good range at freeway speeds, towing and of course cold weather. Y'all keep up the great work and it would be fun to meet up someday!
12-24 Months to install the typical infrastructure & charger, yikes ... I'm Always for Anything, that Helps with the installation of More Charges FASTER ! Nice ... 😁 Thanks, Kyle for info.
Yes. In Florida along I-95, 2 large Tesla installations got delayed for almost a year waiting on the power company to install transformers and meters (some of this is supply chain related). They just came online in the last month.
A friend of mine is planning on trying to get a few Freewire chargers to put along I-77 near Charleston at a few of their gas stations since the demand charges would be unprofitable without charging several $/kWh. He'll be really glad to hear about linking the batteries together since that was a big concern having people pull in on some chargers that would possibly have dead batteries. I still think it would be nice to be able to see the unit/station battery percentage on the unit so you can get a rough estimate on how long you are going to be there. Also if the units are going to be able to share a DC bus does that also mean they could share charging power? Like lets say there are 8 units charging at 20kW and they are all close to empty if only one car pulls in could they charge that one car at 150kW or would it still slow down to 20kW? Still I'm really glad to see a company like Freewire doing well and I hope to see them thrive in the future since they are enabling more independents to get into the market.
@@AdamBJohnson1 They weren't able to get permitting or the power company on board with installation of more than one charger at each location and being that I-77 is super busy having only 1 freewire charger at each of their free gas stations could be more detrimental than having no charging at all because of how they derate to 27kwh when empty. The initial plan was to have 4 at each location each with their own 3 phase metered run connected together underground with the DC bus so they can share SOC, that way it would have been cheaper because if all the chargers are pulling 27 kW you don't get hit surge pricing because each charger is billed separately but the power company refused to run new service unless they paid some exorbitant price in the ballpark of $200k which supposedly also included upgrading the transformer. Then the local council refused to even talk about permitting the installation, I'm not exactly sure why but that was final nail in the coffin. They might retry someday but for now it seems like the reason West Virginia is an EV charging dead zone is because the power companies and local governments simply don't want it right now.
I wonder if they will come out with something for the home user. A whole house backup and if you need a little bit of a faster charge, maybe fast charge a vehicle at around 50 to 100kwh's. I have several vehicles and to "quickly" charge one if needed might be a useful feature.
Freewire was just installed at a new truck stop. It was just built in Sealy, TX on I-10 freeway. They are using the Texas VW diesel gate money. It is not online as of yesterday. I will be trying it out once it is online on my i4 M50.
The discussion about running the gas pumps from one of these reminded me of the time I flew down to a small town in Baja and the one cab in town couldn't pick us up because there was a power outage and it couldn't get gas.
I was surprised they didn't go with LFP batteries. BUT, SUPER COOL to see a company that seems to actually understand the industry and is thinking of the future!
Great video glad he mentioned the chemistry of the battery. If I had a site would definitely install this right away. This is by far the best video from CES that I've seen.
Energy storage is going to be the answer for the foreseeable future, especially if government keeps intervening on behalf of sources that can't ramp based on demand like wind and solar. These guys are going to be huge.
It is very wrong to say wind and solar can't ramp, they can, just like any other generator as long as there is wind or sunlight. Batteries will store power when solar and wind can't generate. We want to use the cheapest power, that's what brings this idea about. Tesla wants to maximize efficiency on the grid, that's why they do what they do, there is no other hidden motivation other than the ones stated.
@Ted Moss it is *physically impossible* for solar or wind generators to scale output to demand. Entire solar or wind farms can disable some of the units in the farm, but if it's cloudy or there's no wind. There's no power. Can't ramp *up* to meet demand, can only ramp *down* when the demand isn't there, but that is wasteful because that's when batteries need charging. Ergo, ideally, solar and wind farms always run at full output. Problem with that is that batteries are a bandaid not a solution.
Very good interview Kyle! Please post more of these charging-related videos from CES. I'd really like to see what ABB had at their booth. I'm also looking forward to your Canadian and Alaskan EV road trips.
I'm in the UK, don't have an EV yet, a few weeks away and I will. I found this interesting. I've watched out of spec reviews for a few months now, don't know why I have not subscribed before. keep up the great work.
In Ontario we have a grocery store chain, Loblaws, and they are installing JULES chargers that have a battery buffer. I have had good luck charging at one of their locations.
The one question I would have liked to have answered is what Freewire's strategy is for integrating onsite renewables like solar canopies over the chargers and charging stalls.
None. A) That's the site operators area, and B) There's not enough density to make it worthwhile. A huge array would be enough to keep the chargers O/S online. That's it. One charging session with one EV would drain the system for 24 hrs.
@@alexandermckay8594 Obviously, the site manager would run the solar. The question was about integration. Some companies offer that service (e.g., BEAM), so it's a valid question.
Great to see Freewire take the lead in battery connected chargers. What’s needed are a few progressive electric utilities to show some leadership as well. What Freewire has to offer is a way for electric utilities to improve their load factor. This is valuable to the utility, and helps shore up the grid. Unfortunately most large electric utilities having a long legacy of being a monopoly trying to stay in charge of customer’s electricity use. Instead of trying to change the large utilities, find some smaller progessive, municipal and coop utilities who want to partner up with Freewire.
Awesome video! Makes me want to be a Freewire rep in Eastern Canada! I did a road trip across Canada in my Ioniq 5 in June. They must have installed them after that. I didn't see any chargers that were Freewire.
It is becoming about charging, cars work, home charging works. Out and about charging is a complete lottery. I am driving an extra 30 mile to a charger that I know will work. Brilliant review.
@@franklinfleming1237 no product, sales reaping in the UK with an Electric Car, working in the construction industry. Let’s put it this way my wife fights with me who is driving the EV not the diesel volvo.
