บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Charging the Future: Kobby Osei-Kusi on Building Pirl Technology and Solving the EV Infrastructure Gap

charging systems, but I think I I am now sort of at the beginning of where I started, which is you know, I'm the son of an engineer, I'm a builder, I'm an operator, and I'm doing you know, something that is in my DNA, you know, that I was probably born with. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:16.160 Um, so that's sort of the arc of where my story is. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.120 That's fantastic, and I I love it. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:52.879 And as a father myself, um, and the advice that I give my children and the reason I give my children that advice, it's um it's nice to see that you heeded that advice from your father, and you took a path based on or at least gently guided by that advice from your father that took you through business boot camp 101 all the way through high-level finance. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:59.040 So ultimately where you ended up is the best of both worlds, is it not? 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:15.360 I mean, you picked up the skills that he didn't have that he needed to be more um uh uh uh successful compensation-wise, outside of engineering, because he didn't see opportunities in engineering to make enough money. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:20.480 So he encouraged you and the family to get educations in business and finance. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:30.959 You did that, and now you're bringing his skills, his engineering mind, his his building and thought process mind into your financial skills, and you have the best of both worlds. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.040 As a father, that's a beautiful story. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.319 I'm sure he is amazingly proud of you. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.800 I I couldn't agree more. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:53.759 I feel uh I feel that I have um the toolkits from engineering and finance to be able to build um long-lasting businesses around infrastructure. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:05.040 And I think um, you know, one thing I've seen is sometimes people get an engineering degree and then they'll go into finance after, maybe get an MBA. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:12.399 Um, or you start with the way I start, which is I started, which was finance first and then uh engineering later. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:28.800 However, you sort of go at it, I think it's that intersection, it's that combination of both skills where you can thrive in the world of atoms and you can thrive in the world of bits, you know, which is just numbers on your screen. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:34.559 Um, so I feel really fortunate to be able to have uh uh the background. 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:46.720 Um, I didn't know how it was, you know, how the dots were gonna connect to today, uh, but I couldn't be more happy and glad and grateful for that journey. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.080 That's fantastic. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:49.279 I like that a lot. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:09:08.080 So I do want you to talk about Pearl a little bit, but I want you to, in the in the context of when you tell us about Pearl and what Pearl is, I really want you to focus on what led you from large-scale energy development and investment banking into founding Pearl. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.759 I think some of it's obvious from your history, but not all of it. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.759 So I'd like to hear that story. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:15.279 Yeah, sure. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:39.039 Um, when I was uh working at AES uh developing power projects, one of the earliest things I saw was that um the capacity and the the capacity of batteries were increasing and the price uh per power of batteries was also dropping. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.440 Uh, this was you know around uh the early 2010s. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:53.759 Um around 2010, one of my professors' daughter uh was one of the earliest employees at Tesla. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.320 And so he had a Tesla roadster. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:57.919 Uh I got to drive that. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.080 Uh it was one of the earliest cars. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:07.919 Um it was the first car that Tesla had built, but one of the earliest, uh, you know, a few people had them. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:31.200 And so, you know, being uh a project developer, but also seeing, you know, what the infrastructure-wise around batteries and the impact of that, um, you know, you started to get some insight on this is going to be a transformative 30, 40, 50 year transition. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:40.879 Um, and uh, I started to think of what are ways where I could directly actually be part of this transition. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:11:02.159 And so um when I was ready to uh start Pearl, uh the decision was to, you know, should we go directly into uh working with batteries, uh building something that uses batteries, or go into supported infrastructure for battery-enabled technology? 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:10.320 And uh to build a battery company, you know, uh the financing, the permitting, the process is fairly large. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:24.080 Uh, but to build the type of company we're building around charging infrastructure, supportive infrastructure of battery-enabled technology, that seemed to be something we could bootstrap and get off the ground fairly quickly. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:51.360 And so that was the decision point was that um uh we could build charging infrastructure with a small team and get something off the ground and still be uh uh sort of ride in that 30, 40, 50 year wave transition to you know a future of electrified uh uh transport, but also just battery-enabled infrastructure. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.879 Okay, interesting. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:11.120 So Pearl is a charging infrastructure for batteries, specifically automobile charging stations. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:12.320 Correct? 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.080 Correct, correct. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:24.240 And what is um what is we'll get to this in a few of the questions coming up, but what's different about your model? 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:52.480 So I'll I'll start off by saying that um,

