"It's what I do, I invent stuff!" Tom Tormey - Charge Point Vice President “No thank you,” I said. “I just came here to take some pictures quick.” “Oh yeah, do I really have to be in the picture?” He asked. “I mean, I am writing a profile about you, so it would be kinda weird not to have a picture with you in it.” “Okay, Okay.” He said. Devan was helping me set up my equipment. I set up my black sheet over the door and and got my camera ready. I was about to take the picture when devan looked over and said: “Really Rachel? Are you really using auto focus?” I rolled my eyes and switched to manual. “Happy now?” “Actually, yes.” He said with a satisfied grin. I sighed, and took a few pictures. After about 10 I was satisfied. Tom insisted I needed his approval on which of the pictures to use. Aside from more charging stations throughout the world with the help of Tom Tormey, at the
the end of October, there will be a new completely redesigned and reengineered software that will wirelessly update on every ChargePoint station in the world. This will make the charging process easier and faster for ChargePoint users. Also, the ChargePoint website will be redesigned as well. For my last interview with Tom, I met with him at the ChargePoint headquarters. I walked up to the main door, and was led to his office. Tom and I talked, and then for my last question, I asked him: “Tom, you do a lot with ChargePoint. How will ChargePoint continue to grow in the future with your help?” “My team has been and continues to be responsible for defining the entire product and business roadmap for ChargePoint. So far we have been pretty successful, lets hope we continue!” Tom Tormey.
Level 1: Level 1 charging works like any standard three-pronged household outlet, meaning you can plug your EV into the outlet in your garage and charge its battery. Virtually every EV on the market supports this type of charging. The bad part: it’s painstakingly slow. For example, a Nissan Leaf using a standard 120-volt charger will take roughly 18 to 20 hours. Level 2: Level 2 charging is much faster and uses special equipment specific to EVs. This is the type of charging you will want to use most often.
I thought to myself: “That picture was way too blown out!” I adjusted the aperture, then looked through the viewfinder again. I was attempting to get a good picture of the Nissan Leaf that was parked outside of the main ChargePoint building. As I stood there, taking pictures of the charging stations and the cars that occupied them, I tried to anticipate what was about to happen. I was about to meet with Tom Tormey, Vice President of ChargePoint, a company that pioneered in the electric car charging industry that specializes in the infrastructure of the car charging stations, and the technology behind them. I adjusted the aperture of my camera, and began to think: How should I greet him? Should we shake hands? Are my hands even clean? Just as my anxiety started to kick in, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw him. Tom was walking down the stairs to come greet me. “Hey there Rachel!” He said with his deep voice, as he waved at me from the stairs. Tom was wearing a really nice black suit, shiny leather shoes, and in his left
Should we shake hands? Are my hands even clean? Just as my anxiety started to kick in, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw him. Tom was walking down the stairs to come greet me. “Hey there Rachel!” He said with his deep voice, as he waved at me from the stairs. Tom was wearing a really nice black suit, shiny leather shoes, and in his left hand, his lunch. A cup of noodles. His casual posture and the combination of his polished attire was quite the sight. I laughed to myself as I approached him when he took a huge bite of his cup of noodles. He smiled, and then, in a voice that could take command of a room with one word, “What’s so funny?” “That’s quite the nutritious lunch you have,” I said. I was surprised how informal the situation was. I felt like Tom and I had been friends for awhile and this was just another casual get-together. He laughed, and then wiped his mouth with
the sleeve of his suit. “So,” he said. “Shall I show you around?” Tom has not always been the Vice President at ChargePoint. “For as long as I could remember, I always wanted to know how electrical things like telephones and radios and televisions worked.” Tom Tormey. His interests when he was growing up sparked his interests in electrical engineering, which he studied at UC Irvine. Tom graduated from UC Irvine and then got his masters degree at UC Berkeley in Engineering. Since then, he has worked in the electrical engineering industry and continues to today. He has been through multiple start ups, two of which he was apart of in southern California, for a total of almost 5 years, then him and his now wife, moved to northern California to pursue his interests in Silicon Valley. “I’ve worked at 1, 2, 3, no, 4 startups before ChargePoint. Usually about one in a thousand startups go public. In other terms, 98% of start ups fail, while very few are successful. So for me to have a string of four in a row to be successful, it’s pretty unusual. I’ve also created a few patents on various things, mostly microchip software and design. I probably have a dozen plaques or so.” “And about the other startups, why did you choose to stop working there?” “Well, mostly because I got bored. I want to be on the cutting edge of things.” “And then ChargePoint, how did you get involved there?” “A mutual friend suggested that the main founder of the company and I have coffee. The rest as they say is history.” After he had heard what Coulomb Technologies was about and their goal, Tom was eager