@@gordoncrichton7657 how much cost to change home 4 charging.. how much electricity cost you atm... how many charges a day how long waiting on charging.... is your house powered by natural gas.. how long does battery last how much to replace it... in short how much money did you put into having an electric vehicle?
@@franklinfleming1237 charging at home at night 10p kWh works out at 2.5p per mile in summer and 3.5 p per mile in winter. Once you have the tariff set up I put my washing machine and dishwasher to run in the night, saves £60-£80 per month.
We went to the Chevron gas station in Vancouver BC to test out the Freewire charger & it’s one of the best charging experience we have using it. The charger connects seamlessly with the App of the retailer & it activates almost instantly, much better experience comparing to the Electricity Canada experience we had in Merritt BC this summer.
The Freewire is only rated down to -4F. The unit is right at home in Homer, Ak as it rarely gets below 0F there during the winter. I would love to install a dozen of these units around the state but in order to install them anywhere north of Homer we need them to be able to operate to at least -20F. Now in the video, it shows an in-wall install. This presents a possible solution. If they could be installed into a connex or small shelter where the back of the unit is maintained at 40-50F that could be a good solution for more northern installs.
Also, since they have battery storage, can they operate at all in a grid-down situation? Thinking 2 of the Boost 200's installed in a 20' insulated connex. Some of the areas I would like to put them in have frequent grid outages and it would suck to be stuck 100+ miles from the next charge and unable to charge due to grid down. A generator could be used but would be nice if it could provide at least some charge on the battery only.
20kw input requirement is a quite large solar array for a remote area (probably needing to oversize the panel capacity to 40-50kw). In Australia's outback areas, a 50kw charging version with 60kwh of battery, and being able to be charged off a 10-15kw solar array would be a nice fit, and lower the costs enough to make it viable with only a few chargers a day.
Utility demand charges are $10-15 (and up) per peak kW delivered in a month. That is a thousands of dollars per month even if there are just a few charging sessions per month...
the feds don’t set the price of electricity. The monopoly utility companies, which are guided solely by maximum profit, set the prices. And are usually owned by very wealthy investors and sovereign wealth funds.
@@222aint ever hear of Kathleen wyne*. Liberal involved with power plant scandal? And how much it jacked up electricity cost... goverment can will and has stepped in. To subsidize something that uf was successful would not need such bail outs.
Thanks Kyle. I live in Saskatchewan so am interested in seeing lots of Freewire chargers pop up out here. Do they put any kind of solar on the top of the overhang?
Looking forward to that Canada trip, Kyle! Also, yes, more interviews with the Freewire CEO, please. He seems acutely aware of the issues plaguing EV charging in the US. I would be interested to know more about Freewire's expansion plans, and whther they are targeting more local locations, or trying to get in on major highway/nationwide connectivity locations.
Really interesting video, thanks! Would love to see some statistics from those chargers in real world use over multiple days/weeks (battery state, charging speed, recharging speed etc.)
Chevron in Vancouver Canada has been installing them around the cities around here, only half of them work half the time. It’s been a months or two so not reliable so far. Status of chargers in app are also totally unreliable, would drive there and it’s not working or in use or vice versa. Very disappointing
@@brandenflasch Thanks, I usually do it on plugshare, isn't Rate Your Charge a bit redundant? Sorry I must be missing something if you can educate me, and where do I find Rate Your Charge? I don't see it in the video description.
Wow! I loved that guys vision for the possibilities of DC fast charging. His system wouldn't work for ever use case but it would go a long way toward putting faster charging on the ground!
Finally some charging people who appear to get it. Demand costs, financial viability, all of this needs to be talked about more and the charger companies NEED to be catering to them to make charging profitable for everyone.
This is very exciting. I wish it was here like TOMORROW. This is just taking too long! For EV adoption to really take off, these need to be on every corner!
Very excited for the arrival of the "On the Run" Freewire charger in Kananaskis! Freewire needs to have a conversation with the site at Saskatchewan River Crossing... Freewire + Solar farm = off-grid L3 charging?
Where my grandmother is from in northern MN, the record was -57F. Which is the same record low as Barrow, AK. The UP gets the crazy winds off the Lake. Not surprising...
Seeing one of these units as a big UPS for the gas station / convenience store is interesting. I wonder, if they can offload high electricity price for those by pulling from the battery too, ie run the cool line compressors from battery when price is high.
That is why battery swaps stations making sense. The station has much capacity to support all advantages he mentioned in the interview. Swap station usually attach few high kw DC fast charger. Like 500kw!!
Another great video from CES by Kyle!! Really enjoyed this one. Didn't know much about Freewire other than they are partnering with Parkland Fuel here is Western Canada for their charging network. Parkland has a great vision in place to be a charging destination with their "On the Run" stores and Triple O's restaurants. They run the Chevron, Fas Gas and Ultramar fuel stations in Western Canada. My only hope is Parkland reconsiders some of their strategy....currently to put in a network in places where there is already other high-speed charging options. Hoping they take the opportunity to fill in some of the high speed charging gaps in Western Canada where they already operate. Big space, low population. I get companies want to go with higher traffic/population locations, but they may find they get more usage when they are the only option in areas. Seems like the perfect reason to partner with FreeWire to be able to provide service in areas that may not easily have the power infrastructure required for traditional high speed charging.
A high output charger with a battery and a low power connection to the grid makes so much sense in so many ways and places. They aren’t the only ones with such a product, but as always the more the merrier. 👏
@@e-redj oh so simple comes from the wall.. no probably natural gas powered buildings... and diesel generators.. 😆😅🤣🤣🤣🤣 check it every "charging " station.. has a big old diesel generator... usually behind a wooden fence... so sheeps don't see.
