Dynamic EVC expects to triple revenue this year

John Lorenz: EV charger installations have surpassed 100 in less than two years.

The installation jobs are starting to pile up for electric vehicle charging station contractor Dynamic EVC LLC – a good problem for the young company, said co-founder John Lorenz.

After launching in late 2021, Dynamic EVC, which provides electric vehicle charging services for businesses and property owners, including charging station procurement, installation, networking, service and maintenance, is on the verge of tripling revenue for 2023. Lorenz, who started the company with Larry Schmitt and Barry Davis, said revenue in 2022 finished at $1.6 million. It’s on pace to exceed $6 million this year.

“We’re almost at $5 million right now and we’ve got quite a few jobs to close out by the end of the year,” he said, noting the company has installed a little over 100 EV chargers since founding.

While most of the dozens of charger installs filling Dynamic EVC’s project lineup this year are in southwest Missouri, a handful are extending its coverage out of state. For example, Lorenz said install work was completed recently in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a couple of Jim Glover family-owned auto dealerships and the company currently is working on jobs for a pair of McLarty Daniel dealerships in Springdale, Arkansas.

Dynamic EVC also has been active with TLC Properties, having worked with the Springfield-based multifamily property management company on five projects. One of those is The Heritage, a mixed-use apartment building in development at Battlefield Road and Fremont Avenue. Lorenz said his company is installing two Level 3 chargers, also called DC Fast Chargers, for the project’s retail area and 39 Level 2 chargers for resident parking spaces.

“We’ve got a diversity of projects, from car dealerships, hotels and apartments,” he said, noting the company also has several clients he can’t mention due to nondisclosure agreements.

Level 2 chargers offer higher-rate AC charging for residential and commercial applications, and are common for home, workplace and public charging, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Level 2 chargers can charge a battery electric vehicle to 80% from empty in four to 10 hours and a plug-in hybrid vehicle in one to two hours. While most plug-in hybrids don’t work well with fast chargers, Level 3 chargers can charge a battery electric vehicle to 80% from empty in 20-60 minutes.

“I don’t know anybody else in the area that does this to the extent that we’re doing it,” Lorenz said, noting part of Dynamic EVC’s work involves making site visits to educate clients about the equipment. “We do the installation, we do the commissioning, we do all the backend software, the servicing and warranty work.”

The company was formed as a division of directional boring and drilling contractor L&B Services LLC, also owned by Lorenz. He said the 16-year-old L&B’s clients include City Utilities of Springfield, adding he began electric vehicle charger installations to serve what he saw as an unserved niche.

Making the investment
Dynamic EVC has installed seven chargers at Jimmy Michel Motors Inc. in Aurora. Two of those are Level 3 chargers, said CEO Chad Vaught, noting Dynamic EVC has completed wiring for a third DC Fast Charger that is planned to be installed before the end of next year. The chargers are available to the public.

Having the third charger is part of being a certified Elite EV dealer with Ford, he said, noting the auto manufacturer told dealers their investments could reach up to $1.2 million. Some of that cost includes training from Ford, as well as purchasing a forklift large enough to carry the EV batteries.

“Having those customer-facing chargers like Dynamic EVC put in for us was obviously the biggest investment,” he said, estimating Jimmy Michel has spent roughly $350,000 so far in the program.

Ford’s EV line is the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning truck. Vaught said demand currently exceeds supply, noting the dealership’s EV stock has been low as there are long waits for vehicle shipments. It has six of the Mustangs and is waiting on three Lightning trucks. The only Lightning in stock is a demo vehicle that Vaught said he is driving.

“We would expect probably within the next year for a normal market with the two models that Ford currently has. We’ll probably have about 20 of those vehicles,” he said.

Vaught said his company connected with Dynamic EVC around a year ago through a referral from Mayse Automotive Group Inc., which had some EV chargers installed at its dealership.

“With each manufacturer, (Dynamic EVC) knew the ins and outs of the programs they were running,” Vaught said. “We were able to use that to our advantage and not just drop all of our capital upfront.”

Auto manufacturers are making commitments to EV, with Cadillac, Lexus and Volvo among those planning to be electric only by 2030, according to media reports. GM is targeting all EV by 2035.

There also is a governmental incentive for purchasing an EV, as some customers may qualify for a federal credit up to $7,500 under Internal Revenue Code Section 30D if buying a new, qualified plug-in or fuel cell EV, according to the IRS. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 changed the rules for the credit on vehicles purchased from 2023 to 2032.

Overcoming skepticism
Still, most Americans aren’t ready to give up their gas-powered vehicles. In an October poll conducted by Yahoo Finance and Ipsos, 57% of respondents say they were not likely to select an EV when they buy their next car. Of that group, 36% said they were “not at all likely” to go electric, while another 21% said they were “not too likely.” Around 31% of respondents said they were likely to buy an EV. High vehicle cost, limited driving range and insufficient charging infrastructure were among factors cited by those against purchasing an EV.

Vaught said when Ford first started promoting its EV program his dealership was skeptical. Now, he said investing in EV is a sign of evolving with the times, adding he believes the transition from fuel-injected vehicles is a bigger jump than when carburetors went away.

“Overall, how these vehicles work and what they’re capable of doing, it makes sense to a lot of people,” he said, noting he’s able to charge the F-150 Lightning to 80% from 20% in about 30 minutes, which provides a 260-mile range. “That was something we didn’t really understand upfront.”

He said the F-150s and Mach-Es start in the mid-$40,000s, adding a platinum package could make the cost closer to $100,000.

The increased project list at Dynamic EVC has boosted the employee count since its 2021 opening when it had seven people on staff, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Lorenz said the company now employs 33, including 22 who work on installations.

By year’s end, Lorenz said Dynamic EVC has roughly 10 projects to finish.

“Hopefully, those will all be done by Jan. 1, so people aren’t screaming at me,” he said.