NYC's $15 Million EV Charger Initiative: Can the City Grid Handle Rising Energy Demands?

New York City plans to support electric vehicle (EV) adoption with a $15 million initiative to install 600 new curbside chargers. Can the city’s current grid infrastructure keep pace?

New York City is ramping up its efforts to support electric vehicle (EV) adoption as it plans to install 600 new curbside EV chargers. Mayor Eric Adams recently announced that the initiative is part of a $15 million federal grant being awarded to the city to bolster its EV charging infrastructure — with a focus on underserved and low-income communities.

“We’re building a cleaner, greener, and more affordable city for all New Yorkers, and through initiatives like this, we’re making sure that no New Yorkers are left behind,” wrote Mayor Adams in a blog post. “This $15 million grant will let us build the nation’s largest EV charging program, focused on low-income and disadvantaged areas so people living in all five boroughs can afford to drive and charge electric vehicles.” By 2050, New York City aims to get 20% of all new vehicles registered as electric. Thanks to incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and Drive Clean rebates, a growing number of NYC drivers are switching to EVs. Despite these efforts, the city's grid is already struggling to keep up with the power and infrastructural requirements of current EV owners.

Can NYC’s Electrical Grid Keep Up with the Growing Demand for EV Charging?

NYC is currently grappling with two key challenges to scale its charging infrastructure — space and available power. For commercial transportation, charging hubs require significant space for infrastructure and larger electric trucks. In dense urban areas, especially NYC, real estate is limited and expensive, making it difficult to find suitable locations to accommodate charging stations and vehicles without disrupting city traffic. “Most of the federal EV infrastructure grants are for chargers deployed along highways (not buildings), limiting monetary incentives available to building developers deploying EV chargers,” Akshay Singh, Industrial and Automotive Industries Principal at PwC Strategy&, told me. “City planners need to work closely with utilities to make sure upgrades are being planned & performed timely, especially to supply dense urban areas with the highest EV adoption.”

New York’s grid is already strained as the city attempts to electrify not only its transportation but also its buildings. Singh asserts that developers often do not understand the level of grid upgrades required due to a lack of available information. Moreover, these challenges are expected to become more prevalent with charging sites located in high-rise buildings that have not had capacity upgrades in years. “Major challenges with EV charging today are around how to make the economics of operating EV chargers feasible. DC fast chargers that operate at 100kW+ power output (to charge EVs within 30-45 mins) can cost upwards of $50k per unit which makes upfront costs of a multi-unit charging site very expensive,” added Singh.

Electric Vehicles as Untapped Grid Assets?

As New York pushes toward its ambitious goal of having 400,000 EVs on the road by 2030 as part of the "Green Rides" initiative, it’s clear that the city needs more fast-charging sites. Conglomerates like Revel are already making strides with its "superhub" in Brooklyn, boasting 25 high-speed chargers. But even with their success, the company faces a significant challenge: finding enough grid power to keep these large fast-charging stations running smoothly.

While the city grapples with its grid limitations, some startups are stepping in to offer innovative solutions through A.I. and edge computing. Brooklyn-based Synop, for instance, aims to help stabilize the grid by integrating data from grid operators, EV charging stations, and EV fleet operators. “We focus on edge computing to enhance charging management,” Gagan Dhillon, CEO of Synop, told me. By bringing cloud-based functionality closer to the charging site, the company says it can increase reliability and reduce latency, “which is critical in areas with constrained grids or complex microgrid setups.”

Dhillon added that one overlooked aspect of EV adoption is that electric vehicles are essentially batteries on wheels, and with the right infrastructure, they can serve as valuable assets rather than just power consumers. “EVs can act as backup power sources during times of high grid demand, providing energy back to the grid or even powering homes when needed,” he said. “With the integration of smart charging technology, EVs can be programmed to charge during off-peak times when energy is more abundant. This flexibility makes them less of a strain on the grid than often imagined.”

With more people driving EVs and a grid under a lot of strain, NYC's EV goal success will hinge on how open it is to new technologies, speeding up infrastructure projects, and investing in sustainable energy solutions.

“There will be a need for higher powered EV chargers that will further increase the grid upgrade requirements. Developers need to work together with local utilities from the start to successfully deploy EV projects,” Singh told me. “Along with that, additional [capital expenditure] needed to sustain the grid for more demand needs to be laid out and discussions on who will bear the cost burden.”