@@e-redj if everyone want green energy lets work on hydro power or fusion. Additionally the amount of materials needed to make chemical batteries are limited... so in short thete neeeds to be trillions spent on building the "utopian future " energy supply. They don't just pop iutta the air. But with that said people worried about horse poop build up in streets... then poof came the internal combustion engine.... (but that needed what to be successful??. Ah yes infrastructure and development of gasoline networks and oil refineries.... see what im saying. Lol 😆 🤣. Dont launch the palne if you don't have fuel landing strip or parts infrastructure.
New Costco in North Port, FL has installed two FreeWire Boost Charger 200 units. Charging while shopping should work well at this location. Will need to incorporate the J3400 in the near future.
I like how thoughtfully designed these chargers are. I’ve never used one since they don’t exist in my area or any area I’ve driven to, but I like the fact that they’ve thought of all of these different usages. Even just little things like the hood over the front of the charger. I’d like to see more charging sites like this, although putting a 160kwh battery in each charger is very resource intensive. Personally I’d like to see states start installing chargers like this at each rest stop along major freeways. Maybe 2 at each rest stop. There would be a big investment to get them in the ground, but if one or two are installed at each rest stop, it probably wouldn’t require a huge upgrade to the electrical infrastructure, and they would *definitely* get used.
Excellent & informative. This technology to help flatten the demand will be key to getting the grid to work more efficiently. Looking forward to vehicle to load for offsetting peak power costs for home.
Wow, what an excellent video and cool tech! I want these to go in everywhere. What a fantastic way to expand the charging networks. The best thing is that overall demand on existing chargers (and other battery-buffered chargers) will be reduced the more of these we get in the ground, which will allow the batteries in these things last longer every day and over their lifetime.
A very informative video - thanks for bringing this to us Kyle/Alyssa. More of Freewire and their CEO in some format please. They seem to have the right ideas on how to do charging right.
Interesting how FreeWire is doing everything to avoid interacting with the power company. They take power at lower rates to avoid demand charge costs from the power company and connect directly from charger-to-charger to avoid tying more equipment via the grid as well as providing battery backup to the sponsoring business. Very innovate but you can see how power companies will start to get shut-out of this market because they are not taking the lead and allowing upstarts to drive innovation.
Hey these Freewire Chargers are in my back yard in BC, Canada at Chevron gas stations. Kyle if you need any info on them give me a shout. Love the video, great info!
Really hope they’re considering Australia if they aren’t there already! For all that a certain chip oil powered charger has been an amazing stop gap story, could totally see chargers like this being the next big thing. Also maybe for farm use as well in the future? Get something like that running to keep everything going during the peak times when everything is running 24/7 and it’s all just go, go, go. Actually maybe get it for peak time of the year and big equipment, then use it for everything else as well once you have it.
Great job covering this Kyle! I have a hard time feeling bad about the top 20% of income areas not getting a tax credit. The product seems very intriguing! I am sure the math varies a bit by location but I would think in many areas the advantages will be significant.
But those are the places that have EVs. Do you see many poor people buying EVs? That won't happen for a while. In the meantime, you need to build up infrastructure to get people to feel comfortable with EVs. I don't see businesses in poorer areas investing in chargers when the usage won't justify the investment and I doubt wealthier people will drive to poorer areas just to charge.
Also does FreeWire have presence on Google Maps, other Maps Apps, all the auto companies in vehicle Apps? Or does EV owners have to install FreeWire's App on their phones and or EV's dashboard system? As you can tell I'm not well versed in EVs yet I'm working on it so I'll be very comfortable with EVs when we get 1 or 2 if them.
As a landlord, i'm not held back by the equipment to purchase. I'm often held up back by the local power company unwilling to deliver the power required for the chargers....
Cool units! I looked up where they were installing the units in Western Canada, and I see they have partnered with Parkland. By coincidence, I was listening to the “Plugged In” podcast today and they were talking about the contest that Parkland sponsored to design the charging station of the future, and they talked to the winning architect, James Sylvester. Super interesting stuff, and a promising future for the charging network in Canada!
Great content and would love to see this product succeed and grow everywhere, to power ANY EV Tesla and others, but charging more for Tesla since they have their own fast chargers anyway. The non Tesla cars need charging stations everywhere.
Interesting niche product, although it seems that it would make more sense to do what that European competitor did by including a solar canopy. Of course the headline is kinda click bait in that Tesla has been deploying Megapacks (and large solar canopies) at various locations for some time now.
Interesting conversation.. Particularly about the comparison to an alternate charger where this unit was saving $35k/yr... And I assume that's probably an absolute worst case comparison. But equally how much more upfront is this unit - 160kWh of batteries doesn't come cheap. And over time as utilisation grows, does difference diminish as you can't keep the battery charged, so rely on the grid.
Excellent concept / product. Could also i presume have a use as an interim solution, eg get chargers in for a year or two very quickly whilst you wait for the utility to provide higher power. ETA great interview also !
Huge thanks to Arcady for joining me for this show. There are *very few* people in the charging industry as passionate and knowledgable as he is. I think it’s the best video we have from CES because we are sharing some true deep knowledge and passion, I really enjoyed this chat!
Thanks for doing it. It’s great to see what’s being developed, and personally, it’s exactly what I was hoping to see you cover. Great job!
which EV charging station manufacturers are ready to adopt Tesla's charger?
I assume a charger like this would be 800v+ rated? So are we talking 150kw for 400v systems and 300kw for 800v? If so that is awesome on air cooled cables. no instant derating when cables break would be awesome
Great company. Gotta see where in my community FreeWire can set up multiple chargers and battery storage locations. It would be nice if he stated how much space would be needed for each charging station and vehicle(s) space(s). With and without the battery storage unit(s).
Best videi so far on CES
I love how happy Kyle gets when he’s speaking to someone competent and understands the product they’re representing. Same here, Kyle. Same here.
