After a decade of experience in installing electric vehicle chargers, Miller Electric has launched a vertical focused on EV charging, looking to ride a surge of interest in the sector.
That market could be worth hundreds of millions in the next five years, said Eddie O’Halloran, Millers's senior vice president of innovation. He is in charge of electric vehicle charging, smart cities and other programs.Nationally, target areas for Miller include EV charging for school bus and large distribution fleets like Amazon, with school districts a particular focus.
Locally, the 95-year-old company works with organizations like the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, which has two electric buses and has talked about adding more. Miller is studying the idea of adding a charging depot for JTA at the company’s Southpoint headquarters. Planning is in early stages with expectations to move forward in 2023.
One measure that serves as an innovative springboard includes developing a prefabrication process that allows Miller to deploy EV charging directly to the site, cutting down on disruption. The typical sales process includes educating customers, O'Halloran said: An initial site assessment includes working with clients to determine the number and classification of trucks in their fleet followed by route analytics and locations and miles driven in one day. Once milage has been determined, the company selects chargers.“Once multiple site visits have taken place and the go button is hit, we move forward to power," O'Halloran said.