BRINGING COMMUNITY TO ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING IN ST. LOUIS, MO.
Updated: Jan 18, 2020
How ReNuTeq President Luke Schuette and his partners plan to create community through food, drink and solar power. Electric Car owners like to tell friends, co-workers and skeptics, especially, it only takes "seconds" to charge their electric cars.
Well, that's kinda true. It does only take a few seconds to plug in an electric car to start the recharging process, which can take minutes or hours depending on the charger and the car. The reality is, if you're going to charge an electric car in public, it's going to take some time; it isn't like refilling your ICE tank with refined crude.
So the question is, how do you use that time productively; be it half a hour or half a day? Tesla and others are embedding computer games and streaming infotainment into their displays, or they're partnering with retail establishments: restaurants, big box stores, movie theaters to give EV drivers someplace to kill time or run errands.
Luke Schuette, the President of ReNuTeq sees an opportunity to create community in that public charging experience through the development of Solis Mobility, which marries the Tesla Supercharger station concept with the WeWork approach to shared space. And instead of building it in the usual EV hotspots like southern California - it's being built, with groundbreaking taking place this month - in St. Louis, Missouri, considered one of the newly emerging "silicon valleys" of the Midwest.
In this half-hour interview (available in its entire to our Patreon supporters),
Schuette explains how the multi-million dollar project came about, the history that makes it possible, and the revenue model that will drive it beyond relying on charging drivers for the electricity they use, much of which will come from solar panels and storage batteries. Using patented processes ReNuTeq has developed, the project, located in the heart of downtown St. Louis, should be completed in just 16 weeks with ribbon cutting in May or June 2020.
Schuette explains in the short, 5-minute segment available at the right, how the project is being financed, ironically not unlike the average Kwiktrip, CircleK, or Casey's gas station where the profit isn't in pumping fuel, but selling beverages and snacks and lottery tickets. In addition, the project has the blessing of the City of St. Louis and the active participation on Green Street St. Louis, a successful sustainable real estate developer.
And Solis Mobility also plans to cater to light electrics like motorscooters and e-bikes, which naturally, gets me thinking about possible synergies with our Quikbyke project. Stay tuned, this could get interesting.
First Published: 2019-12-27
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