Same. Same. Reason #7 why I watch Kyle.
This guy sounds really competent. Looks like he knows his stuff. Great interview from Kyle's side, too!
They will fail due to the same thing that killed Westinghouse and GE, among others: inadequate field tech support. A lot of companies made really great products but failed to support them adequately and the consumers went elsewhere.
Great video! In fact, I wrote my state representative (Michigan) to suggest we look into getting these chargers. Here in Lansing, we have one EA and one Charge Point station. Since we're in the process of installing our home charger, we've had to rely on them. Michigan is beautiful! We have a tourism industry. These chargers would be welcome here, I believe.
7:34 This is a point where I'll push back a bit. The problem with the strategy of deploying one charger and waiting for demand to justify installing a second, third, or fourth charger is that a single-charger site (even when splitting power between two posts) is simply not compelling enough to assess the actual demand for that site. An example of this is the single Freewire Boost charger sites installed along I-5 through California. In theory, those should be super high demand locations; however, only having a single charger means that it's a huge risk to target that as a stopping point. No one wants to exit a freeway and take a couple minutes driving to a charging site only to find that the only charger at the location is occupied.
Now, if those locations were all two-unit sites with three CCS heads and one CHAdeMO head, they would jump way ahead of most ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo sites along that same route in terms of prioritizing a stop.
I suppose it could tell you if it's occupied,
but maintenance and cross selling(coffee etc.) are a critical concern.
That is a good observation. Without some sort of accurate and universal communication to show charger status, that will always be a problem for low stall # locations. That is a nice feature of the Tesla ecosystem, you know how many stalls are available.
@@cifey Even knowing the status might not solve the issue. A number of 4 to 10 charger sites along I-5 can be fully occupied with a queue, so any stop at a site with only a single charger is a risk. Also, with a single charger, how do you capture demand data if you can't see how many people arrived during a charge session and left (rather than waited) because the site was occupied?
I've also found ICEing to be an issue with Freewire chargers because they are often located at busy gas stations, and I've had to confirm (the hard way) that the cable will not reach across spaces if your charge port is on the opposite side.
I agree. For this reason, I personally avoid single-charger sites on road trips unless there are either no other options.
That said, maybe single-charging sites are still ok if you're talking about the daily driving needs of apartment dwellers, rather than people on road trips. If the charger at the grocery is full, you just shop and park without charging and try again another time. If one's daily commute uses only a small portion of the battery, it is very unlikely that the charger will be full 5-8 times in row, particularly if you shop during an off-peak hour, and all you need is one successful charge to avoid needing another one for quite awhile.
@@ab-tf5fl I see these as more of an option for rural gas stations. My local gas station only has two gas pumps, and it rarely serves more than a few customers at a time. So these would be perfect for that.
Great video! Super interesting and informative. I’m a utility guy.. spent my entire career in grid operations, so I know firsthand the hold ups of getting infrastructure built and improved. A lot of times, we can’t even get what we want/need for grid operations, so customer upgrades can really take a long time. I’m happy to see companies like Freewire doing something to help charge point operators manage their expenses and make it possible (and profitable) to put more chargers in the ground.
And the Electric Cables underground too since there's so many storms that knockout the overhead powerlines. But it'll be harder for future Upgrades. The Utility companies have the Smarts to figure how to cost effectively upgrade powerlines underground without increasing the costs to its customers. At least not too costly.
I'm a utility guy, I spent my career in the USAF for 4 years than 34 years in grid operations, 7 years running the electric system for Arizona. Most of the time, you could not get a thing done, But I managed to circumvent bureaucracy many times and get things done. As system operator, I just did it myself and answered questions to the VP later, saved the grid many millions of dollars. I kept the only 50 year record of Hoover Dam operations when I was manager of the Arizona Power Authority, saving the State of Arizona many millions of dollars when California sued Arizona. Tesla is the only answer to the problems on the grid right now as well as electric charging, everyone else is just blowing smoke.
@@tedmoss 💯. Tesla is light years ahead. I love how they install them.. so efficient. I’m hoping for the CCS cars that these chargers will help. I love the idea of bus ties to balance the batteries and if you can put these in places like the parking garage he mentioned in San Francisco, I’m all for it.
Most impressive presentation from CES so far that I have seen. This makes so much sense and this company seems well positioned for the future of EV charging.
I’m not an EV owner but am very interested in EVs and have been casually browsing the ID.4 market for the past few months. Having watched many Out of Spec Reviews videos, and seeing the struggles CCS DCFC has been experiencing as of late, watching Arcady explain his technology with true passion excites me. We need more people like Arcady in the EV charging world to truly make adopting EVs more feasible for much of the population!
Great video as always Kyle!
Don’t make a mistake. Go with a Tesla
Likewise. I have a ICU SUV and looking to get a Sedan or Compact for my work and vacation trips. Tesla's are out of my price range and not enough EV inventive in Ontario, Canada (compared to Quebec), so I'm looking at the ID.7, but honestly want the ID.3. Fingers cross they come to Canada if not the US. Also live in an apartment unit that has no plans for EV charging in the basement or guest parking spaces, so I'll be heavily reliant on quick charging technologies. Hopefully the CCS network can get their sh*t together with cold climate charging. Imperative during these months here.
@@saadsyed6690
I followed your logic up to the last 2 sentences.
I wouldn't hold your breath on "CCS getting their """' together"
They've been at least "discussing" standards for 14 years..... and here we are.
@@saadsyed6690 ID.7 and you cant afford a tesla? What? Maybe a Model X.
The ID.4 looks like a great value for a mid-sizeish SUV.
