The
Red Hook StarªRevue
JANUARY 2017
SOUTH BROOKLYN’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FREE
RED HOOK ENTREPRENEUR AIMS TO TRANSFORM ELECTRIC CAR INDUSTRY by Halley Bondy
I
magine a world where fueling your car is as easy as riding in the EZ-Pass lane. You stop your car momentarily over a manhole cover-like structure in the road - then, zap! You’re fueled! No pumps, no fumes, and in theory, no hassle.
It sounds like science fiction, but a startup called HEVO, which stands for Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Optimization, has been quietly working on this groundbreaking technology in a Commerce Street space for years. In 2017, wireless charging could become a reality, eliminating the nightmarish obstructions facing electric car drivers today. HEVO is starting its ventures in Red Hook, where it is also developing an electric car share program for residents. Currently, HEVO is in talks with Red Hook developers regarding pickup points and wireless charging stations for the car share. “Red Hook can be a beacon for this market. It’s an underserved neighborhood, and an electric car share is a way to bring clean transportation to the residents,” said HEVO CEO Jeremy McCool. The wireless technology works around the interaction between the car and a receiver embedded in the road. A system is connected to the local electric grid and fitted to the bottom of the car. When the car links up to the receiver - which may look like a manhole cover - induction takes
“Red Hook can be a beacon for this market. It’s an underserved
neighborhood,
and an electric car share is a way to bring clean transportation to the residents,” said HEVO CEO Jeremy McCool. place in the form of electromagnetic resonance. Through this “handshake,” HEVO aims to charge cars for 5-15 miles for every mile driven. Between drives, users can manage things like location data, settings, and payment systems through the cloud.
Offices around the world
Aside from Red Hook, HEVO has offices in Silicon Valley and Amsterdam, with additional projects pending throughout New York City and in Jersey City, Georgia, The Netherlands, and more. To McCool, a veteran of the Iraq War and sustainable development expert, the electric car takeover is imminent. Only two things stand in the way. One of them is the notion that electric cars are obscure items for rich people. “We need to change the perception that electric cars are expensive. They are actually cheaper when it comes
Engineers doing an installation at the Commerce Street shop. (photo courtesy of HEVO)
to ongoing maintenance and fueling, and the $35,000 Telsa Model 3 is coming in 2017,” McCool says. HEVO does not have a relationship with the Tesla dealership on Van Brunt Street. However, McCool says the second hindrance - the inconvenience of fueling - is very real. “There’s no curbside fueling for public use in this city,” McCool said. “There are only a few places you can charge, and you really have to know what you’re doing in advance. You’ll see exclusive pay-as-you-go garages where an attendant has to park your vehicle and plug it in…or there are options like Duane
Reade or Park Slope CVS charging stations, but you have to be a member of some specific vendor service, and sometimes you have to call the vendor to wake up the system. It’s terrible.” Though he’s basically a Silicon Valley startup CEO, McCool’s background lends itself more to the blue-collar car industry. Hailing from New Mexico, McCool received primary education in Alabama and an undergraduate degree in Oklahoma. “Many of my friends and mentors are hydrocarbon and natural gas people,” (story continues page 15)
Stoves out for Christmas
T
by George Fiala
he Grinch came early to some Red Hook tenants as National Grid cut off the cooking gas last year. Service is not expected to be restored until at least February, as NYCHA scrambles to install new pipes. On December 1, 2016, National Grid ordered NYCHA to replace the corroded gas lines in several Red Hook Houses. The four buildings affected - 116 Bush, 124 Bush, 829 Hicks and 831 Hicks - include 130 apartments.
Naqi Ullah attempts to explain to bewildered rent payers why they cannot use their stoves. (photo by Fiala)
Red Hook Star-Revue
On Monday, December 19, NYCHA Capital Projects and Management called a community meeting at the Miccio Center to discuss the outage. Interested and outraged residents
forced to cook on electric hotplates for three weeks showed up to find out from NYCHA exactly what was going on. NYCHA’s speaker was a gentleman named Naqi Ullah. He is a NYCHA Construction Project Manager for NYCHA Capital. Ullah has worked with NYCHA for two years, and previously worked in construction for two private companies. Almost everyone in the audience came to find out why their gas service was shut off, and when it would be restored. They also wanted to know whether they would be required to pay their full rent while not having a basic
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(story continues page 15)
January 2017, Page 1