eager to help. Soon after, he was employed by Coulomb Technologies. Tom even thought of the company’s new name, ChargePoint. Since then, Tom has traveled all over the world, spreading the message of electric cars and introducing ChargePoint company to all sorts of countries. From Mexico City to Tel Aviv, ChargePoint stations have been implemented to provide service for electric car owners all around the world. “I love how you’re so casual about your accomplishments like with the 12 patents,” I said. shocked at how nonchalant that comment was. “Well, it’s what I do! I invent stuff.” Tom Tormey understands the future of electric cars. More and more people will be making the transition from gas to electric, and without companies like ChargePoint, the community would have less access to electric vehicle charging stations and less accessibility to have charging stations available. Electric Vehicles are better for the environment than gasoline cars. There’s no argument to that. Even though this is general knowledge, why don’t more people make the switch? This is because even though owning an electric car is cheaper and better for the environment, there is a lack of charging stations in our community which makes electric cars less appealing than gasoline cars. From there, people will need charging stations, and that’s where ChargePoint fits in the equation. “The crystal ball gazers are expecting to see more than 1 million EVs on the road in 5 years.” Tom began, smiling. “By the end of this year there will be about 50,000. We have a ways to go, but are off to
a pretty good start.” Tom Tormey. Something I had to ask Tom was why, why electric power over other sources of energy. We have the technology for various sources of energy for powering vehicles, but why is electricity the ultimate alternative energy? Why did ChargePoint choose to support electricity as a fuel for cars rather than other alternative fuels? “The distribution infrastructure for electricity already exists.” He paused, then continued, raising his hands to make gestures. “Other fuels like hydrogen would require investing billions of dollars to put in the equivalent distribution infrastructure. Also, electricity is completely fungible. You can generate it locally using anything, sun wind, biomass, hydro, nuclear, you name it.” Tom Tormey. Obviously, we don’t have enough electric cars to have systems like we have with gas stations. However, there is a big difference between how gasoline cars and electric cars work. Usually, you can fill up your car in minutes with gasoline, but with electricity, it’s a lot different, and this is something that ChargePoint has to work around. Electric cars require more time to charge. A lot longer than it takes for you to fill up your car at the gas station. So, knowing this, ChargePoint puts their charging stations in ideal locations where people will have their car parked for at least an hour. ChargePoint stations are located at malls, grocery
stores, even places like Stanford University. There are three different types of charging the battery for electric cars. Earlier this week, I had to go to Tom’s house to take a photo of him for my profile project. Originally, I wanted to use the studio at freestyle to take the picture of him for my cover, but with his busy schedule, there was no way for him to be able to come all the way to freestyle for that. I then decided to make my own studio, and brought a black sheet and lighting equipment to his house. At first he was uninterested in having me take a portrait of him. Carrying all of my things, I stumbled through the unlocked door and was greeted by their dog, Bender, named after the robot from Futurama. Bender was wagging his tail followed me. I walked through the entryway and made my way through the kitchen where I first found Devan, Tom’s son, watching The Daily Show, and also somehow managing to shovel a bowl of chicken and noodles into his mouth. Tom was sitting there with Devan, and I stood there for a moment watching them both eat noodles and chicken. I thought back to when I first met Tom at ChargePoint, and him holding his cup of noodles. “The noodle thing must run in the family,” I thought. Tom turned around and said: “Want some food?
I thought to myself: “That picture was way too blown out!” I adjusted the aperture, then looked through the viewfinder again. I was attempting to get a good picture of the Nissan Leaf that was parked outside of the main ChargePoint building. As I stood there, taking pictures of the charging stations and the cars that occupied them, I tried to anticipate what was about to happen. I was about to meet with Tom Tormey, Vice President of ChargePoint, a company that pioneered in the electric car charging industry that specializes in the infrastructure of the car charging stations, and the technology behind them. I adjusted the aperture of my camera, and began to think: How should I greet him? Should we shake hands? Are my hands even clean? Just as my anxiety started to kick in, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw him. Tom was walking down the stairs to come greet me. “Hey there Rachel!” He said with his deep voice, as he waved at me from the stairs. Tom was wearing a really nice black suit, shiny leather shoes, and in his left
Should we shake hands? Are my hands even clean? Just as my anxiety started to kick in, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw him. Tom was walking down the stairs to come greet me. “Hey there Rachel!” He said with his deep voice, as he waved at me from the stairs. Tom was wearing a really nice black suit, shiny leather shoes, and in his left hand, his lunch. A cup of noodles. His casual posture and the combination of his polished attire was quite the sight. I laughed to myself as I approached him when he took a huge bite of his cup of noodles. He smiled, and then, in a voice that could take command of a room with one word, “What’s so funny?” “That’s quite the nutritious lunch you have,” I said. I was surprised how informal the situation was. I felt like Tom and I had been friends for awhile and this was just another casual get-together. He laughed, and then wiped his mouth with
