So far, only one Lightning Mobile charging vehicle has been built: a demo used for supplementary charging at a site in New York City where there’s not currently sufficient charging infrastructure installed.
Nick Bettis, Lightning’s director of marketing and sales operations, said the company is in talks with potential customers for orders that would amount to over 100 units. “We will build them as orders come in,” he said.
Roadside fleet vehicle charging is not the only way Lightning Mobile could be used, Bettis said. Aside from supplementing local infrastructure, as in New York, the unit could be a mobile charging bank to store lower-cost off-peak power and then charge EVs during peak times. Or the system could sit in a corner and charge itself at Level 2 all day, then rapidly charge work vehicles as needed.
“Additionally, we get a great deal of interest from companies with very specific uses cases,” Bettis said. “For example, one prospect is interested in using this in his rental car company and would go from hotel to hotel overnight to top off his customers’ EVs. In another case, a major lake resort needs to charge electric speedboats, and putting a stationary charger on every dock is not an option.”
