NYC Partners With Brooklyn Startup to Expand Curbside EV Charging Network

New York City has selected Brooklyn-based startup it's electric to provide the hardware for a permanent expansion of its curbside electric vehicle charging network. The initiative aims to increase charging accessibility across all five boroughs to support the city's transition to sustainable transport.

Under the new agreement, the city will install 600 new Level 2 charging points over the next three years. This rollout will bring the total number of available plugs in the network to approximately 700. While it's electric is supplying the hardware, Maverick Corporation is handling the project's engineering and construction, with SWTCH Energy providing the backend software platform to manage the network.

The Urban Charging Gap

This expansion addresses a critical infrastructure deficit in one of the world's densest urban environments. Because roughly half of New York City car owners rely on street parking, home charging is an impossibility for a vast portion of the population. This creates "charging deserts" where residents and professional drivers cannot find reliable power sources near where they live or work.

Supporting the Green Rides Initiative

The timing of the rollout ties directly to the city's Green Rides initiative. This policy mandates that 100% of Uber and Lyft trips must be zero-emission or wheelchair-accessible by 2030. For-hire drivers, who often lack private garages, are among the primary beneficiaries of the expanded curbside network, as public plugs are a prerequisite for meeting these zero-emission mandates.

By integrating charging stations directly into the curb, the city intends to normalize EV infrastructure as a standard utility. Nathan King, cofounder and CEO of it's electric, compared the vision to essential city services, stating, "Just as fire hydrants are on every street, our vision is for EV chargers to become that normal – infrastructure New York’s kids simply grow up with."

Future Outlook

The success of the expansion depends on its ability to remove the primary barriers to EV adoption for urban dwellers. As the 600 new points are phased in over the next three years, the city will monitor whether this increased density is sufficient to support the projected surge in electric rideshare vehicles. The project marks a significant shift toward treating EV charging as a public utility rather than a luxury amenity.