Awesome interview. Very few DCFC in my area in Central Texas so I’m constantly checking out the new construction when announced. Was stunned to see a full site with 4 charger stations go up from ground breaking to ready to go in less than 10 days! Freewire units with 2 charge cables each. Most other planned sites in our area still waiting for utility upgrades. These guys are gonna succeed big time!!!! Can’t wait to try one of their chargers out!
I'm also in Central TX - where is this station you mentioned?
Big thumbs up for a very good business level discussion about current and near future EV charging infrastructure and grid challenges. Arcady is a very good presenter - factual, concise, on point and enthusiastic. Great video!
What a great conversation. Thanks for this Kyle and Arcady. This is the kind of stuff I was hoping to learn about from CES! Awesome!
Same. This is useful information!
Nice to see a CEO that does not spew marketing BS and knows and believes in his product!
How does Kyle only have 136k subscribers? He's awesome.
His videos are often too long for the content, because he rambles. I have to watch at like 1.5 speed.
@@cypvh74 I like the fact he's detailed.
He's a well kept secret? No - his content is particular to an audience of nerds.
Thanks Kyle, our BC and Alberta Chevron on the Run charger network has Freewire as the manufacturer, that is why they are so reliable, great to know!!! So far Chevron have been the best experience in Western Canada for EV charging.
This was incredibly interesting. I’m a recently retired CFO for electrical manufacturing company and if I was 30 years younger I’d be looking to get into the battery/EV charging industry. This is the future solution for EVs & Grid management challenges.
This battery charger looks like the perfect units to install in rest areas along interstates. It's more difficult to get the right utilities out to rest areas for other chargers, but this doesn't need that.
Then, if it's cost effective, these can add solar panels and/or the new style of wind turbines to generate and supply the power to charge the batteries to work more off grid. Especially at rest areas, there's the land space to install them.
Love the FreeWire units! Such a smart concept, glad to see them being more widely implemented!
This was a great video. Glad to see that Freewire is listening to both EV drivers and their CPO customers to make notable improvements to the product line to benefit all.
Especially in the US, canopies with PV panels would keep cars cooler and fill up the batteries.
I'd also note that more and more I think 50 kW chargers are the sweet spot for supermarkets and fast food restaurants - that's 25 to 30 kW while the car is parked and no need to run out and move the car.
I could see a system like this allowing a supermarket rolling out a few dozen of 50 kW chargers without needing to get major grid upgrades and allowing them to use night rate grid electricity and any solar they have installed.
I always liked FreeWire. Told my brother who is a property manager about possibly installing them at his larger apartments.
And he didn't want to know why.?
I know that Out of Spec is based in northern Colorado and so am I! This means that you do a great job of addressing our local conditions like mountain driving, the need for good range at freeway speeds, towing and of course cold weather. Y'all keep up the great work and it would be fun to meet up someday!
12-24 Months to install the typical infrastructure & charger, yikes ... I'm Always for Anything, that Helps with the installation of More Charges FASTER ! Nice ... 😁 Thanks, Kyle for info.
Yes. In Florida along I-95, 2 large Tesla installations got delayed for almost a year waiting on the power company to install transformers and meters (some of this is supply chain related). They just came online in the last month.
They're gonna have to make installation faster. The world is moving to electric vehicles. 12-24 months just ain't gonna cut it.
A friend of mine is planning on trying to get a few Freewire chargers to put along I-77 near Charleston at a few of their gas stations since the demand charges would be unprofitable without charging several $/kWh. He'll be really glad to hear about linking the batteries together since that was a big concern having people pull in on some chargers that would possibly have dead batteries.
I still think it would be nice to be able to see the unit/station battery percentage on the unit so you can get a rough estimate on how long you are going to be there. Also if the units are going to be able to share a DC bus does that also mean they could share charging power? Like lets say there are 8 units charging at 20kW and they are all close to empty if only one car pulls in could they charge that one car at 150kW or would it still slow down to 20kW?
Still I'm really glad to see a company like Freewire doing well and I hope to see them thrive in the future since they are enabling more independents to get into the market.
About a year later, any update on this Freewire install? WV needs more DCFC infrastructure, and it seems like Freewire could help speed things along!
@@AdamBJohnson1 They weren't able to get permitting or the power company on board with installation of more than one charger at each location and being that I-77 is super busy having only 1 freewire charger at each of their free gas stations could be more detrimental than having no charging at all because of how they derate to 27kwh when empty.
The initial plan was to have 4 at each location each with their own 3 phase metered run connected together underground with the DC bus so they can share SOC, that way it would have been cheaper because if all the chargers are pulling 27 kW you don't get hit surge pricing because each charger is billed separately but the power company refused to run new service unless they paid some exorbitant price in the ballpark of $200k which supposedly also included upgrading the transformer. Then the local council refused to even talk about permitting the installation, I'm not exactly sure why but that was final nail in the coffin. They might retry someday but for now it seems like the reason West Virginia is an EV charging dead zone is because the power companies and local governments simply don't want it right now.
I wonder if they will come out with something for the home user. A whole house backup and if you need a little bit of a faster charge, maybe fast charge a vehicle at around 50 to 100kwh's. I have several vehicles and to "quickly" charge one if needed might be a useful feature.
Freewire was just installed at a new truck stop. It was just built in Sealy, TX on I-10 freeway. They are using the Texas VW diesel gate money. It is not online as of yesterday. I will be trying it out once it is online on my i4 M50.
The discussion about running the gas pumps from one of these reminded me of the time I flew down to a small town in Baja and the one cab in town couldn't pick us up because there was a power outage and it couldn't get gas.
I was surprised they didn't go with LFP batteries. BUT, SUPER COOL to see a company that seems to actually understand the industry and is thinking of the future!
What a great discussion. Really enjoyed this video. Can’t wait to see the tour of their facility. Keep making this great content.
I could even see this adding to existing sites as well wonderful product
Arcady is a cool dude, I wish him the most success. Kyle did EA have a booth at CES?
