When people think about electric vehicles, they often picture faster cars, longer battery ranges, and sleek designs. But behind the scenes, one of the biggest game changers in the EV ecosystem isn’t under the hood, it’s under your feet. Jeremy McCool, founder and CEO of HEVO, is leading the charge to make EV charging wireless, universal, and seamless.
Founded in New York City in 2011, HEVO, short for Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Optimization, is on a mission to make EV charging as simple and intuitive as charging your phone. After more than a decade of development, the company is now poised to bring wireless EV charging to the mass market, with major automakers preparing to launch vehicles equipped with HEVO’s technology by the end of this decade.
A Mission Born on the Battlefield
McCool’s journey to launching HEVO started in one of the most unlikely places: Baghdad. As a U.S. Army captain deployed during the Iraq War, he saw firsthand how access to electricity could transform lives, but also how the ways power was generated had devastating consequences for both health and the environment.
“When we brought power to neighborhoods, quality of life improved immediately,” McCool recalled. “But the diesel microgenerators we used would fill entire neighborhoods with soot and pollutants.”
That experience left a mark. After returning to the U.S., McCool enrolled at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he began studying the intersection of electrification, renewable energy, and transportation. It was during his final semester that HEVO was born.
From Incubator to Industry Leader
McCool launched HEVO at Columbia and soon partnered with NYU’s School of Engineering, developing the company’s wireless charging technology at the university’s Clean Tech incubator. Over the next several years, HEVO quietly built relationships with major automakers and energy companies around the world, working behind the scenes to make wireless charging a viable option.
In 2020, HEVO became the first and only company to secure both UL certification and SAE qualification, two of the highest global standards for wireless EV charging safety and efficiency. These milestones opened the door for commercial partnerships and large-scale deployment.
“Today, we’re working with several major automakers to integrate our technology directly into their vehicles,” McCool said. “We expect the first production vehicles with wireless charging capabilities to hit the market between late 2027 and early 2029.”
How It Works—and Why It Matters
For consumers, HEVO’s innovation is refreshingly simple. Instead of plugging in, drivers simply park over a wireless charging pad embedded in a driveway, parking garage, or curbside location. The pad, about the size of a large pizza box, wirelessly communicates and transfers power to a receiver built into the vehicle, enabling efficient, bidirectional charging.
What makes HEVO’s technology unique is its combination of efficiency, universality, and cost-competitiveness:
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Efficiency: HEVO’s wireless chargers deliver 90-93% efficiency, nearly identical to traditional plug-in chargers.
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Universality: Unlike plug-in systems that vary by region and manufacturer, wireless charging is a global standard—what works in North America will work in Europe and Asia.
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Economic Impact: Because of its scalability and simplicity, HEVO’s wireless solution is priced comparably to, or even cheaper than, plug-in alternatives.
Beyond convenience, wireless charging could fundamentally reshape the economics and environmental footprint of EVs. With wireless pads everywhere, from homes and apartment garages to curbside spots and workplaces, drivers could “graze” and top up their batteries throughout the day, reducing the need for oversized, resource-intensive battery packs.
“The fastest way to make electric vehicle adoption happen is wireless charging,” McCool explained. “It’s the simplest, most universal way to charge, and it can reduce vehicle costs and weight.”
The Road Ahead: Wireless Highways & Autonomous Charging
While HEVO’s immediate focus is on home and commercial wireless charging, McCool envisions a future where wireless charging is embedded into highways themselves. In that future, EVs, including commercial trucks and autonomous vehicles, could charge continuously while driving, eliminating the need for long pit stops and complicated plug-in logistics.
“You could drive from New York to Orlando without ever stopping to charge,” McCool said. “It would be as simple as staying in a wireless lane.”
The Tipping Point
After more than a decade of development, HEVO’s moment has arrived. Interest from automakers has accelerated rapidly in the last year, especially after Tesla announced its own wireless charging plans. HEVO believes this is the turning point.
“There was this slow undercurrent of interest for years,” McCool said. “Then all of a sudden, the tide turned. Automakers are quietly adopting wireless charging, and many believe it will be the key feature that finally drives mass EV adoption.”
For McCool, it’s the culmination of a mission that began in Baghdad and took shape in the classrooms of New York. Now, it’s poised to reshape how the world drives, and how we charge.
