Red Hook Recharge Zone
Red Hook, Brooklyn has long endured high unemployment rates, lower levels of educational achievement, and disproportionate air pollution that negatively impacts public health. It's also a transit desert with elevated travel times and transportation expenses for low-income residents and zero DC fast chargers for any electric vehicle weight classification.
Red Hook Recharge Zone - an ultra-fast charger Superhub with electric mopeds, bikes, rideshare service, and on-site green jobs and multimodal education office - will connect residents to quality jobs and provide reliable, fast, and equitable access to electric transportation while addressing climate-related health impacts on Red Hook's more than 6,500 multi-family New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents and the surrounding communities.
The site and services will decrease EV charging times, increase EV adoption, provide locally hired jobs, enroll 500+ NYCHA residents in Revel's Access Program, significantly reduce CO2 emissions, and create grid stability for thousands in this economically depressed region.
This project will develop a 1.5-acre multi-use EV "Red Hook Recharge Zone"at 611 Smith in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and feature 25 ultra-fast DC fast chargers for light-duty EVs, along with an on-site Green Jobs, Access Program, and Multimodal Education Office, incorporated green spaces with amenities, electric moped and eBike hub, and space for additional vendors, such as food trailers and coffee. Revel will install solar canopies over the chargers that pair with a large utility scale battery. Once complete, the site will serve as a DC microgrid connecting solar, battery, and bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers to create an energy ecosystem that can provide reliable clean electricity to the community and increase grid reliability during times of high energy demand or emergency.
The Recharge Zone will supply 30 American-made V2G-capable EVs with direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) to provide an all-electric rideshare service. The project will have a significant EV green jobs training, education, and outreach component aimed at attracting and training Taxi & Limousine Commission-licensed (TLC) drivers, moped and eBike lessons specialists, and charging operations staff. Partners will assist drivers through the TLC application process and enroll community residents in Revel's Access Program that provides steeply discounted pricing for its EV rideshare service, mopeds, eBike subscriptions, and EV charging.
This ambitious project will bring immediate improvement to the two most pressing issues facing Red Hook - job readiness and improving poor respiratory health - but increased EV adoption will also affect a larger region that will finally have easy access to universal public fast charging.