Annapolis business builds equipment, infrastructure for electric cars

Curiosity led him to a business opportunity that literally falls somewhere in between the dealer's lot and the car port.

His Annapolis start-up, SemaConnect Inc., produces devices that aid in the plug-in vehicle charging. Reddy hopes the company will become an influential part of the industry as these cars flow into the mass market.

Utility experts believe the big boom for electric cars is not that far down the road. Hybrid varieties have been out for a while, and the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt electric models, about $25,000 apiece after a tax credit of $7,500, will be unleashed in Washington, D.C., this fall.

President Barack Obama has set a national goal to put 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road in the next five years.

But to understand what SemaConnect makes, first imagine a world free of gas stations. It won't be as simple as finding the nearest outlet.

"We're very metro-centric, so let's say you're living in an apartment building, and you have an electric car. The chances of there being a random socket in the parking lot you can just plug into - that's just not going to happen," he said. "Your apartment isn't going to just give you 'free gas.' And this isn't like charging up a cell phone."Though Reddy's company builds home-use devices as well, the target market is commercial. SemaConnect charging stations are installed in parking lots and garages.

Activated with a key fob, special company software recognizes the user, turns on the electricity and begins tracking the consumption. Meanwhile, the car owner can access all of this data in real-time with a smart phone or computer.

The chargers themselves come in models that provide either 120 or 240 volts of alternating current and include safety features to prevent electric shock - crucial considering that cars are made almost entirely out of metal. Russell Rankin, owner of the eCruisers shuttle in downtown Annapolis, is currently using a SemaConnect station in the back parking lot of the Loews Annapolis Hotel to support his fleet of 10 electric commuter carts.

"It's the perfect marriage to have it at the hotel," Rankin said, running a connector from the meter to a retractable cord under the hood of one of his shuttles. "One day, (the hotel) could be providing this as a service to (its) guests and basically setting the bar for other hotels to sort of get with the program."

Reddy believes there may be only about five serious players doing what he's doing right now - some of whom are coming from a background of producing charging equipment for golf carts and forklifts - but he anticipates the competition will grow substantially in the next few years.

In preparation for the Leaf and Volt releases, Reddy expects to expand his staff of eight to 15 before September, bulking up on development, engineering, tech and sales support. He also has compiled a short list of manufacturing sites in Maryland to determine where the devices can be produced in high volume.

BGE gets ready

John Murach, a BGE program manager, is also gearing up for the plug-in car releases. Murach heads up the utility's electric vehicle project, collecting data on six hybrid vehicles. Last week he and other utility representatives met in Washington to get an update from General Motors about its plug-ins.

Each of the vehicles in Murach's project contains a data logger, much like the black boxes in airplanes, that records information about how far and long the car can travel on a single charge. The utility is learning how to meet customers' needs while ensuring stability of the electric grid.

"We realize those vehicles aren't going to stay in D.C.," he said. "They're going to come to Annapolis, they are going to come to Baltimore, because we have a lot of commuters going back and forth. So we don't have an opportunity to sit back and wait."

Reddy is already looking at the next phase of his business with alternative energy sources. SemaConnect partnered with Advanced Technology and Research Corp. of Columbia and TimberRock Energy Solutions of Frederick last month for a demonstration.

At the Solar and Wind Expo in Timonium, they exhibited a charging station linked to a utility pole-mounted solar panel and another connected to a solar car port.

"We're trying to be ahead of the game, and it does become a chicken-and-egg thing," Reddy said. "People are going to say, 'I'd really like to buy one of those cars, but where am I going to charge it?' This is all about breaking the egg proactively."

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esauers@capitalgazette.com