I heard they're installing the booth next week. 😉
@@rogerstarkey5390 I misread your last name Roger (does it have an 'N' ??)
@@YouJamie80
As you said
"You misread"
Whatever
Wow! Arkady's knowledge is incredible. Thank you. Soo nice to see good people solving these problems. Thank you.
Great video glad he mentioned the chemistry of the battery. If I had a site would definitely install this right away. This is by far the best video from CES that I've seen.
Energy storage is going to be the answer for the foreseeable future, especially if government keeps intervening on behalf of sources that can't ramp based on demand like wind and solar. These guys are going to be huge.
It is very wrong to say wind and solar can't ramp, they can, just like any other generator as long as there is wind or sunlight. Batteries will store power when solar and wind can't generate. We want to use the cheapest power, that's what brings this idea about. Tesla wants to maximize efficiency on the grid, that's why they do what they do, there is no other hidden motivation other than the ones stated.
@Ted Moss it is *physically impossible* for solar or wind generators to scale output to demand. Entire solar or wind farms can disable some of the units in the farm, but if it's cloudy or there's no wind. There's no power. Can't ramp *up* to meet demand, can only ramp *down* when the demand isn't there, but that is wasteful because that's when batteries need charging. Ergo, ideally, solar and wind farms always run at full output. Problem with that is that batteries are a bandaid not a solution.
Very good interview Kyle! Please post more of these charging-related videos from CES. I'd really like to see what ABB had at their booth.
I'm also looking forward to your Canadian and Alaskan EV road trips.
I'm in the UK, don't have an EV yet, a few weeks away and I will. I found this interesting. I've watched out of spec reviews for a few months now, don't know why I have not subscribed before. keep up the great work.
So much good news in this interview. I wish Freewire all the best as they expand. Thanks Arcady and Kyle.
In Ontario we have a grocery store chain, Loblaws, and they are installing JULES chargers that have a battery buffer. I have had good luck charging at one of their locations.
Seems like larger pack is needed for certain locations. Good they offer more capacity expansion.
Wow, super informative! Thanks Kyle for doing what you do. I learned a lot on this one.
Outstanding interview. I agree that the FreeWire model is the future. The CEO is a sharp guy who knows his business, that is clear.
The one question I would have liked to have answered is what Freewire's strategy is for integrating onsite renewables like solar canopies over the chargers and charging stalls.
None. A) That's the site operators area, and B) There's not enough density to make it worthwhile. A huge array would be enough to keep the chargers O/S online. That's it. One charging session with one EV would drain the system for 24 hrs.
@@alexandermckay8594 Obviously, the site manager would run the solar. The question was about integration. Some companies offer that service (e.g., BEAM), so it's a valid question.
Math is hard?
Now these guys are for real. Good to see a company doing a good job with design!
Great to see Freewire take the lead in battery connected chargers. What’s needed are a few progressive electric utilities to show some leadership as well. What Freewire has to offer is a way for electric utilities to improve their load factor. This is valuable to the utility, and helps shore up the grid. Unfortunately most large electric utilities having a long legacy of being a monopoly trying to stay in charge of customer’s electricity use. Instead of trying to change the large utilities, find some smaller progessive, municipal and coop utilities who want to partner up with Freewire.
Have you hear they are filing for bankruptcy and laid nearly everyone off?
I didn't know you cared so much about all the issues. Damn, you kept that guy on track
Awesome video! Makes me want to be a Freewire rep in Eastern Canada! I did a road trip across Canada in my Ioniq 5 in June. They must have installed them after that. I didn't see any chargers that were Freewire.
It is becoming about charging, cars work, home charging works. Out and about charging is a complete lottery. I am driving an extra 30 mile to a charger that I know will work. Brilliant review.
Lol if you have to say "it works"... maybe you pushing a product 🤣
@@franklinfleming1237 no product, sales reaping in the UK with an Electric Car, working in the construction industry. Let’s put it this way my wife fights with me who is driving the EV not the diesel volvo.
@@gordoncrichton7657 how much cost to change home 4 charging.. how much electricity cost you atm... how many charges a day how long waiting on charging.... is your house powered by natural gas.. how long does battery last how much to replace it... in short how much money did you put into having an electric vehicle?
@@franklinfleming1237 charging at home at night 10p kWh works out at 2.5p per mile in summer and 3.5 p per mile in winter. Once you have the tariff set up I put my washing machine and dishwasher to run in the night, saves £60-£80 per month.
@@gordoncrichton7657 so you car plugs in a normal wall?
We went to the Chevron gas station in Vancouver BC to test out the Freewire charger & it’s one of the best charging experience we have using it. The charger connects seamlessly with the App of the retailer & it activates almost instantly, much better experience comparing to the Electricity Canada experience we had in Merritt BC this summer.
That 20% IRR is probably at 2019 prices. Energy prices are very volatile, as well.
It also depends if they can get a time of use rate. Recharging their batteries while energy costs are low.
I really like the CEO. Willing to get into the details and answer pretty much any questions asked.
Kyle actually satisfied with what he's hearing and seeing. Pretty big difference from the Vinfast experience.
Have one of these in Estes Park Colorado. Great station to use when I need too.
The Freewire is only rated down to -4F. The unit is right at home in Homer, Ak as it rarely gets below 0F there during the winter. I would love to install a dozen of these units around the state but in order to install them anywhere north of Homer we need them to be able to operate to at least -20F. Now in the video, it shows an in-wall install. This presents a possible solution. If they could be installed into a connex or small shelter where the back of the unit is maintained at 40-50F that could be a good solution for more northern installs.
Also, since they have battery storage, can they operate at all in a grid-down situation?
