Temporary power as a service
Moxion's solution for recharging battery-electric equipment in the field
At ConExpo three years ago a few OEMs were showing battery-electric equipment prototypes to contractors, but nobody had yet come up with a good in-the-field charging solution without a connection to the grid.
At this year’s ConExpo most manufacturers had at least a portable or trailered battery box, but one newcomer, Moxion Power, showed what appeared to be the most evolved and best thought-out solution yet.
You may recognize the Moxion name from the announcement last month that the company had secured a multi-million-dollar deal with Sunbelt Rentals to deliver more than 600 of their new MP-75/600 portable battery units over the next year. The deal put Moxion on everyone’s radar, and it validated two important trends in the drive to electrification:
One. Rental will lead the charge when it comes to battery-electric machines and service.
Two: The portable power business is on the cusp of phenomenal growth with construction at the forefront.
I had a chance to sit down with Paul Huelskamp, Moxion’s CEO and co-founder at ConExpo and learn more about how Moxion’s technology and distribution plans will change the way contractors approach battery-electric equipment and how this technology will soon migrate into a variety of applications and industries.
Trouble with the grid
The light bulb moment for Huelskamp came during one of the power outages that occurred as a result of Northern California’s recent wildfires. “Power was being shut off regularly. We didn’t have electricity for days and generators were popping up everywhere,” says Huelskamp.
The fact that nobody had yet come up with a solution to these outages other than hauling in dozens of loud generators that had to be constantly replenished with diesel got Huelskamp thinking. “Every corner of our economy was being electrified, but no one appeared to be thinking about temporary power. We saw a problem that needed a solution,” he says.
“At its core, the Moxion MP-75/600 is a large mobile battery, but there is a lot going on behind the scenes,” says Huelskamp. “We’re vertically integrated, meaning we design, engineer and manufacture all the core technologies that go into these products.”
The company builds its equipment in Richmond, California, and will start producing units for Sunbelt Rentals this month. A second factory will come online in the summer of 2024.
Easy job site recharging
The MP-75/600 is a 600-kilowatt battery system on a trailer that puts out 75 kilowatts of continuous power at 480 volts. “You’ll have a hard time finding a product with that much energy storage that’s not in a shipping container,” says Huelskamp. “We put a lot of effort into packaging our battery modules to maximize energy density and reduce cost per kWh, not to mention safety and reliability.
“This product will be capable of powering or recharging pretty much everything on a jobsite with the exception of some of the largest loads – such as certain tower cranes and industrial dewatering pumps,” says Huelskamp. In addition to recharging battery-electric machines, the MP-75/600 will power jobsite trailers, handheld power tools, and portable welders—anything that needs electricity to run.
Huelskamp also sees a huge opportunity in traditional temporary power applications across residential and commercial construction, including public sector work, utility projects, data centers, and e-commerce facilities. “Eventually the company will have a solution sized for every application on the jobsite,” Huelskamp says.
Fast vs slow charge
Moxion’s MP-75/600 uses the SAE J1772 charging standard for level 3 DC fast charging or slower, level 2 AC charging. This translates into about a 10-hour DC fast charge or a 24-hour AC charge from zero to 100 percent.
“With our product and the intended applications, we don’t think we need to chase after ultra-fast charging,” says Huelskamp. “Most of our customers have the luxury of charging overnight. There will be some use cases for ultra-fast charging, but these are corner scenarios,” he says.
“The battery modules are an integrated part of the system, so it’s not feasible to swap the individual modules out when units run low on charge,” says Huelskamp. “Our Energy Services business remotely monitors every unit that’s on rent with a customer, and we simply swap out units when more energy is needed. In most applications, our units will run for weeks between swaps.”
Customers can currently rent the product from Sunbelt Rentals, or in certain markets, from Moxion’s Energy Services business. They can also buy the products directly from Moxion.
New markets and products
In addition to their mobile battery systems, Moxion will be opening retail locations across the US to provide energy as a service. “These will be similar to normal equipment rental yards, but we do a lot more than just rent our batteries from these facilities,” says Huelskamp.
“At each of these locations, we’ll have a high-power grid connection, charging infrastructure, carport-style solar systems, and a fleet of our mobile batteries. We charge the units at these locations and deliver them to customers who need temporary power.” Moxion’s swapping service, which is somewhat analogous to mobile refueling, ensures its customers never have to worry about running out of power.
Currently Moxion has two Energy Service locations located in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, with plans to open at least five more next year, and hundreds over the next decade. “Launching new locations will be one of our core competencies,” says Huelskamp.
“We have a robust product development roadmap that consists of smaller batteries, larger batteries, power-oriented products, and long-duration, energy-oriented products,” he says. “There are several exciting market opportunities that are nascent today, such as mobile EV charging and behind-the-meter storage. They’re on the horizon and going to be a massive adjacent market opportunity for us.”
The demand for green
In the next few years, it is likely that the customers of construction services such as hospitals, schools, and corporations, will start asking contractors what they can offer in terms of low-carbon or green construction solutions, especially in markets like California.
Government agencies may also require, (as California did back when diesel emissions were being reduced) that contractors use the “Best Available Technology,” or BAT when entering bids. Rental of battery-electric equipment and a portable charging solution can be a quick answer to that request without requiring substantial capital outlays.
Currently Moxion is focused on construction, film, utility applications, and live events such as music festivals, concerts, golf tournaments and sports venues. “Those are the four big verticals for us at the moment,” says Huelskamp. The company has done several pilots with major movie studios in Hollywood, including Amazon Studios, which is looking to decarbonize its operations.
For the movie studios and entertainment venues, the silent power provided by battery electric is a huge and obvious advantage, most notably, being quiet and unobtrusive. “The film industry is taking bold strides to decarbonize, and it’s an important market for us,” says Huelskamp. “And areas hit by fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters will benefit from our products and services as well.”
Paul Huelskamp with the Moxion MP-75/600.