you know, before I talk about the technology, um typically when we interact with you know uh infrastructure, let's say our homes, from uh uh from from the standpoint of um you if you think of homes, until homes became long-lasting assets, right, you couldn't write 30-year mortgages, right? 00:12:52.799 --> 00:13:04.879 So if if a house sort of degraded, decayed in two, three years, you really couldn't build, you know, uh uh sort of the mortgage infrastructure that allowed a lot more people to have homes. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:21.600 So when I think about what Pearl is doing, I usually always sort of come from the standpoint of that uh we're providing a long-durable asset, right, for um battery-enabled technology. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:29.120 And um and really sort of the key part of it is to make it a stable financial asset. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:39.679 Once something becomes a stable financial asset, like a home, like a car, then things like mortgages and leases could be layered on top of that. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:45.679 And that financial technology accelerates the underlying asset, right? 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:51.360 Uh, because we have mortgages, we can build more houses, more people can afford more homes. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:14:01.519 And so Pearl's approach is to turn um is to really start with how do we turn EV charging into a stable financial asset? 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:13.759 And that is going to unlock a lot of demand and actually close that significant gap that we face in the US between EV adoption and EV charging. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:37.519 And so specifically, when we move away from you know the technology from the financial driver to the technology itself, what makes Pearl different is we've developed a modular EV charging uh system that allows EV charging to be profitable on a single unit basis for the first time. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:48.799 So currently, EV charging, the current EV charging operators, the publicly traded ones, operate at a negative 57% operating margin. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:55.279 And that has been the case for the last 14, 15 years since the industry started. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:10.960 And uh, we believe that until we move the industry to per unit profitability, um, it's it's we're still gonna have that huge uh infrastructure gap between EV adoption and EV charging. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:18.639 So in the US, we face a deficit of about 20 million charging stations over the next four or five years. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.279 That's just how far behind we are. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:43.039 Um, and so Pearls Technology is a modular EV charging system that allows owners to do upgrade repairs uh themselves, which reduces reliance on expensive certified electrician labor and also allows in-2 uh uh upgrades. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:53.919 And so as we bring newer technology into the market, whether it's bi-directional charging, for example, you don't have to do the current model, which is rip and replace. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:05.279 You can, with the charger installed, simply replace the charging component, and boom, within 15 minutes, you have an upgraded uh uh charger. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:14.799 And so we bring predictability, stable cash flows, and profitability to an industry that has not experienced that to date. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:27.600 Which will lead to that stability, that economic factor that allows those leases and financing to be layered on top of that to scale and grow the environment. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:42.000 Individual ownership, profitability, um, marketability, um, adaptation, growth, and everything else follows behind that. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:43.440 That sounds absolutely great. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:53.360 So, where where do you see the biggest disconnect today between EV adoption and charging infrastructure availability? 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:00.720 The biggest disconnect now is um in destination charging. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:09.039 So, destination charging is we can break it down into short-term and long-term destination charging. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:20.079 So, short-term destination charging is when you go to your coffee shop or you go to a park and you're spending three, four, or five hours there. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:40.640 Um, and then you know moves into medium-term, which is you stay at an Airbnb or a verbo, you know, for a few days, and then long-term destination charging is you know, I'm renting a property or I'm living in a in a condo, uh, and you know, I'm staying there for months, uh, if not years. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.200 So that destination charge-in, that is the biggest uh gap that we have. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:59.839 30% of Americans uh uh live in condos and apartments, and um so they don't control the parking space, you know, as in a single family home. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:07.920 That 30% of the customers uh of the market now is significantly underserved. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:14.720 Where the market is maturing is on en route uh uh charging. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:28.240 So um highways, you know, the previous administration uh with a bipartisan infrastructure law passed three billion dollars for fast charging along highways and transportation routes. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:34.480 That has you know deployed significant numbers of charging, and so we're closing that gap. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:42.640 So when I'm traveling from DC to New York, for example, I'm able to stop frequently and charge, and there's no issue. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:47.200 Um, you know, I'm not experiencing any uh charging gaps. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:56.559 But when I'm booking an Airbnb in upstate New York, you know, it's hit or miss whether they're going to have a charger in that particular Airbnb. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:02.880 So it's a destination charging across, you know, short-term, medium-term, and long-term charging. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.440 That's where we're seeing the

biggest gap. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:08.559 It's interesting to hear it articulated like that. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:09.759 That's very interesting. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:31.440 I remember when my son graduated from college, um, and it was I worked with my kids in a car at that point in their life, and I had offered my son a Tesla, and um, he was moving up to an area, and um he came back and said, Dad, I I I just don't want the Tesla. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.839 I'm like, why? 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.400 It was a really cool car. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:47.920 And um he said, Well, I'm living in an apartment now, and I have one plug-in outside, and and uh it's a long ways away from my vehicle. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:51.839 I don't have any charging ability in the town that I'm in. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.720 And he said, I would be I would have a beautiful car that I could sit in and never drive. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.799 And so he had to go for a he went for a hybrid situation where he had gas and and electric. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:08.400 So this that you describe is real life, it's really um it's happening. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:15.039 We don't maybe see it in the news, but that this is how that market is working, um for sure. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:25.920 So how does Pearl's approach turn EV charging into a viable stream of income for small businesses? 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:32.799 So we we uh focus on um predictability. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:52.720 Um when when you have a predictable cash flow uh stream, um then you become something that businesses or you know owner operators uh as we call them are able to uh uh install it on their site and actually embrace that. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:21:02.480 Um so the really focus on our business model is to remove uncertainty and make the revenue stream from charging predictable. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:10.480 Um and and the way we do that first is um uh uh by extending the shelf life of EV charging. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:24.240 So current public charging, you you know, because people it's in the sun, people are using it occasionally, people's cars will drive into it, the built environment experiences dramatic wear and tear. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:30.480 And so people are replacing these chargers at a three to four year rate, right? 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:39.839 Um, with Pearl, we're using premium components, and so our expected shelf life is somewhere in the eight to ten year range. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:48.240 That gives a lot of you know uh uh stability for a new owner operator who's interested in installing charging. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:54.160 So durability is really sort of the first key component uh of what we're bringing to market. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.680 Uh, the second one is lowering the capital expenditure and the operating. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:05.279 Expenditure so lowering your uh uh capex and opex, right? 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:16.880 So um from the capex perspective,

after the charger it's installed, that durability means that you're not gonna have to spend a lot of capex, you know, going forward. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:31.200 And then really what we have the patent for is lowering the opex, where the owner themselves, without skilled labor, uh, can actually do most of the maintenance and the upgrades. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:35.119 So the analogy is that think of a light bulb, right? 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:41.279 When you need to swap out a light bulb in your home, you know, you don't call your favorite electrician, right? 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:50.640 If we had to do that, um, I think fewer people would have you know light or light bulb-driven light in their homes. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:59.359 And similar to your son, right, um, you know, that sort of lack of availability uh uh makes it very hard to adopt uh EVs. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:25.680 And so what we've done is um say you are uh a small coffee shop owner, or maybe you own a few property rentals, you know, um, and um uh you want to repair the charger, all you have to do is similar like a light bulb, unscrew the charger module and we'll ship you a new one uh and you put it back in. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.720 And within 15 minutes, you're back online. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:43.440 Now, the current paradigm uh is that when a charger is broken, you have to call an attrician, uh, schedule a visit, they take a first visit to look at what is wrong, then they come back and hopefully fix it. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.839 And that takes about two to three weeks. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:57.200 Um, with our approach, uh, we within 15 minutes, the owner themselves uh can actually bring the charger back online if something happens to it. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:08.079 And so that is a very uh, first of all, we you know strip down about 70% of the total cost of ownership of a charger over that time period of ownership. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:12.480 And that gives the owners tremendous predictability, right? 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:18.000 In saying that, you know, if my light is off, I can unscrew the bulb and put it back in. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.000 Within a couple of minutes, I'm back online. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:27.279 We're bringing that approach to charging, and so that gives owners another layer of predictability. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:29.839 And then the third piece is uptime. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:37.440 So 29% of the time, uh uh uh on average, public EV chargers are down, right? 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:45.759 Um, and so you know if you think about that as an owner operator, about a third of the time you're not making money. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:51.680 Um and it's usually because something in electronics in a charger is down. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:58.240 Now, with our approach, um, we we estimate that we can get you to 99% uh uptime. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:05.920 In fact, our pilots that we have installed now are responding at 100% uptime rate. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:15.519 Uh, and so as an owner operator, that means that that third of the money, that third of the time when you charge it, wasn't making money, that is gone now. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:28.079 And now, again, we move you to predictability, to stable cash flows, and then to something that now you can actually finance the installation of EV charge in at your property. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:39.440 So that's really uh you know, at a higher level, we're bringing a level of predictable cash flows into an industry that so far has been quite unpredictable and very unprofitable. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:40.960 Amazing. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:42.799 Yeah, that's that's amazing. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.160 It's just it's a great vision. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:52.160 So, what role does the modular design and predictive AI play in making your solution cost effective and reliable? 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.319 I'd like to know a little bit about that. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:00.720 Yeah, the the modular design simply means that it works like Lego blocks. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:15.440 And so we have our charging cable, uh uh, we have the cable that goes into your power source, uh, you have the mechanical module that holds all of them together, and then you have the charging module where the electronics are. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:19.599 Now, all of this is connected in a Lego-like fashion. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:27.680 And so you can go and strip out each component, you know, you can remove your charging cable and replace it with a new one. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:39.599 Let's say a customer accidentally drove over the charging cable, the owner themselves can you know, literally by turning on and off a few levers, pull it out and put in a new one. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:50.400 Same with a charging module with electronics, that is enclosed in a separate uh uh uh enclosure that plugs in into the base station. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:55.119 And so, again, you can pull it out by pulling down a lever. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:59.039 Um, and so by making it almost like Lego blocks, right? 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:03.119 We can all put Legos together and disconnect them, right? 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:08.000 That is that is that is the modularity uh that we bring. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:21.759 That's fantastic, and again, the I so you you have increased the life of the unit, which is a friendlier CapEx environment, right? 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.920 So you can stretch that investment out, those earning years out longer. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:40.559 You've decreased the downtime through your modular design and the ability to isolate the problem, replace only what is broken, and in a modular fashion, snap and play. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.039 Yeah, um, which gives you more uptime. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:45.839 Right. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:28:03.759 And you've you've created this business model where an individual owner through these technical

