Frequently asked questions

Founded in 2019 in Seattle by former SpaceX engineers, Electric Era is revolutionizing the world’s EV fast charging infrastructure. Our mission is to decarbonize and electrify transportation by powering all of EV charging.

Electric Era builds and operates high-powered and highly reliable EV fast charging stations for retailers across America, extending their brand to serve a growing number of EV drivers. Built upon years of engineering knowledge and patented technology, Electric Era charging stations are battery-backed and utilize proprietary full-stack software. We deliver high uptime and easy to use DC fast charging to retail locations in weeks instead of years by reducing required grid upgrades and limiting expensive utility demand charges.

Our software is an advanced operating system designed specifically for EV charging stations in the retail environment to enable retailers to extend their brand and experience into the parking lot. This software allows for real-time monitoring, remote management, and data analytics to optimize charging performance and ultimately the driver experience to keep customers loyal and coming back. Electric Era has developed this software down to the firmware level of the hardware itself to maximize reliability and customer satisfaction. This software is patented and allows for the blending of both grid power and battery power, enabling significant reductions to total cost of station ownership.

Electric Era combines high powered chargers, battery storage, and proprietary software to deliver fast charging sessions to customers while intelligently optimizing power and energy consumption. Our software predicts and adjusts to customer demand, efficiently blending both grid power and battery power to create the highest performance and most economical charging station experience. On-site battery storage can quickly discharge to any charger to support increased power at each port, lowering total power draw from the grid to minimize utility demand charges. That means a higher number of fast charging sessions per day at a lower cost.

For station owners and site hosts, Command Console is the single stop dashboard providing real-time transparent data of your retail location’s EV fast charging station. It allows station owners and site hosts to monitor performance, revenues, uptime, session data, and costs all in one simple-to-use interface. This information is easy to download or consume via API access, ensuring 24/7 visibility and instantaneous access to key station metrics.

Electric Era's patented technology and unique approach means we can install your station in months (down from 2-3 years with other solutions). Electric Era achieves this accelerated timeline through several approaches: minimizing the required transformer size at your station, using standardized and efficiently engineered station designs when possible, and leveraging our combined decades of experience in the retail development space. In most cases, a small pole-mounted transformer is sufficient to bring a site’s grid capacity up to levels necessary for an Electric Era EV Fast Charging Station. Unlike others, Electric Era does not have to wait for years in interconnection queues for expensive grid upgrades.

Electric Era facilitates all aspects of deploying your EV charging station. We handle site design, permitting, utility and AHJ coordination, installation, and commissioning. Once the station is live, we perform all aspects of station operations and maintenance to maintain high uptime and reliability. Electric Era will even coordinate an opening day launch event with you to highlight to your customers the opening of a premium EV charging station at your retail location.

Electric Era enables 98+% uptime per port and industry leading reliability for your stations through a robust system of fault isolation, detection, and recovery (FDIR), supported by our 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC) and in-field service partners.

The first step of Electric Era’s system is FDIR algorithms designed by our team of SpaceX veterans. FDIR algorithms are built to autonomously identify and isolate errors. Over 95% of issues are caught by these algorithms, and are constantly evolving to capture more faults. If the fault cannot be recovered autonomously, the system alerts Electric Era's NOC.

The NOC monitors each site via our Command Console dashboard and direct hardware telemetry. On-call operators and engineers receive priority-based alerts in the event of exceptions and can remotely troubleshoot most station faults/errors. When remote recovery is not possible, operators fully diagnose the problem and dispatch maintenance technicians to ensure rapid station recovery in as little as four hours from dispatch.

Electric Era EV charging stations are designed to scale effortlessly across your real estate footprint. Whether you have 5 retail locations or 5,000+, we provide affordable, reliable and high performance EV fast charging. All of your Electric Era charging stations are monitored from one easy to use interface, Command Console, so you can see the combined performance of all stations, or a single station’s performance with the click of a button.

Electric Era’s operations and maintenance package is your comprehensive parts and labor warranty for your EV fast charging station. You can rest assured that your charging station is being monitored 24/7 by our engineers and NOC, with any necessary service provided by a nation-wide team of in-field maintenance technicians.

