Beam Global, a San Diego-based sustainable technology innovation company, invents, patents, designs, engineers and manufactures renewably energized products for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, outdoor media and energy security. The company’s products support any quality brand of EV charging station without the need for construction, electrical work, permitting or a utility bill.
“We have the fastest deployed, most scalable, most robust and lowest total cost of ownership infrastructure solution available in the world,” says Desmond Wheatley, CEO, Beam Global. “We enable any EV charging business model, and we charge any type of electric vehicle including micro-mobility, bikes and motorcycles, sedans, trucks, buses, semis, construction equipment and even electric airplanes.”
Rental Management recently asked Wheatley to answer questions about what role his company can play in equipment rental. His responses follow.
Rental Management: What type of equipment fits into Beam? Are you looking at tools? Off-road equipment?
Desmond Wheatley: We can charge any type of equipment. Our main product, the EV ARC™, is sized to fit inside a standard, legal-sized parking space and does so without reducing available parking because sedans and pickups can park on its ballast and traction pad that gives it stability. For larger equipment that does not fit under the solar array, we can charge adjacent to the EV ARC and as far as 18 ft. away from our system. Larger construction equipment charges not on the unit but next to it. There is also an integrated power panel that provides 120V and 240V outlets and looks just like the power panel on a generator. Contractors, first responders and others can plug into this power panel to run power tools, life-saving equipment or anything else that requires electricity. The EV ARC is transportable and can be deployed anywhere equipment can reach, because it can be deployed there without the requirement of a grid connection.
Rental Management: What do you see as the future of battery-powered equipment? Is the demand increasing? Is the demand for solar power increasing?
Wheatley: Demand for battery-powered equipment is soaring. Small electronics through large pieces of construction equipment are all running on batteries these days. All sedans will be electric in the next couple of decades, and we will see construction equipment moving in the same direction. Plug-in tools are becoming a thing of the past as even power-hungry tools are increasingly running on batteries. Energy density and thermal management are both improving dramatically, and costs are coming down. As these improvements are spread across the various industries that have traditionally used gas, diesel or a utility connection, we will see a complete replacement with batteries forming the backbone of anything that does work in the future. This increase in moving to electrification will put significant new demands on an already taxed utility grid infrastructure. As a result, solar, both on- and off-grid solutions, will continue to grow while costs of solar-powered options continue to come down.
Rental Management: What role would/could your company play in equipment rental? Could rental houses use your equipment?
Wheatley: As rental houses stock more and more electric equipment, vehicles and tools, they will need to be able to charge all those devices. Most will not have sufficient grid capacity and will also be hit with the very high cost of grid-connected installations and increased utility bills. Beam’s products will protect them from both while allowing them to scale up without being limited by available grid capacity. Additionally, we will be able to charge their fleets during blackouts and brownouts. Their customers will also need to be able to charge the vehicles and tools. In many cases, construction sites do not have useable electricity infrastructure until late into the project. Because our products are transportable, rental customers will be able to take them to project sites, use them to charge their equipment and then either take them to the next site or return them to the rental outfit. All this with no liquid fuels, no pollution, no sound, no risk of spills and no cost for the units of energy.