components you've or the aspects that you've talked about, an individual owner can cash flow, can make money on on owning a unit. 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:13.759 All of this works together to make it economically feasible for that coffee shop to have a charging unit outside of its facility. 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:19.440 Um I just think that's uh I just think that's absolutely uh brilliant. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:39.039 So how should all of that considered, how should financial institutions and regulators think about infrastructure investments like EV charging in terms of uh in terms of risk and opportunity, thinking thinking at a high level? 00:28:39.440 --> 00:29:01.200 Yeah, let me let me add something to uh um you know uh the uh uh the previous um uh uh sort of expansion on uh uh uh what we're delivering and then we'll move into how um you know financial institutions can think about the risk and opportunities. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:06.319 Um one key piece is predictive AI. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:24.400 And I mentioned that because if we, based on the data that we're seeing from the charger usage, can tell you ahead of time that, Jim, perhaps you should stock up on a couple of charger modules because this is what we're seeing from the data, right? 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:29.039 Then we're not even we're we're helping you see ahead of time. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:36.559 Um, uh, because people are using and driving cars uh to your chargers, they're pulling the cables, right? 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:46.480 Uh so we can measure voltage differences to say that based on the data that we have, this is what you probably need to replace. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:49.759 And so you should stock up, you know, ahead of time. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:57.359 And if you sign up for a particular service that we will offer, we can actually automatically ship that to you ahead of time. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:04.880 And so that that again adds all to that peace of mind and predictability uh for owners. 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:14.079 And um another thing I want to mention is um, you know, when when you're starting off, uh you want to focus on a narrow beachhead market, right? 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:19.359 Um, but and then you keep your eyes on uh uh the much bigger markets. 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:27.759 So um, you know, commercial parking lots are really, really large uh market that we would love to partner with and grow into. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:47.200 Um and so while we're starting with sort of like the destination charge and you know, and you know, the short-term rental and long-term rental uh folks, uh there are other much bigger markets such as corporate parking lots, commercial parking lots that we would love to partner with uh in the future. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:55.519 Um now back to you know how financial institutions you know should think about you know EV charge. 00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:59.920 And I think I think it always helps to uh use reference points, right? 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:05.200 So um one reference point is uh cell towers, right? 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:10.880 Um now, you know, that was an emergent industry, right, with a mobile phone industry. 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:14.799 Um, and now it's a stable asset, right? 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:29.599 You know, a lot of private equity play into that realm uh of buying, owning, operating, you know, cell towers that supports you know mobile mobile phone adoption, right? 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:44.640 It's the back, it's the back end that allows you know iPhone sales and Samsung sales to up, you know, to be, you know, it and it allows Apple to be Apple and Samsung to be Apple, uh, Samsung to be Samsung. 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:45.279 Right. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:32:09.279 So um, you know, we we we we we use that as a reference point to say that um you know when when when we think of making charging into a stable, predictable financial asset, that allows, you know, from a financial institution standpoint to actually layer on all the financial tools that can actually accelerate adoption, right? 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:14.640 Whether it's you know direct financing, project financing, leasing models. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:22.400 Um, from a risk perspective, um, the risk, you know, it's it's all embedded in your cash flow, right? 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.759 So the first, you know, sort of risk is usually uptime. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:33.519 You know, is the asset going to be operating at a high enough uptime, right, to generate enough cash to pay off uh the debt? 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:51.759 Um, cyber risk is another risk that is increasingly uh potent, you know, especially with all the new AI tools, um, you know, cyber, you know, malicious cyber actors uh uh might be able to do some damage. 00:32:51.920 --> 00:33:01.440 And so, you know, would they be able to break the sort of the charge-in network and prevent it from operating, for example? 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:06.079 So uh that's one one risk to you know uh uh keep in mind. 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:10.880 Um you know, permitting is another is another significant risk. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:17.599 Uh, unfortunately, you know, for for large scale and even small scale projects, right? 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:28.400 You know, so in a condo, for example, the condo association needs to approve, and then you know, the local authority having jurisdiction needs to approve. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:36.000 And these permitting processes, you know, at even the condo level can be six, nine, twelve months, right? 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:47.759 Now, when you go to DC fast charging and you install in you know large you know charging uh uh systems along highways, the permitting can be up to three years. 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:58.480 So permitting is another you know uh big bottleneck now uh for you know uh uh uh for for deploying uh these systems. 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:04.559 Um and I would say maybe the the the last