the sleeve of his suit. “So,” he said. “Shall I show you around?” Tom has not always been the Vice President at ChargePoint. “For as long as I could remember, I always wanted to know how electrical things like telephones and radios and televisions worked.” Tom Tormey. His interests when he was growing up sparked his interests in electrical engineering, which he studied at UC Irvine. Tom graduated from UC Irvine and then got his masters degree at UC Berkeley in Engineering. Since then, he has worked in the electrical engineering industry and continues to today. He has been through multiple start ups, two of which he was apart of in southern California, for a total of almost 5 years, then him and his now wife, moved to northern California to pursue his interests in Silicon Valley. “I’ve worked at 1, 2, 3, no, 4 startups before ChargePoint. Usually about one in a thousand startups go public. In other terms, 98% of start ups fail, while very few are successful. So for me to have a string of four in a row to be successful, it’s pretty unusual. I’ve also created a few patents on various things, mostly microchip software and design. I probably have a dozen plaques or so.” “And about the other startups, why did you choose to stop working there?” “Well, mostly because I got bored. I want to be on the cutting edge of things.” “And then ChargePoint, how did you get involved there?” “A mutual friend suggested that the main founder of the company and I have coffee. The rest as they say is history.” After he had heard what Coulomb Technologies was about and their goal, Tom was eager
eager to help. Soon after, he was employed by Coulomb Technologies. Tom even thought of the company’s new name, ChargePoint. Since then, Tom has traveled all over the world, spreading the message of electric cars and introducing ChargePoint company to all sorts of countries. From Mexico City to Tel Aviv, ChargePoint stations have been implemented to provide service for electric car owners all around the world. “I love how you’re so casual about your accomplishments like with the 12 patents,” I said. shocked at how nonchalant that comment was. “Well, it’s what I do! I invent stuff.” Tom Tormey understands the future of electric cars. More and more people will be making the transition from gas to electric, and without companies like ChargePoint, the community would have less access to electric vehicle charging stations and less accessibility to have charging stations available. Electric Vehicles are better for the environment than gasoline cars. There’s no argument to that. Even though this is general knowledge, why don’t more people make the switch? This is because even though owning an electric car is cheaper and better for the environment, there is a lack of charging stations in our community which makes electric cars less appealing than gasoline cars. From there, people will need charging stations, and that’s where ChargePoint fits in the equation. “The crystal ball gazers are expecting to see more than 1 million EVs on the road in 5 years.” Tom began, smiling. “By the end of this year there will be about 50,000. We have a ways to go, but are off to
a pretty good start.” Tom Tormey. Something I had to ask Tom was why, why electric power over other sources of energy. We have the technology for various sources of energy for powering vehicles, but why is electricity the ultimate alternative energy? Why did ChargePoint choose to support electricity as a fuel for cars rather than other alternative fuels? “The distribution infrastructure for electricity already exists.” He paused, then continued, raising his hands to make gestures. “Other fuels like hydrogen would require investing billions of dollars to put in the equivalent distribution infrastructure. Also, electricity is completely fungible. You can generate it locally using anything, sun wind, biomass, hydro, nuclear, you name it.” Tom Tormey. Obviously, we don’t have enough electric cars to have systems like we have with gas stations. However, there is a big difference between how gasoline cars and electric cars work. Usually, you can fill up your car in minutes with gasoline, but with electricity, it’s a lot different, and this is something that ChargePoint has to work around. Electric cars require more time to charge. A lot longer than it takes for you to fill up your car at the gas station. So, knowing this, ChargePoint puts their charging stations in ideal locations where people will have their car parked for at least an hour. ChargePoint stations are located at malls, grocery
stores, even places like Stanford University. There are three different types of charging the battery for electric cars. Earlier this week, I had to go to Tom’s house to take a photo of him for my profile project. Originally, I wanted to use the studio at freestyle to take the picture of him for my cover, but with his busy schedule, there was no way for him to be able to come all the way to freestyle for that. I then decided to make my own studio, and brought a black sheet and lighting equipment to his house. At first he was uninterested in having me take a portrait of him. Carrying all of my things, I stumbled through the unlocked door and was greeted by their dog, Bender, named after the robot from Futurama. Bender was wagging his tail followed me. I walked through the entryway and made my way through the kitchen where I first found Devan, Tom’s son, watching The Daily Show, and also somehow managing to shovel a bowl of chicken and noodles into his mouth. Tom was sitting there with Devan, and I stood there for a moment watching them both eat noodles and chicken. I thought back to when I first met Tom at ChargePoint, and him holding his cup of noodles. “The noodle thing must run in the family,” I thought. Tom turned around and said: “Want some food?