The fastest electric vehicle chargers in the country opened at an indoor parking garage in New York City on Monday.

Backed by Google, Gravity chargers can add 2,400 miles of range per hour, or roughly 200 miles in five minutes.

What You Need To Know

  • The fastest electric vehicle chargers in the country opened at an indoor parking garage in New York City on Monday

  • Backed by Google, Gravity chargers can add 2,400 miles of range per hour, or roughly 200 miles in 5 minutes

  • The 24 chargers are located in an indoor parking facility that is available 24 hours per day and is staffed with attendants

  • The Gravity charging center will be available to all EV owners

“Automakers love to tout their EVs’ top driving speed, but what matters more than anything for drivers is how fast a car can charge,” Gravity, Inc. chief executive Moshe Cohen said in a statement. “Our technology can provide a car with 40 miles of range in just a minute of charging. With these speeds, we can push the entire industry to vehicles with faster-charging batteries.”

The 24 chargers will be open seven days a week and will be available to all EV owners as well as fleet operators, such as ride-hails.

The midtown facility is an area that has numerous taxis and for-hire vehicles and “will significantly help New York City transition away from fossil fuels and toward a cleaner transportation future,” Con Edison vice president of distributed resource intregration Raghu Sudhakara said in a statement.

Certified by the global safety company, UL Solutions, the chargers did not require utility upgrades to the building or the electrical grid operated by Con Edison, Gravity said.  

The chargers are located in an indoor parking garage in partnership with the New York real estate firm, Related Companies. Mounted on the ceiling, the chargers did not require modification to the existing parking spaces that compromise space.

With 500 kilowatts of power, the Gravity chargers are the fastest currently available in the U.S. The fastest charger in Tesla’s network is rated at 350 kilowatts and can add 1,400 miles of range per hour, or about 115 miles in 5 minutes.

The Gravity indoor charging station is part of a trend of indoor EV parking garages that offer ultra-fast charging as well as amenities, such as attendants. Last month, Electify America announced it would open its first indoor station in San Francisco near the Bay Bridge with 20 hyper-fast chargers in a freestanding, temperature-controlled building with food and drink vending machines, free high-speed Wi-Fi, bathrooms, 24-hour access and security.

Tesla is currently under construction on a new 30-station charging area in Hollywood that will include a 24-hour restaurant and two movie screens.

Gravity said its New York City charging center will include a tap-and-go payment system for on-demand charging and will not require an appointment. The company plans to add more chargers to the location “soon.” Vehicle owners who finish charging and need a place to park will be able to do so in an adjacent facility.

“Gravity’s innovative charging technology is a market changer that will allow the public in one of the largest and busiest cities in the world the ability to ‘charge and go’ more quickly, thereby providing a more enjoyable driving experience,” New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Chair Richard Kauffman said in a statement.