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⚡ Questions For TLC & Revel About *New* EV Plate Allocation
Footage we independently verified indicated Revel had at least 50 vehicles purchased & prepped going into the "First Come, First Served" 400 EV FHV License release last week. Drivers have questions.
We don’t like promoting conspiracy or frivolous claims which, if you’ve been in this industry for a minute, you know are common. Some accusations present as simple hearsay, others are purposely misleading while others are based on deeply flawed analysis.
One accusation we were very hesitant to report on, even if it meant missing out on a lot of engagement, related to Revel, a fast growing and well funded EV mobility & infrastructure company. The claims revolved around a supposedly outsized *new* EV FHV License (a/k/a TLC Plate) allocation received during last week’s contentious “First Come, First Served” *new* EV TLC Plate allocation process.
HOWEVER, enough of our subscriber base sent us information and actual footage that we needed to check it out or risk losing credibility.
Suspicions, Probabilities, Evidence?
We respect any business’, including individual TLC drivers (who we view as small business owners), right to operate within a balanced industry framework. A framework that balances the sometimes conflicting demands of different industry participants (e.g., drivers, fleet owners, bases, taxi medallion industry, green cabs, etc.). Everyone is “playing by the same rules” if you will. Transparency promotes a sense of fairness and, in turn, hopefully balanced policy.
Since TLC Chair David Do announced the release of 1,000 *new* EV FHV Licenses last year, Revel has had a target on its back. After all, a simple look back at recent history should remind people that the original electric vehicle (EV) exemption to the FHV License Pause (a/k/a TLC Plate Cap) was removed related to fears around Revel’s plans to add hundreds, if not thousands, of more vehicles to an already oversaturated NYC for-hire vehicle fleet.
Given this history, we argued several times, as recently as a few weeks ago, that the EV-focused mobility & infrastructure company should be subject to a different process (e.g., auction) than individual drivers OR there would be a risk of unfair “accusations”.
“For example, if it is revealed (via publicly available NYC Open Data) that Revel managed to acquire a large chunk of these new EV-only TLC Plates, there will likely be a lot of driver backlash, whether fair or unfair. It may not seem obvious, but we know this market. To be clear, we aren’t accusing Revel of backroom dealings and we think they have every right to expand their business within the TLC’s given regulatory framework.”
- AutoMarketplace (January 4, 2023)
There was already a long running suspicion among many regarding Revel since the announcement that the TLC would release *new* EV FHV Licenses.
“How many [EV TLC Plates] are intended to go to companies that have already invested in creating EV vehicle fleets, like Revel?”
- Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, NYC Council Member & Chair Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Oct 13, 2022 NYC Council hearing)
Since last week’s EV FHV license allocation process, the TLC quickly and helpfully revealed that nearly 45% of the 400 EV TLC Plate allocation went to business entities. It framed the numbers as 174 of 1,000, but as most in the industry know, the initial 600 (of 1,000) allocation on March 15th were exclusively for individual TLC drivers.
Given the process was “First Come, First-Served” (“How quick can you click"?) and any individual or entity would have to apply “one at a time” (up to 25 per entity), it was highly unlikely any individual (or business entity) was going to be able to claim more than 1 FHV License, maybe a few AT BEST.
In addition, the TLC revealed shortly after the process concluded, that demand for the 400 EV TLC Plates was in excess of 75,000. In other words, probability also pointed to maximum individual or business entity allocation of a few EV FHV Licenses, to a few lucky quick-clicking folks and businesses.
It also didn’t help that things got a bit weird the day of, when multiple drivers (& our own team) could not access the link until about 10:03am. Obviously, every second ⏱️counts in a clicking 🖱️🖱️ contest. We, along with others, felt that was odd. Nevertheless, to draw conclusions based on that alone, although probability may also imply certain outcomes, would be unfair without specific evidence.
So, where are we going with this?
We began receiving and observing social media footage shortly before and after the release of EV FHV Licenses, that showed roughly 30 prepped, Revel-branded “unplated” Tesla Model Ys and another roughly 30 white, unplated Tesla Model Ys next to the Revel branded vehicles located in a NYC parking area that bystanders could easily view.
After being sent the footage by multiple subscribers, we decided to attempt to independently verify the footage and were able to do so. The vehicles were visible from a public NYC parking area at a shopping plaza and from publicly accessible sidewalks.
Below we share some footage sent to us and also made public on social media by others. The footage we share, unlike many clips on social media, is heavily edited and makes it difficult to know where the vehicles are, out of an abundance of caution.
In fact, we were only able to independently verify the footage based on social media posts, which made it relatively easy to guess the location (e.g., vehicles were clearly visible from a parking lot of a large shopping plaza and from public sidewalks).
To be clear, the above IS NOT meant to be an accusation of insider dealings, but to ask further questions based on legitimate observations and confusing TLC process, which when combined has many, many…many drivers upset.
We also would like to afford Revel & the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission the opportunity to address the concerns outlined above. In many ways we are simply a messenger of what, we believe, to be understandable questions many drivers have around Revel’s potentially sizeable EV TLC Plate allocation and the TLC EV FHV License allocation process itself.
We think several key questions are:
How was Revel so confident on an allocation that it spent millions on Tesla Model Ys ahead of a confirmed allocation?
OR, TO BE FAIR, did Revel actually get a large allocation? If they didn’t, then the footage is meaningless & Revel basically had a multimillion dollar bet go wrong? Or was it simply a bet they had to make given the 30 day licensing deadline post confirmed allocation?
OR, TO BE FAIR, did Revel buy the vehicles because it had entered into agreements with other parties, in case it didn’t get a large allocation. For example, it could still use its new fleet to access other available FHV Licenses (e.g., work with or buy other FHV Corporations (even Taxi Medallions? 🤷♀️))
OR, if Revel-controlled entities (e.g., multiple corps) did get large EV TLC Plate allocations, how is that possible given the “First Come, First Served” dynamic at play? Even if they had 50+ people on 50+ separate computers, there were tens of thousands of individuals and businesses ready to go at 10am sharp. Probability dictates no one could get a large allocation unless they had thousands of people on standby, sitting front of individual computers.
We clearly are trying our very best to give Revel (& the TLC) every benefit of the doubt, but they are not making it easy.
Drivers Deserve Transparency, TLC & Revel Deserve To Be Heard
Anyone who knows NYC Open Data, knows that the ultimate EV allocation ownership data will be public knowledge in just a few months, so an exact truth will be revealed soon. What we do know from the TLC right now, is that ~45% of the 400 EV FHV License allocation went to business entities. We believe the few minute delay in launching last Wednesdays process has also caused additional suspicion among many TLC drivers.
Revel and the Taxi & Limousine Commission are obviously not required to answer to us, but if they listened to the industry grapevine, they would know there is a lot of chatter about this. The company and/or the TLC may want to correct any mischaracterization or quickly address unfounded accusations. If they do not, there is a risk that the TLC loses a lot of credibility among the driver community and Revel is demonized, both would be unfair if the above footage and the few minute delay are being mischaracterized.
Drivers and other TLC industry participants, at the very least, deserve much more transparency from the Taxi & Limousine Commission on last week’s process.
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
AutoMarketplace NYC covers the for-hire transportation industry and automotive news. Check out AutoMarketplace on YouTube ▶️
Good percentage of drivers that managed to submit the form we are all on the "wait-list"
I feel that I was among the first and quickest to click and register at 10:02 but was put on the waitlist and informed only by the evening. Definitely not first come first served. Lack of transparency undoubtedly!