Archinect - News

How New York City is approaching EV charging

2024-05-03T10:41:00-04:00

Since 2021, 100 new curbside chargers have been added across all five boroughs. Jockeying for space alongside parking meters, LinkNYC kiosks, and bus shelters on public sidewalks, they are part of a pilot partnership between the Department of Transportation, Con Edison, and Flo, an EV charging system operator. In the outer-borough neighborhoods that lack the robust EV infrastructure of Manhattan’s Central Business District, these chargers are proving quite popular.

In an interview with Urban Omnibus managing editor Kevin Ritter, New York City Department of Transportation officials Will Carry and Luis Gonzalez outlined the city's vision for creating a comprehensive electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The department has recently launched a curbside charging pilot program across the city's boroughs, which has proven popular with users.

"In Europe, they’ve reached a point in the market development where cities are making net revenue from these chargers," Carry said. "We’re not there in New York, but at some point there is the potential for this to contribute to the city’s general fund."

Zaha Hadid Architects designs world's first green hydrogen refueling network for recreational boating

2024-02-10T08:00:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed the world’s first green hydrogen refueling infrastructure for the recreational boating industry. Refueling stations will be installed at 25 Italian marinas.

The project is being spurred by an approximately $108 million investment led by NatPower H, a global developer of technologies for the production, storage, and distribution of green hydrogen. The refueling network will begin installation in the summer of 2024, with a target to grow to 100 stations throughout the Mediterranean over the next six years. There are further ambitions to expand to the world’s most popular regions for recreational boating.

According to the firm, the eventual 100 refueling stations will be operational by 2030 and will deliver up to 3,650 tons of green hydrogen annually. This will erase approximately 45,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the Mediterranean’s recreational boats every year.

Rendering: Tecma Solutions / Zaha Hadid Architects

This project addresses the ...

Tesla’s EV-charging drive-in concept is under construction in Los Angeles

2024-01-17T18:44:00-05:00

Construction on Tesla's new Stantec-designed drive-in diner and electric vehicle charging concept is making progress in Los Angeles, as the local NBC station reports.

The project, which wasn’t approved until last April, is currently taking shape at 7001 W Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Once it is completed, the retro-inspired dining space and rest area will offer drivers 32 total electric charging stations while serving classic American roadside fare wrapped in a two-story and 9,300-square-foot faux Streamline Moderne package.

Elon Musk developed the idea after thinking out loud on his Twitter account in 2018. Tesla says the station will operate on a 24-hour capacity once it opens later in the fall.

Previously on Archinect: Tesla's diner & drive-in theater supercharger station concept gets approved for West Hollywood

The development is significant as other fast food chains across the country are preparing their own EV charging station plans, according to Axios. A two-scre...

Detroit installs America's first wireless EV charging track

2023-12-08T12:24:00-05:00

Detroit has debuted an EV charging roadway concept from Electreon inside of its new Michigan Central Station innovation district they say represents a “major milestone in the future of mobility” as the first-ever wireless charging roadway in America.

The quarter-mile track through the city’s Corktown neighborhood was developed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) after being announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in February of 2022. The track will serve as a five-year test pilot for the anticipated boom in EVs that are expected to hit the road in the next decade, cornering about half of the total market by the year 2035.

Similar concepts are been developed in Europe by Electreon, which hopes to open the new, eventually one-mile-long Detroit track to the public next year. The installation was also made possible by Ford (backers of the Michigan Central project), Jacobs, DTE, KIEWIT, Next Energy, and ROUSH CleanTech.

Related on Archinect: Detroit to host first public w...

Tesla's diner & drive-in theater supercharger station concept gets approved for West Hollywood

2023-08-28T15:14:00-04:00

Tesla’s retro-inspired supercharging diner & drive-in movie theater concept will begin construction soon after the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety recently approved a planning permit for the company’s first Stantec-led design at 7001 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Teslarati reports.

The previously announced plan calls for a two-story, 9,300-square-foot structure with bars and an outdoor restaurant seating area. The structure will have two "drive-in" screens, which play movies of approximately 30 minutes in length, and capacity for 29 total charging stations. Tesla says it will operate the station on a 24-hour capacity.

CEO Elon Musk earlier this month described its design as "Grease meets The Jetsons with Supercharging" before promising its realization by the end of this year. Only technical drawings from the permitting application have been made official, leading some to offer their own speculative renderings via social media. A model of the structure was ...

All EV charging state plans approved by the Federal Highway Administration

2022-09-28T17:19:00-04:00

The Federal Highway Administration just approved all 50 state plans, in addition to Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, to build EV charging stations along America’s approximately 53,000-mile interstate highway network as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program, which will release a total of $1.5 billion of funding over the next two fiscal years.