Financially backed by a 98%+ uptime per port guarantee, Electric Era makes station reliability seamless with autonomous monitoring and troubleshooting of your charging station, increasing its uptime and revenue. Attract repeat customers to your store with outstanding charging success rate performance and continuous station operations with no headache or oversight needed from you.

Electric Era equips your retail business to capture an entirely new and rapidly growing segment of the market — EV drivers.

Today you can start generating revenue from: 1) selling electricity directly to EV drivers 2) bringing in a new demographic of customers and 3) generating and converting high-value in-store foot traffic with our retail extension capabilities.

EV Charging Revenue: Electric Era allows you to sell energy electricity, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) to customers who need to refuel their vehicles. EV drivers typically purchase ~35 kWh of electricity during a 15-45 minute visit. Typical revenue from one EV charging session is ~$15, depending on the retail price you choose. We help you determine the best retail rate to use based on location specifics and market insights.

In-Store Revenue: as soon as your EV customer pulls into the parking spot and starts interacting with the charging screen, they have an opportunity to engage in loyalty programs and see targeted advertising for in-store deals and promotions. Electric Era's suite of retail services including loyalty program integrations and targeted ad services allows you to maximize your charger-to-store conversion rate to boost in-store sales. Numerous studies have shown that adding EV charging to retail parking lots brings millions of dollars of net-new revenue from in-store sales and increased basket size.

Electric Era also unlocks passive income streams, including dollars generated from ads displayed on charger screens, grid services provided by our battery system, Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits that are sold as an asset in many state-run marketplaces, and more. These passive income streams are easy and voluntary – you simply get a check in the mail.

With these high-value revenue streams, Electric Era's payback period on a station investment is as little as 1-3 years – contact Electric Era’s sales team to learn about the revenue generation possibilities and the payback period at your retail locations!

Electric Era will open your doors to the new and rapidly growing market segment of EV drivers. Once installed, Electric Era will immediately drive business to your store via visibility across major mapping apps and EV charging discoverability apps, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, PlugShare, and Chargeway.

Your Electric Era EV fast charging station will attract repeat business as EV drivers establish charging routines, similar to refueling habits of combustion engine drivers. Electric Era offers a premium experience due to its efficient, seamless, and pleasant user experience combined with unparalleled uptime.

To request an estimate and a site feasibility study, please schedule a meeting with Electric Era’s sales team. During this conversation, our experts will work with you to understand your business’s goals for EV charging, your planned installation timeline, and other considerations that affect your fit for an Electric Era EV charging station.

After this initial meeting, Electric Era will complete your feasibility study. To do this, we will need a list of addresses where you are considering installing an EV charging station, and (if available) an electrical utility bill from each site.

Not sure if you want to Own & Operate or be a Site Host? We can conduct a comprehensive assessment of each site, considering factors like local energy costs, expected usage, and your business goals. We'll provide clear, data-driven recommendations to help you make the best decision for each location.

We partner with large infrastructure investment firms, asset managers, and capital partners to invest in nationwide EV charging stations. Learn more about investing in EV charging infrastructure with Electric Era >

In August of 2022, The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law, offering federal tax credits to businesses who invest in Energy Storage Technology and Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property. These investment tax credits help retailers reduce the total cost of deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, cutting the cost by 30-50% depending on location and project specifics. Electric Era has a knowledgeable government affairs team to help you understand the full set of tax credits and incentives available to your business.

LCFS credits are an incentive designed to reduce carbon emissions in California, Oregon, Washington, and other locations. Registered EV charging stations generate LCFS credits, which are valued according to each metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions reduced.

Charging station owners earn thousands of dollars of profit from selling these credits upon a charging station’s activation. Do you have solar onsite? If so, your revenue generation may be even stronger!

Electric Era manages the sale of these credits on behalf of your business to maximize the revenue you receive and collects the nuanced data required to ensure compliance against state reporting audits.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law in November of 2021. IIJA created the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program which allocated $5+ billion of funding for the deployment of EV fast charging stations along interstate highway corridors around America. Subject to certain criteria, eligible retailers can receive grant funding covering up to 80% of the cost to deploy EV fast charging stations at their properties. Your retail store may be eligible to receive funding if you are within 1 mile of a major highway or interstate and can provide amenities like food, drink, and restrooms to customers while they charge up. Speak with a member of our team to learn more.