EVolve Houston is a coalition of sustainability-minded civic, business, and academic leaders who seek to accelerate clean transportation through electrification. In this context, EVolve Houston created a program to provide Fleet Electrification Advisory Consulting to five major local fleets, which include the City of Houston, Harris County and Fort Bend County.

During the joint presentation, Chris and Yann will dive into EVolve Houston's mandate, the City of Houston’s fleet conversion goals, and highlight what both have accomplished to date in the region. Yann and Chris will then discuss the fleet EV assessment process and key results of EV feasibility from studies with the City of Houston. The discussion will cover: the percentage of electrifiable vehicles by category, costs (total cost of ownership), greenhouse gas emissions outcomes, optional depots, energy usage and load profiles, 5- and 10-year EV feasibility forecasts, and more. The speakers will finally highlight the implications for Houston, and the next steps that the fleets plan on executing.

Guest Speakers

Speaker: Chris George
Executive Director, EVolve Houston

As Executive Director of EVolve Houston, Chris leads efforts across fundraising, stakeholder and member engagement, and organizational development. With experience developing and closing complex strategic partnerships in the mobility space, Chris brings deep industry knowledge working alongside automotive OEMs, consumer fleets, utilities, government agencies, dealer groups, startups, and domestic and international governments. Prior to EVolve Houston, Chris led strategic partnerships and created the automotive industry’s largest third-party applications program at Vinli, a connected vehicle and data intelligence company.

Prior to Vinli, he led the creation of an international ecosystem of developers and entrepreneurs at the intersection of sustainability and software (Cleanweb) with Bill Weinl of Facebook and Sunil Paul of Sidecar, et al. Chris spends his free time with his wife Sarah and kids Maren, William and Theodore, and serves as Board Member at Houston Parks Board, and Advisory Board for Da Camera, Houston’s longest-running jazz and chamber music organization.

Speaker: Yann Kulp
Co-Founder, eIQ Mobility

As head of business development, Yann leads all customer engagement for eIQ Mobility, a recently acquired NextEra Energy Resources company. He is the former Head of North America e-Mobility strategy for Schneider Electric, and key architect of their global strategy. From 2012 to 2016, Yann led an internal startup at Schneider Electric to develop an IoT smart thermostat business. From 2009 to 2012, based in the Schneider Electric Paris HQ, Yann managed all marketing operations for the €1 billion+ controls business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Prior to that, he spent 12 years with Legrand in US & European product management & sales roles. Yann lives in Chicago with his wife, and they are recent empty nesters. His is a board member of the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association and serves on the board of the Jackalope Theater Company, based in the Edgewater neighborhood for Chicago.