risk is SIDE-in. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:12.000 Um so making sure that you know you're putting uh the charger networks in high utilization areas. 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:17.840 Every day and every year, SIDEN risk goes down significantly. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:27.119 So um every year we're adding a million EVs uh in the US, and we're and that's 25% growth, right, year over year. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:42.000 And so we're getting to a point where um there are gonna be so many EVs, right, that um, you know, almost regardless of the location that you put them in, you're gonna hit the minimum utilization level needed for profitability. 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:50.960 So I'd say Sidon is there, but it's really significantly, you know, uh being being reduced uh uh every day. 00:34:51.199 --> 00:35:01.519 Um one thing that people used to think was a risk was demand um for you know for charging and also for cars. 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.880 And we're adding we're adding a million cars a year. 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:10.400 That is even after the federal incentives you know have been you know uh uh removed. 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:20.559 Um and so I think I think some of those risks are being sort of solved, and some of them I think are below the threshold of what we would call a risk factor. 00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:23.760 That's absolutely fantastic. 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:31.519 So you're what I and I I just am curious. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:33.599 I'm I'm just curious. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:37.840 What's the capital someone would need to start a project with you? 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.039 I have a corner out here, I'd like to put one in. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:46.800 I want to talk to Cobbie and I want to uh start the process of getting this put in. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:49.599 You know, what's the capital? 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.760 Forget the permitting and all that. 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:54.960 That's those expenses are ridiculous. 00:35:55.119 --> 00:36:02.639 But um assume we have the permit and and we're ready to go, or we're buying an existing station that we're gonna transfer. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:08.559 Look like what kind of capital are you talking about for a small business owner to get into something like this? 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:13.840 Yeah, it's um it's four thousand dollars, you know, on the upper end. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:23.119 Uh, so about two thousand dollars for our product and software, and about two thousand dollars for the installation. 00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:34.480 And um, we conservatively estimate that um most sites are going to be generating about five thousand dollars per year per charger. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:39.360 And so, you know, within the first year, we expect you to break even. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:52.480 Um, and you know, Jim, my um uh part of my retirement plan is for me to own hundreds, if not thousands, of these charging stations, right? 00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:58.079 Because I see the EV transition, it's gonna be plain out for the next 30, 40 years. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:08.559 I want to be owning, you know, uh uh uh, you know, uh hundreds of uh uh charging stations that are generating passive income, you know, uh for myself. 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:16.239 When we think of passive income opportunities right now, um in the built in the fiscal environment, right? 00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:18.320 It used to be ATMs, right? 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:20.639 We don't use cash as much anymore. 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:23.440 So that opportunity is declining. 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:28.639 Um, laundry mats are not growing 25% year over year, right? 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:34.159 And so EV charging represents one of it's an emergent asset class. 00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:40.480 Uh, and I think it's an emergent opportunity for um people to generate stable passive income. 00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:42.480 And I want to be one of them, right? 00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:44.960 Uh right alongside our customers. 00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:46.079 Absolutely. 00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:54.800 And if somebody wanted to get a hold of you or get a hold learn more about this, I know you're you're you're building and you're the business is coming together. 00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:02.719 You and I are working together through Conscious Ventures Lab Um and doing good work there, good partnership. 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:04.800 Thank you for your partnership in that lab. 00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:06.880 You've been very helpful to me. 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:13.599 But um, yeah, talk to me about how someone might just learn more, maybe reach out to you. 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:21.920 Yeah, if you go to pearlcharger.com, you can sign up for uh early pilots. 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:26.320 Uh so pearlpirlcharger.com. 00:38:26.480 --> 00:38:31.760 You can sign up for early pilots, sign up for notifications uh when we launch. 00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:35.360 We expect to launch uh Q1 next year. 00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:41.840 Um and uh I'm easily available on you know LinkedIn or even via email. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:50.800 It's cobby at thepearl.com, so k-o-b-y at t-ep-irl.com. 00:38:51.199 --> 00:39:03.199 And uh we love to talk to you know uh uh uh all kinds of potential partners uh and see how we can you know um assist folks to be part of this uh ongoing transition. 00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:20.719 So um, you know, Jim, I I've um really loved you know uh working with you uh in Conscious Venture Labs and hearing about your personal story uh and the depth of authenticity that you bring to everything you touch is very palpable, right? 00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:24.000 Um and very quite inspiring, to be honest. 00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:38.400 Uh so I'd love to turn this to you and ask you um, what has um this podcast and all the interactions that you've had, what has it meant to you personally? 00:39:39.679 --> 00:40:02.639 Well, I want people to succeed, and there is no better time to and also no more of a

nervous time than to talk to people who are who are building motivated and personally invested in some direction in their life. 00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:13.599 I don't care if they're preparing for a marathon and that's what they have in front of them, or if they're if they're um cobby building a EV business. 00:40:14.239 --> 00:40:23.199 Um, I love the idea that people invest themselves and their energies into a dream, something they want to do. 00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:33.039 And I have the tendency to admire projects that will improve the human condition, have some value to human life. 00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:55.360 Um and so the podcasts and meeting the company owners and and and meeting different um entrepreneurs and and uh founders is is energizing to me because I can feel their energy for what what they're trying to put forth, and and I'm not sloppy in how I do it, right? 00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:10.719 So I'm not um there are just come to me to my neighborhood bar um some afternoon or night, and I can show you a whole group of people that don't have the acumen to take an idea to market, right? 00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:33.519 They have all the ideas, but they don't have the acumen to take it to market, and so I I pick guests that I think get it and understand it, and you come at the highest on that list uh in terms of not just understanding your product, but understanding the market effects of that product. 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:59.280 So um and in the history that you have behind it, from the in your youth watching your father as an engineer and learning those um very systematic skills and processes that your father, I'm sure, went through to do everything he did, and um, and then moving through the finance industry and seeing how the world of finance works. 00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:08.800 Um, you've taken something that can be very complicated to a lot of people, and you've simplified you've simplified it down to a business model. 00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:24.800 Um, and so these these podcasts and the people that I meet mean something to me personally, and I kind of surf off of their energy, and I try to find ways that I can personally assist them if in any way I can. 00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:33.840 And so I think by coming out and talking about what you're doing and hearing that story, people this is how seeds grow. 00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:39.280 Someone hears this and says, that man knows what he's talking about. 00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:40.719 He's thought this through. 00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:42.719 I don't have to rethink that. 00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:46.000 So the capex is already thought through. 00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:53.599 Um, the extension of the life of the asset is two and a half, three times, four times what we we're seeing in the market today. 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:58.880 The modular components allow for lower costs of repair. 00:42:59.280 --> 00:43:05.199 Um, the simplicity of the modular components or add to that lower cost of repair. 00:43:05.360 --> 00:43:11.360 The person can do it themselves, or a lower-paid electrician can make the switches. 00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:28.800 Um, and and then and then framing it in a way that an individual investor could develop a uh a cash cash flow or a return on investment over time after the first year. 00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:46.239 Um these are all components of a good business person, and and that's what you have, and that's what the people that are in the lab have, and and that's why I like to talk to them and and hear the stories and give them an opportunity to get that story out there so people can hear that. 00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:58.400 You as an example, uh, I grew up in banking, you know, and um back in the early days in the eighties when I was in banking, it was community banking. 00:43:58.719 --> 00:44:02.400 And I had a lot of Customers that owned laundry mats. 00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:07.199 And one of the biggest and laundry mats were a great investment. 00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:08.400 Let's face it. 00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:10.400 They were a cash cow. 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:14.960 And uh, but one of the problems were the machines don't last. 00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:22.320 When they break, you don't know about it until someone calls you, or you happen to go in and see that it's broken. 00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:42.800 Um, you have breaks and and um damages that can be caused by water and um and other components of the machines that are in there, and there's no intelligence coming back to you telling you that a component's about to break, you might want to stock up on this, or we're seeing this in other areas, you might want to stock up on this. 00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:57.360 So it's a great investment for a person that I have a lot of um admiration for in the market, a small investor that can generate wealth. 