Thinking 2 of the Boost 200's installed in a 20' insulated connex. Some of the areas I would like to put them in have frequent grid outages and it would suck to be stuck 100+ miles from the next charge and unable to charge due to grid down. A generator could be used but would be nice if it could provide at least some charge on the battery only.
Great concept. These units could be solar/wind powered for remote areas. They could also be utilized in an emergency grid down scenario.
20kw input requirement is a quite large solar array for a remote area (probably needing to oversize the panel capacity to 40-50kw). In Australia's outback areas, a 50kw charging version with 60kwh of battery, and being able to be charged off a 10-15kw solar array would be a nice fit, and lower the costs enough to make it viable with only a few chargers a day.
Utility demand charges are $10-15 (and up) per peak kW delivered in a month. That is a thousands of dollars per month even if there are just a few charging sessions per month...
Yup now wait 4 feds to jack up electricity fees
the feds don’t set the price of electricity. The monopoly utility companies, which are guided solely by maximum profit, set the prices. And are usually owned by very wealthy investors and sovereign wealth funds.
@gregcollins3404 that price is per MWh.
@@222aint ever hear of Kathleen wyne*. Liberal involved with power plant scandal? And how much it jacked up electricity cost... goverment can will and has stepped in. To subsidize something that uf was successful would not need such bail outs.
Thanks Kyle. I live in Saskatchewan so am interested in seeing lots of Freewire chargers pop up out here. Do they put any kind of solar on the top of the overhang?
Looking forward to that Canada trip, Kyle! Also, yes, more interviews with the Freewire CEO, please. He seems acutely aware of the issues plaguing EV charging in the US.
I would be interested to know more about Freewire's expansion plans, and whther they are targeting more local locations, or trying to get in on major highway/nationwide connectivity locations.
Really interesting video, thanks! Would love to see some statistics from those chargers in real world use over multiple days/weeks (battery state, charging speed, recharging speed etc.)
Ditto. I think Kyle should install one outside his new office.
Chevron in Vancouver Canada has been installing them around the cities around here, only half of them work half the time. It’s been a months or two so not reliable so far. Status of chargers in app are also totally unreliable, would drive there and it’s not working or in use or vice versa. Very disappointing
@@akuryu88 That’s very disappointing - share on Rate Your Charge. By the way, Parkland is the company that is owning and operating them.
@@brandenflasch Thanks, I usually do it on plugshare, isn't Rate Your Charge a bit redundant? Sorry I must be missing something if you can educate me, and where do I find Rate Your Charge? I don't see it in the video description.
Wow! I loved that guys vision for the possibilities of DC fast charging. His system wouldn't work for ever use case but it would go a long way toward putting faster charging on the ground!
Very cool and fascinating
At least 2 Meijer stores in Northern Michigan with Freewire chargers - Sault Ste Marie, and Escanaba. More on the way.
Amazing nerdy video. I'm loving it. I'm very interested in learning these nerdy stuff. Kyle makes it very enjoyable to watch these videos.
Rural areas need these stations so bad. I really hope Freewire blows up big!
Finally some charging people who appear to get it. Demand costs, financial viability, all of this needs to be talked about more and the charger companies NEED to be catering to them to make charging profitable for everyone.
This is very exciting. I wish it was here like TOMORROW. This is just taking too long! For EV adoption to really take off, these need to be on every corner!
Very excited for the arrival of the "On the Run" Freewire charger in Kananaskis! Freewire needs to have a conversation with the site at Saskatchewan River Crossing... Freewire + Solar farm = off-grid L3 charging?
Where my grandmother is from in northern MN, the record was -57F. Which is the same record low as Barrow, AK. The UP gets the crazy winds off the Lake. Not surprising...
Seeing one of these units as a big UPS for the gas station / convenience store is interesting. I wonder, if they can offload high electricity price for those by pulling from the battery too, ie run the cool line compressors from battery when price is high.
That was so much more interesting than I ever would have expected...that guy knows his stuff.
That is why battery swaps stations making sense. The station has much capacity to support all advantages he mentioned in the interview. Swap station usually attach few high kw DC fast charger. Like 500kw!!
This is a good interview. I haven’t heard of a better vendor addressing fast installation if chargers. How competitive are their prices?
Another great video from CES by Kyle!! Really enjoyed this one. Didn't know much about Freewire other than they are partnering with Parkland Fuel here is Western Canada for their charging network. Parkland has a great vision in place to be a charging destination with their "On the Run" stores and Triple O's restaurants. They run the Chevron, Fas Gas and Ultramar fuel stations in Western Canada. My only hope is Parkland reconsiders some of their strategy....currently to put in a network in places where there is already other high-speed charging options. Hoping they take the opportunity to fill in some of the high speed charging gaps in Western Canada where they already operate. Big space, low population. I get companies want to go with higher traffic/population locations, but they may find they get more usage when they are the only option in areas. Seems like the perfect reason to partner with FreeWire to be able to provide service in areas that may not easily have the power infrastructure required for traditional high speed charging.
A high output charger with a battery and a low power connection to the grid makes so much sense in so many ways and places.
They aren’t the only ones with such a product, but as always the more the merrier. 👏
So where does the charger make its electricity??
@@franklinfleming1237 What do you mean? It gets the electricity from the grid as any electric appliance does. 🤷♂️
@@e-redj oh so simple comes from the wall.. no probably natural gas powered buildings... and diesel generators.. 😆😅🤣🤣🤣🤣 check it every "charging " station.. has a big old diesel generator... usually behind a wooden fence... so sheeps don't see.
@@e-redj if everyone want green energy lets work on hydro power or fusion. Additionally the amount of materials needed to make chemical batteries are limited... so in short thete neeeds to be trillions spent on building the "utopian future " energy supply. They don't just pop iutta the air. But with that said people worried about horse poop build up in streets... then poof came the internal combustion engine.... (but that needed what to be successful??. Ah yes infrastructure and development of gasoline networks and oil refineries.... see what im saying. Lol 😆 🤣. Dont launch the palne if you don't have fuel landing strip or parts infrastructure.
