EV charging firm Xeal plans to use its existing U.S. network to deploy the “world’s first edge inference compute network using idle EV charging capacity.” The big idea is that it already has 1,600+ locations and 200MW of permitted, installed electrical infrastructure, so it aims to “deploy over 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs” at these sites. Thus it has developed Latient Pods (pictured), with each containing up to 48 Nvidia Hopper or Blackwell Ultra GPUs. We hope charging location security will be adequate to keep thieves away from these cabinets, as they are probably worth $2M+ each.
Nikhil Bharadwaj, co-founder and CEO of Xeal, explained that Latient Pods can deliver inference compute today while new data centers are still being built. “Latient is the fastest way to bring new compute online, tapping already permitted and grid-connected, yet idle energy capacity, located right where it's needed for ultra-low latency, with no water hookup requirements,” highlighted the exec. Grid interconnect is said to be one of the trickiest things for those looking to bring new compute online, but Xeal’s EV charging sites, which “typically operate at less than 10% of permitted capacity,” can deliver processing power via a distributed network across a metropolitan area.
An Nvidia rep also praised the upcoming Latient Pod network for being an innovative way to bring low-latency inference closer to users while making better use of infrastructure that has already been built.
In the rendered image from Xeal, a Latient Pod looks quite a lot like a broadband fiber cabinet that you might have on your street. A pod will boast the following specs/features:
Powered by idle EV charging capacity
Up to 48 Nvidia Hopper or Blackwell Ultra GPUs
Self-contained independent cooling, no water hookup required
Quiet operation at less than 65 dBs (comparable to a washing machine)
Fixed rental or ancillary revenue for site owner
Adds up to $1 million in property value for little-to-no investment
All power bills covered as a tenant pass-through
Potential savings for EV charging customers
Built to withstand the outdoors, NEMA 4 enclosure
Installed and running in hours
If Xeal has 1,600+ locations, and one Latient Pod has up to 48 GPUs, its touted purchasing target of 100,000 Nvidia GPUs suggests some sites will have more than a single pod at the location. Or perhaps it intends to build more EV sites, up to nearly 2,100 in total.
It claims that the location of its pods around metro areas, a feature dubbed Metro Edge, offers sub-20ms latency, a significant speedup over inference located in a distant data center.
We’ve previously reported on EVs and distributed computing, but in a slightly different context. Last year we discussed Elon Musk’s proposal to make use of the untapped asset of the millions of Tesla cars out there. He called it “100 gigawatts of inference” that could be used when the vehicles are “bored.”
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Meanwhile, we must remember that EV charging stations are already being targeted by thieves. We reported about a ‘plague’ of electric car charger cable thefts driven simply by the copper scrap value of the hefty cables used at the sites. Imagine the security that would be required if/when Latient Pods are deployed, stuffed with extremely expensive GPUs. 48 Blackwell GPUs would be worth around $2,000,000 according to 2024 figures – so surely much more by now.
The first Latient Pod will be online by the end of the year, says Xeal.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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