00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:18.079 Um, but I can also see my friend at Prudential Capital in Dallas, Texas, my attorney who who papers up all the windmill financing around the country and uh uh liquefied LP gas and all the energy ventures around the country through Prudential Capital? 00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:20.639 This is what he's looking for. 00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:24.559 This is how you securitize an investment. 00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:36.639 These components that you've talked about are scalable to a very, very high level to make it a very attractive asset to a very large pool of money. 00:45:36.880 --> 00:45:47.519 Um, how hard would it be to really go hard on this and say we're gonna we're gonna do 10,000 of these around the country this year, right? 00:45:47.599 --> 00:45:54.000 And that would take large level financing to do that, and you've put together a program that makes that act actually possible. 00:45:54.639 --> 00:45:54.960 Yeah. 00:45:55.440 --> 00:46:14.000 So from an individual investor being able to get a quality investment that's helping you know the earth through electric electrical use and drop of carbon use, um,

and um and and doing it in a way that is responsible. 00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:29.199 Um and uh and and then once you've proven that individual owners can cash flow on these investments, then you've got the securitization aspect of it where you can start layering other financial components on top of it. 00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:30.239 So that's why I do it. 00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:40.800 I know that's a long story, um, but I do it because I admire you, I can see your passion, and um, I can see your dad in you. 00:46:41.199 --> 00:46:58.400 Um, and the the one the when I say I can see your dad in you is not your dad, but what your dad told you, how to be cautious about your career, you know, and you and you're being thoughtful and cautious, you're not pigeonholing yourself somewhere. 00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:07.920 Um, you're being you're you're broadening out across many industries, finance, um, engineering, um, you know, securitization and all that. 00:47:08.079 --> 00:47:12.719 So I'm I'm quite I'm I'm quite honored to to to know you. 00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:17.360 I know I'm a better person for having heard you and and seeing the work that you're doing. 00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:19.280 So I I thank you very much. 00:47:19.840 --> 00:47:21.039 No, thank you, Jim. 00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:35.039 I think your um your passion for um improving people's lives in whatever way, whatever touch point, I think comes very through very, very clearly. 00:47:35.119 --> 00:47:48.960 And I think this podcast is one of many platforms that I think you have to really elevate, you know, people that you feel are contributing meaningfully to the human condition. 00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:53.039 Um so really thank you for uh for your work. 00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:55.760 Yeah, I want people to be heard. 00:47:55.920 --> 00:48:05.280 There are a lot of stories out there, and as you know, my business listens to the written word, the written communication. 00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:09.760 And um and it's a passion of mine that we start to listen. 00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:19.840 We have the technology today to listen to that written communication in a in a very um organized, um uh valuable manner. 00:48:20.079 --> 00:48:23.440 Um, and and we need to we need to be able to do that. 00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:25.760 So I I want people to be heard. 00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:28.960 Um and there's a lot of value in that, I think. 00:48:29.119 --> 00:48:37.039 And you you've done a great job in finding your market and you understand it, and um I appreciate this. 00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:39.199 Yeah, no, thank you. 00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:45.199 All right, well, that thanks very much, and uh we'll see you uh around the corner, I'm sure. 00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:48.239 Yeah, see you in Baltimore soon. 00:48:48.559 --> 00:48:50.159 All right, thanks, Cobbie. 00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:54.239 Thanks for joining us on this episode of Financial Forward. 00:48:54.639 --> 00:49:01.679 I want to thank Cobbie for taking the time to share his story, his vision, and the mission behind Pearl Technology. 00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:11.920 Conversations like this are important because they remind us that innovation is not just about technology, it's about solving real problems for real people. 00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:20.960 The transition to electric vehicles and sustainable infrastructure is one of the defining economic and societal shifts of our time. 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:30.719 Companies like Pearl are tackling the hard and practical questions that determine whether that transition actually works at scale. 00:49:31.199 --> 00:49:48.079 And personally, I've watched Cobbie operate within Conscious Ventures Lab Cohort 15, and I can say he represents the kind of thoughtful, mission-oriented founder that innovators, communities, and industries should pay attention to. 00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:52.480 I believe Pearl Technology has a very bright future ahead. 00:49:52.719 --> 00:50:06.239 If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and share the show and follow Financial Forward for more conversations with leaders shaping the future of finance, technology, infrastructure, and consumer innovation. 00:50:06.559 --> 00:50:08.159 I'm Jim McCarthy. 00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:13.840 Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Financial Forward.