@@franklinfleming1237 what's your education background?
This was a great chat and killer product addressing infrastructure problems today. I wonder why they have chosen NMC?
As I mentioned elsewhere here, I think a hot climate LFP version would be perfect for here in Arizona. Hope they do it.
Weight, cost, size.
New Costco in North Port, FL has installed two FreeWire Boost Charger 200 units. Charging while shopping should work well at this location. Will need to incorporate the J3400 in the near future.
I like how thoughtfully designed these chargers are. I’ve never used one since they don’t exist in my area or any area I’ve driven to, but I like the fact that they’ve thought of all of these different usages. Even just little things like the hood over the front of the charger. I’d like to see more charging sites like this, although putting a 160kwh battery in each charger is very resource intensive.
Personally I’d like to see states start installing chargers like this at each rest stop along major freeways. Maybe 2 at each rest stop. There would be a big investment to get them in the ground, but if one or two are installed at each rest stop, it probably wouldn’t require a huge upgrade to the electrical infrastructure, and they would *definitely* get used.
Quite impressed from this conversation. Hope to see their products widely available in Ontario & Quebec.
Excellent & informative. This technology to help flatten the demand will be key to getting the grid to work more efficiently. Looking forward to vehicle to load for offsetting peak power costs for home.
Wow, what an excellent video and cool tech! I want these to go in everywhere. What a fantastic way to expand the charging networks. The best thing is that overall demand on existing chargers (and other battery-buffered chargers) will be reduced the more of these we get in the ground, which will allow the batteries in these things last longer every day and over their lifetime.
Yes please, more Arcady
A very informative video - thanks for bringing this to us Kyle/Alyssa. More of Freewire and their CEO in some format please. They seem to have the right ideas on how to do charging right.
Interesting how FreeWire is doing everything to avoid interacting with the power company. They take power at lower rates to avoid demand charge costs from the power company and connect directly from charger-to-charger to avoid tying more equipment via the grid as well as providing battery backup to the sponsoring business. Very innovate but you can see how power companies will start to get shut-out of this market because they are not taking the lead and allowing upstarts to drive innovation.
Hey these Freewire Chargers are in my back yard in BC, Canada at Chevron gas stations. Kyle if you need any info on them give me a shout. Love the video, great info!
It makes sense to have the batteries to help with charging speed
Really hope they’re considering Australia if they aren’t there already! For all that a certain chip oil powered charger has been an amazing stop gap story, could totally see chargers like this being the next big thing.
Also maybe for farm use as well in the future? Get something like that running to keep everything going during the peak times when everything is running 24/7 and it’s all just go, go, go.
Actually maybe get it for peak time of the year and big equipment, then use it for everything else as well once you have it.
Great job covering this Kyle! I have a hard time feeling bad about the top 20% of income areas not getting a tax credit. The product seems very intriguing! I am sure the math varies a bit by location but I would think in many areas the advantages will be significant.
But those are the places that have EVs. Do you see many poor people buying EVs? That won't happen for a while. In the meantime, you need to build up infrastructure to get people to feel comfortable with EVs. I don't see businesses in poorer areas investing in chargers when the usage won't justify the investment and I doubt wealthier people will drive to poorer areas just to charge.
I'm new here and really like FreeWire just from this interview. Thanks.
Also does FreeWire have presence on Google Maps, other Maps Apps, all the auto companies in vehicle Apps? Or does EV owners have to install FreeWire's App on their phones and or EV's dashboard system? As you can tell I'm not well versed in EVs yet I'm working on it so I'll be very comfortable with EVs when we get 1 or 2 if them.
Awesome episode. More Arcady, please!
There are currently three Freewire chargers being installed across two Arco gas station locations near me. 💪
Do these chargers accept 480V 3-phase input? Having models with 250 kVA input, battery buffer, and 8 stalls seems like a good next step for them.
As a landlord, i'm not held back by the equipment to purchase. I'm often held up back by the local power company unwilling to deliver the power required for the chargers....
This is the way!
This is a great way for local businesses to get DC rapid chargers without the red tape it would take with local utilities
Would love to hear all these EVSE manufacturers asked about how/if they are reacting to the NACS release.
Amazing. We need these in NJ please
Cool units! I looked up where they were installing the units in Western Canada, and I see they have partnered with Parkland. By coincidence, I was listening to the “Plugged In” podcast today and they were talking about the contest that Parkland sponsored to design the charging station of the future, and they talked to the winning architect, James Sylvester. Super interesting stuff, and a promising future for the charging network in Canada!
AMAZING supercharger, this IS the future of charging!
Great content and would love to see this product succeed and grow everywhere, to power ANY EV Tesla and others, but charging more for Tesla since they have their own fast chargers anyway. The non Tesla cars need charging stations everywhere.
Interesting niche product, although it seems that it would make more sense to do what that European competitor did by including a solar canopy. Of course the headline is kinda click bait in that Tesla has been deploying Megapacks (and large solar canopies) at various locations for some time now.
Heard you met "The 8-bit guy" at CES and that lead me to your channel. :)
Interesting conversation..
Particularly about the comparison to an alternate charger where this unit was saving $35k/yr... And I assume that's probably an absolute worst case comparison.
But equally how much more upfront is this unit - 160kWh of batteries doesn't come cheap.
And over time as utilisation grows, does difference diminish as you can't keep the battery charged, so rely on the grid.
Excellent concept / product. Could also i presume have a use as an interim solution, eg get chargers in for a year or two very quickly whilst you wait for the utility to provide higher power. ETA great interview also !
So excited by this smart charging battery tech. Perfect for Nebraska. Think State Parks, small towns.