EV Charging, Coming Soon To A Parking Lot Near You

US President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” tax bill got one step closer to the end of its journey through Congress on July 1, including a provision that eliminates the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. That doesn’t particularly bode well for EV sales in this country. Still, even with the tax credit at risk, there has been a furious spurt of activity among EV charging stakeholders. If that is any indication, loss of the tax credit will be just a temporary setback for the vehicle electrification movement in the US.

Uncorking The EV Charging Bottlenecks

The latest news involves the pairing of a Georgia-based startup called Invisible Urban Charging with the Colorado sustainability firm Redaptive. Both specialize in the up-and-coming X-as-a-service industry, in which property owners contract for EV charging stations and other energy-related infrastructure, including power generation and energy efficiency upgrades, without paying out of pocket.

In the EV charging field, charging-as-a-service has emerged as a turnkey solution that can uncork significant charging station bottlenecks. Multi-unit rental housing, for example, has been a tough nut to crack for onsite charging because neither property owners nor tenants are typically willing to pay up front for onsite charging stations, or deal with the chores of upkeep.

With charging-as-a-service, the charging firm shoulders all the hassles of hardware procurement, permitting, installation, operation, and maintenance as well as revenue collection. The property owner gets to offer the amenity of onsite charging and the potential for earning some revenue, too.

The new EV charging partnership leverages IUC’s experience in the charging-as-a-service field for parking lot sites with Redaptive’s energy-as-a-service [EaaS] business, which includes whole buildings, energy efficiency upgrades, smart metering, and power generation. Under the new partnership, Redaptive will handle the financing for some of IUC’s EV charging station contracts in Europe as well as the US.

Follow The Money To One Million EV Chargers

IUC did not come to play. The company joins Redaptive with a one million charger plan in hand under a five-year agreement with the powerful real estate firm CBRE. The focus is on large-scale public parking, parking operators, and workplace parking facilities in the range of 500 or more spaces at each location.

The agreement with CBRE calls for IUC to provide its charging-as-a-service model while CBRE provides site selection, project management, installation, and ongoing maintenance services.

“In turn, IUC will provide the funding and the charging hardware and software as well as manage operations through its charging-as-a-service platform. Sites for EV charger deployment include, but are not limited to properties currently serviced by CBRE,” IUC added.

That agreement was reached before the loss of the EV tax credit began to emerge as a real possibility. Still, as of April 2024, then-President Joe Biden was struggling to gain an edge towards re-election, which sent up red flags to anyone paying attention. By the fall of 2024, then-candidate Trump started to carve out a path to victory, further raising alarms over the future of the EV tax credit.

Despite the warning signs, activity in the EV charging space continued to accelerate from last fall into today. Among many other examples, the IONNA consortium has been advancing its plan for introducing lounge-style charging stations across the US. BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota are all partners in the project.

Meanwhile, Redaptive also comes into the partnership with IUC as an A-lister. The company cites Linse Capital, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, and Honeywell International among its backers along with CBRE Group.

Redaptive also recently nailed down a credit facility of $650 million from the global investment group CDPQ and Nuveen, which is the investment manager of the not-for-profit financial services manager TIAA.

A credit facility enables hands-on firms like Redaptive to finance a series of projects without having to reinvent the credit application wheel for each one. Redaptive states that the new funding will enable it to “expand its EaaS platform and grow its capabilities to fund projects with companies such as IUC.”

For its part, IUC also anticipates a rapid acceleration in its business through the partnership with Redaptive. “The addition of this financing creates a single source of sustainable, market-ready EV deployments for commercial real estate, with no upfront costs, fixed monthly expenses, exceptional service, and highly transparent, efficient energy solutions,” IUC co-CEO and co-founder Jake Bezzant explained in a press statement.

The Road To One Million EV Chargers

IUC has a ways to go before it makes good on the one million EV charger pledge, but it already has a head start. The company currently holds contracts for several hundred new chargers, but that’s peanuts compared to what happens next. Last year, IUC announced a forthcoming pipeline of 5,000 chargers for Icon Parking, which owns more than 200 public parking sites in New York City.

New York City is also just for starters. Icon was acquired by the firm Hudson Valley Parking Trust last year, and that was not HVPT’s only acquisition. Last year, HVPT also joined with the privately held investment firm Broe Group to acquire another leading player in the US parking field, Texas-based Platinum Parking.

“The new acquisition expands the parking partners’ operational reach into 19 new markets across six high growth states,” Broe Group explained in a press release last August, noting that Platinum holds more than 100,000 parking spots spread among 300 sites within those 19 markets. As described by Redaptive, the Platinum acquisition opens up another pipeline of 35,000 chargers for IUC across those markets.

In other news, leading up to one million chargers, IUC has also partnered with the real estate investment trust Highwoods Properties, which focuses on fast-growing urban centers. Along with three Highwoods properties in Atlanta, Georgia, IUC lists commercial sites in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey on its roster.

But … What Does This Mean For EV Sales?

As of this writing, the EV tax credit hangs in the balance, and the situation is gloomy indeed. Before the new tax bill becomes law, the House of Representatives has a chance to review the Senate version and make changes, but the Republican majority in the House is unlikely to challenge Trump on EV policy.

Assuming the tax bill sails through the House on the back of the Republican majority, President Trump is all but certain to sign the bill into law — regardless of the last-minute protestations of Elon Musk, CEO of the premier EV maker Tesla.

Buyers remorse, much?

Photo (cropped): Judging from all the upsurge in activity among EV charging stakeholders, loss of the EV tax credit will be an unfortunate but temporary setback for the vehicle electrification movement in the US (courtesy of IUC).