NEVI is a portion of the larger $5 billion EV provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and will establish much-needed charging stations per every 50-mile stretch of the system, making them (almost) as easy to find as gas stations for the first time since debuting on the American market, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“Thanks to the commitment of state leaders who worked hard to develop EV charging networks that work for their residents, we were able to approve these state charging plans quickly and ahead of schedule,” Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack...

Tesla is pushing to build a new drive-in diner, theatre, and supercharging station in Hollywood

2022-06-10T15:53:00-04:00

As reported by Electrek in May 2022, Tesla has moved its previously-announced plans for a supercharging station featuring a diner and drive-in movie theater from a vacant lot in the city of Santa Monica to the current location of a Shakey's Pizza franchise on 7001 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, CA.

The two-story structure will feature multiple bars and outdoor restaurant seating in addition to amphitheater-style seating overlooking its dual screens and field of 29 charging stations.

The movies are said to be approximately 30 minutes in length, roughly equal to the amount of time required by the Level 3 supercharging process, which is done with greater alacrity than the 8 to 20-hour at-home Level 1 and 2 versions. Permits are still waiting to be approved allowing the station (but not the theater) to operate 24 hours a day. Some have speculated it will carry a “retro” midcentury aesthetic reminiscent of the great Standard Oil stations documented by Ed Ruscha in the early 1960s....

Detroit to host first public wireless charging road for electric vehicles in the U.S.

2022-02-18T18:43:00-05:00

Electrical Vehicle wireless charging technology company Electreon has announced that it is set to establish its first public wireless EV charging road system in the U.S.

The Michigan Department of Transportation along with the State Department of Future Transportation and Electrification awarded the company a tender to create a wireless charging demonstration project that will include a one-mile wireless charging road and static charging stations. Dubbed the “Michigan Project,” the initiative is expected to launch in 2023 in Detroit.

The Michigan Project is expected to be a significant part of Michigan’s aim to strengthen the economy, electrify vehicle fleets, and reduce carbon emissions by 2050. The State Department of Michigan will provide $1.9 million in funding towards the project.

Previously on Archinect: New research reveals the possibility for wireless vehicle charging while driving

“Michigan’s automotive industry roots built a foundation for mobility innovation, and we’re t...

The growth of electric vehicles continues to surge

2022-02-09T13:57:00-05:00

Sales of cars powered solely by batteries surged in the United States, Europe and China last year, while deliveries of fossil fuel vehicles were stagnant. Demand for electric cars is so strong that manufacturers are requiring buyers to put down deposits months in advance. And some models are effectively sold out for the next two years.

As noted by The New York Times, the rise of electric vehicles represents the largest shift in the auto industry since the introduction of Henry Ford’s Model T. Their sales account for nearly 9 percent of new cars sold last year, which is up from 2.5 percent in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency. This is just the start, with the auto industry set to invest half a trillion dollars over the next five years to make the transition to electric vehicles.

The move away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles is a step forward in combating climate change and creating a more sustainable automotive industry. However, the jobs of the millions of Americans that produce, sell, and service cars and auto parts are at risk. There are also the issues of rising prices for battery ingredients, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, along with current limitations of EV infrastructure, namely the lack of public charging stations.

New research reveals the possibility for wireless vehicle charging while driving

2021-05-13T19:20:00-04:00

Researchers at Cornell University are developing technology that would allow an electric car to charge while it’s in motion. Like a high occupancy lane, highways would have a charging lane that would charge vehicles’ batteries as they drive over its surface. This would be a monumental solution to some of the biggest obstacles of owning an electric vehicle, including dealing with battery range and charging availability.

Khurram Afridi, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell and lead researcher, has been behind the project for the past seven years. According to Afridi, the technology is still at least five to ten years away, however, he sees wireless charging as having an immense impact on an industry that is so dependent on the presence of charging stations and battery capacity. It would save time for electric car owners, alleviate the anxiety of locating charging stations and running out of battery and pave the way for more sustainable transportati...

Charging in Style: Danish firm COBE is rethinking fueling stations

2018-01-22T13:40:00-05:00

Shortly, electricity will replace petrol and diesel as the fuel for our cars, and such a change could radically shift our urban landscape as the formal aspects of gas stations is then open to reimagining. Danish Architecture firm COBE is looking to do just that. Understanding that under current technological trends the average charging time for an electric vehicle is upwards of 45 minutes, COBE is looking to use such a newly established time frame as a possible opportunity for rethinking the traditional gas station as a place and less of a transient space.

Ultrafast Charging Station: Small. Image: COBE

Ultrafast Charging Station: Medium. Image: COBE

Ultrafast Charging Station: Large. Image: COBE

“Electric vehicles are the future. In our design, we want to offer drivers a much-needed and meaningful break in a green oasis. The energy and the technology are green, and we want the architecture, the materials and the concept to be green as well. Therefore, we’ve designed a sculptural charg...