Take a drive through Midtown Manhattan and you might cross paths with towering, futuristic structures that look very much like next-century streetlights. But those modernistic, clunky pillars are actually high-speed, on-street charging systems called pantographs that can charge electric buses in just three to six minutes.

With U.S. forecasts predicting 10 to 35 million electric vehicles (EV) on the road by 2030, industry stakeholders are seeking ways to avert an expected EV-driven 10-20 GW increase in peak load across the nation.