Revel is ending its ridesharing operation to focus on EV charging

Revel Transit is shutting down its rideshare operation in NYC, as reported by Bloomberg. The company will instead focus its efforts on EV charging. It’s also seeking buyers for its fleet, including the 165 for-hire vehicle license plates it owns.

“At the end of the day, rideshare is a very competitive market and asset-heavy. It’s low margin,” CEO Frank Reig said. “We have made the difficult decision that the best way we can keep the EV transition moving forward is by ending our rideshare service and focusing on building the fast-charging infrastructure our biggest cities need to keep going electric.”

The company was the first in NYC to operate an all-electric ridehailing fleet, launching with just 50 vehicles but eventually growing to 500 vehicles. However, that’s a drip in the bucket compared to rivals like Uber and Lyft. Revel averages about 100,000 rides per month, but Uber and Lyft complete more than 20 million trips each month.

Revel did find success with its EV chargers, after unveiling the platform back in 2021. It operates more than 100 chargers across five stations in NYC, along with a dozen or so more chargers in San Francisco. These stations are primarily used by Uber and Lyft drivers. It hopes to have 400 charging stalls by the end of next year and 2,000 by 2030 in markets like NYC, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“Uber and Lyft are electrifying fast and they’re providing a ton of utilization for our chargers on a much larger scale than even two or three years ago,” Reig said.

This is just the latest pivot by Revel. The company once operated a moped rental service, but that was shuttered last year. It also laid off drivers to transition to a contractor-based model like Uber and Lyft.