LaGuardia will host a flywheel-based ultra-fast EV charging pilot

ZOOZ Power‘s flywheel-based power-boosting EV charging system will be piloted at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport by a large global car rental company.

ZOOZ Power – formerly named Chakratec, not to be confused with ZOOZ bikes, and traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange as ZOOZ – has signed a binding memorandum of understanding with an as-yet-unnamed “worldwide leading car rental services provider, which is operating thousands of car rental sites in over 100 countries.”

The two companies will build and operate a joint pilot of EV ultra-fast charging infrastructure intended to enable ultra-fast EV charging in a location where the electric grid is power-constrained. 

ZOOZ’s power-boosting product is based on kinetic energy storage in flywheels that store energy in the form of rotational momentum. ZOOZ describes it on its website:

It’s built to last with patented flywheel technology that drives 200,000 high-power charge and discharge cycles. And it’s the most sustainable solution out there with the smallest carbon footprint, emitting 23 times less KG of CO2 for every kWh delivered, compared to chemical battery solutions.

This short video allows a brief peek at the ZOOZ Power Booster:

Many car rental sites are in locations that have grid constraints, and that presents a challenge as car rental companies increasingly add EVs into their fleets. They need ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure to service a large number of cars.

The two companies are aiming to have the LaGuardia EV charging system pilot site up and running during the second quarter of 2023 for a period of 12 months. If it’s successful, then ZOOZ Power says they’ll discuss using its kinetic fast-charging products in additional sites.

Boaz Weizer, ZOOZ Power’s CEO, said:

This is [the] fourth significant pilot we are part of in the US, following the planned pilots with Blink Charging and ARKO convenience store chain, and only two months after we have announced another pilot with the New York Power Authority.

These four pilots will be operational within a few months, and I believe they will accelerate our penetration into the US market and further feed ZOOZ’s growth. 

Read more: Hertz orders 100,000 Teslas, the single-largest EV purchase ever, with Tom Brady campaign

Photos: ZOOZ Power

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