The electric vehicle chargers installed a few days ago on Lafayette Boulevard blocks from the Lodge Freeway in Detroit don’t look like any EV chargers you’ve seen before.

The two slim, stainless steel units stand like small curbside sentries, but you’d be forgiven if you mistook them for something else entirely. That’s by design.

Nathan King, the co-founder and CEO of it’s electric, the “Brooklyn-born” company behind these units, sees them as street furniture that solves many of the challenges most EV charging infrastructure fails to account for, especially in urban settings. King, an architect, described the lightbulb moment about three years ago that led to the creation of it’s electric, seeing people tossing electrical cords out their windows to charge up electric vehicles in the city.

A newly installed electric vehicle charger from a company called it’s electric is shown in Detroit on May 1.
Multiunit rental properties have long posed a challenge for EV ownership.

The Detroit units had their ribbon cutting on May 1, following similar openings in Boston and San Francisco, King said. At least 23 more charging locations are planned within the city limits.

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Representatives from DTE Energy, Newlab Detroit, Bedrock and the city of Detroit were on hand to give remarks about the process to date and the promise of a new EV charging option. The so-called “behind-the-meter” connection ties to a building’s electrical supply, rather than requiring a more involved utility connection, and promises a cut of income that the charging units generate to the building owner. In this case, the property is owned by Bedrock, and it houses the Detroit Smart Parking Lab.

Nathan King, co-founder and CEO of it’s electric, stands with one of his company’s newly installed electric vehicle chargers on Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit on May 1.
Users connect to the chargers with a detachable cord that they carry with them, avoiding the scenario of cable theft or damage that an errant car might cause hopping a curb, for instance. Users can set up an account and request a cable through the it’s electric smartphone app.

The units are Level 2 chargers, which the U.S. Transportation Department says can charge an electric vehicle to 80% from empty in four to 10 hours. Rates are expected to vary by city, but the cost to charge a typical EV for 9 hours overnight using the it’s electric chargers was estimated at $13.

Grants from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, DTE Emerging Technology Fund, Michigan Central Scale Fund and federal Ride and Drive funding support the initial deployments in Detroit, according to information provided about the ribbon cutting. The grant total for the company’s work in Detroit is $1.78 million, although the largest piece, from the federal government, also funds deployments in three other cities.

Tim Slusser, the city’s chief of mobility innovation, described many conversations as officials worked to figure out how to allow this type of installation project. Now there’s a process in place to deal with permitting, which he estimated should take about 30 to 60 days going forward, not including going before city council.

Slusser expressed enthusiasm for what’s been accomplished with this project and what it portends. The city needs more EV charging infrastructure, Slusser said.

It secured a $23.4 million grant from the federal government last year to expand that infrastructure, but with the change in presidential administrations, the status of a second $15.2 million grant announced for the city and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments earlier this year is unclear.

“We are very hungry for as many solutions as possible,” he said. “We’re interested in partnering with more companies like this.”