Electriphi has been a member for a while now and earlier this year became a sponsor of DMCC’s work and we are very excited to highlight what they are doing. Focused on the future of transportation energy, Electriphi is helping fleets transition from gas and diesel vehicles to electric vehicles. Levi Lomeland, Senior Accountant Executive at Electriphi, spoke with us about their mission and how DMCC can support them. Keep reading to learn about what Electriphi’s work looks like in Colorado, what projects they currently have, and what they consider to be the biggest barrier in electrifying fleets.
Company: Electriphi 
Location: San Francisco, CA
*Note: These answers have been summarized from an interview with Levi Lomeland from Electriphi
As one of our newest sponsors, what inspired you to partner with DMCC? How can we help you further your sustainability goals?
Our inspiration for partnering with DMCC was your organizational mission, reach, and focus, both in Colorado and the surrounding region. One of the most attractive things about your coalition is your efficiency and your commitment to open and transparent communication. From an outside perspective, DMCC’s influence in the Colorado and surrounding regions casts a bigger shadow than the organization itself. Even though your focus is the Denver Metro area, we view you as a leader in the Clean Cities community with other coalitions looking to follow your example. Electriphi has been impressed with your scope of work and it’s encouraging to see our goals continue to align. Your mission to put EVs on the road in a thoughtful, sustainable manner is in tune with what we’re trying to accomplish.
Electriphi helps all kinds of fleets transition to electric, what does your work look like in Colorado?
We’re new to Colorado, so we’re just getting our feet wet in the landscape of vehicle electrification in the state. We don’t have any immediate deployments in Colorado – the work we’ve been doing is introductory, ground level education of our software and bridging the gap between planning and actual deployment. Working our way up will be challenging, but we are collaborating with a lot of different organizations in Colorado that we hope will help us get where we want to be. We recently participated in the NACFE Run On Less Electric event as a guest speaker and got the opportunity to work with Jessie Lund from RMI. We also work with RMI on their Fleet Electrification Advisory board on a couple projects. We have a host of fleet transition planning tools, but what we’re really known for is our vehicle charge management systems that help optimize energy and ensure vehicle readiness. Much of our work with DMCC and other Colorado organizations right now is between the planning and deployment phases of using these systems to ensure successful fleet transitions.
Are there any projects you’re working on that you would like to share? What can DMCC do to support your efforts?
We recently deployed with Berkeley and Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT), two major transit agencies, and those are the first opportunities that have popped up for us. We also learned that Denver RTD just dropped an RFP for 17 battery electric buses and that there are exciting things happening in the roaring fork and Aspen that we’re trying to keep an eye on. As I mentioned, we don’t have any current projects in Colorado yet, but I know that is going to change soon. DMCC has been excellent in supporting us and helping us get up on our feet in Colorado. One of the more challenging things for us is understanding all the different phases and barriers around fleet electrification. Planning is always different than application, so having DMCC help us make connections is very helpful in our efforts to educate people dealing with fleet and vehicle electrification. We appreciate every introduction and all the support you’ve given us up to this point.
What has been Electriphi’s biggest challenge in electrifying fleets?
I think the biggest challenge has been helping utilities understand what fleet electrification is going to look like and how to plan for managing the overall electric demand that will be required with additional EVs plugged into the grid. On the customer side, bringing people up to speed and helping them understand the difference between plan to pilot and pilot to full-scale vehicle electrification is paramount to our mission. Often, there are a lot of different working pieces and a lot of integrations required, like charging manufacturers, vehicle OEMs, and multiple different pieces of infrastructure that fleets are trying to blend, and we do our best to help them navigate and understand all those parts. Managing five electric vehicles is a lot different than managing 50, 100 or even 300 EVs related to your fleet, and one thing we try to help our clients understand is that getting us involved early is more beneficial to them in the long run. Getting started early is key to a successful deployment, which is what needs to happen in order to garner momentum and help move our cities forward.
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