Electric Vehicle [EV] charging stations or home charging are both fast becoming much-needed infrastructure to help support the EV boom. Based on the Bloomberg forecasts (10m sales pa by 2025, 28m pa by 2030, and 56m pa by 2040 of electric car sales) we can see there will be a massive need for new chargers each year.
It is worthwhile remembering that almost every electric car buyer will need to buy a home charger and it is the cheapest way to charge. Added to this will be the public chargers to help support longer trips or destination charging (work, hotel, etc.).
In this article I take a first look at the opportunity and the leading companies involved. I may follow-up with an article of one or two of the best opportunities.
Electric Car Charging: What You Need To Know Before You Buy
My view is that the ultra-fast chargers are the future. Today that means a 350kW+ charger which can add 20 miles of driving range in 1 minute, or ~400 miles of range in 20 minutes.
For example, Porsche has started using ultra-fast chargers on the new Porsche Taycan that can add 60 miles in 4 minutes and 80% range in 15 minutes (most fast chargers offer 80% range in 30-40 minutes).
Below I focus on those companies that either have large EV charging networks, or are building them. Or those that supply the most popular charging equipment such as home chargers and ultra-fast chargers. Also a few charging network operators.
Business Opportunities In The Booming Electric Vehicle Market
Tesla has a global leading charging network. Tesla manufactures their own chargers. They are now up to version 3 (Supercharger V3) that are capable of delivering peak charge rates up to 250kW. Early Model S and X buyers have been granted some credit towards charging costs (vehicles ordered before November 2, 2018 receive 400 kWh (~1, 600 km) of Supercharger credits annually) at Tesla's public charging network, whereas Model 3 buyers must pay. New S & X buyers if referred by a current Tesla owner get the same credits as mentioned above. Owners are billed per kWh (kilowatt-hour). Tesla does not share their superchargers with other companies (more details here) and does not look to make a profit from their charging network; however, this could well change in the future. Electrek quotes Tesla as saying public charging ‘will never be a profit center’ for the company.
, there is no merit in buying Tesla. Of course, Tesla's global leading charging network helps add to Tesla's reputation and global leader status.
More than 99% of the U.S. population is covered by the network, and we anticipate similar coverage in Europe by the end of 2019. Recently, we passed 90% population coverage in China and are growing that number quickly. However, in order to drive continued electric vehicle adoption and further accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, charging needs to be even faster, and the number of vehicles able to charge at a location in a day needs to be significantly higher.
Why Your Business Should Invest In Ev Charging Stations Now?
Ionity is Europe's largest EV fast charging service provider. It is owned by a consortium of Daimler (OTCPK:DDAIF, OTCPK:DDAIY), Volkswagen Group (OTCPK:VWAGY) (Porsche, Audi), Ford (F), BMW Group (OTCPK:BMWYY), and Hyundai (OTC:HYMTF). They are currently building out an initial network of 400 fast charging stations in Europe.
Electrify America is Volkswagen's unit created under a settlement in the automaker’s emissions scandal, is spending A$2.90 billion on refueling stations in the U.S. over a decade.
TGOOD is China's largest EV charging service provider with 50, 000 charging piles in 183 cities in China. Globally they have 180, 000 charging terminals in greater than 280 cities. TGOOD state they have the largest installed base of Electric Vehicle Charging Systems in the world. TGOOD also state they are the world leader in eHouse solutions and the world's largest EV charging infrastructure provider today. We manufacture all eHouse and electrical components in-house.
Is Electric Vehicle Charging Stations A Good Business Opportunity?
TGOOD has a market cap of CNY 17.56b. Analysts consensus is a buy with a price target of CNY 19.00 representing ~6% upside.
EVgo is the (US) nation’s largest and most reliable public electric vehicle fast charging network. With more than 750 fast charging locations in 66 metropolitan markets, EVgo fast charges more drivers, more miles than any public charging network.
ChargePoint focuses only on EV charging and is a global leading charging service provider. Investors in ChargePoint include Chevron, Daimler AG, BMW, Siemens, and American Electric Power Co.
Assessing The Business Case For Hosting Electric Vehicle Charging Stations In New York State
Someone plugs into the ChargePoint network every two seconds. We’ve delivered more places to charge than anyone else, and people count on us for charging all day, every day.
Blink is among the largest owner/operators of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the United States. The Blink network connects more than 15, 000 charging stations across the United States. Blink generally does not sell their chargers but partners with host locations with flexible options.
Blink has a market cap of USD 55m, and is not yet EPS positive. Revenue is forecast to rise rapidly from USD 3m in 2018 to USD 12m in 2021.
New Standards For Ev Chargers Also Mean New Business Opportunities
Tritium is an Australian-based supplier focused only on high-power DC ultra-fast chargers for electric vehicles. Tritium makes ultra-high speed chargers that can add more than 215 miles of range in 10 minutes. Customers include Ionity GmbH - a consortium of carmakers, including Volkswagen and Ford.
There are more than 3, 000 Tritium fast-charging stations installed around the world in 30 countries. The 50kW model generally sells for around $30, 000, while a more powerful 350kw version sells for around $100, 000.
In August, the AFR reported: Tritium has won deals in the past few months to supply fast chargers at 120 sites in Europe for the Ionity network, and for up to 2, 500 sites across the United Kingdom as part of a BOX Energi network..... Tritium has about 50 percent market share for fast chargers in Norway.
These Ev Chargers Are Free. The Catch? They've Got Ads
Tritium is backed by major investor Gilbarco Veeder-Root, who invested $58 million into the company. Gilbarco is the market leader around the world in petrol bowsers and owned by Fortive Corporation (FTV).
ABB is a Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, operating mainly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology areas. They also make fast chargers for electric vehicles, including electric buses. ABB sell modular charging systems with charging powers available from 175kw up to 350kW.
Webasto provides a mix of home and on-the-road charging solutions. Webasto has an online shop selling EV charging points (~ €700). You can read more here.
Planning 500,000 Charging Points For Evs By 2025, Shell Becomes The Latest Company Swept Up In Ev Charging Boom
Note: BP (BP), Shell [LN:RDSB] (RDS.A) (RDS.B) (OTCPK:RYDBF), Chevron (CVX) and other gasoline companies are also very active in the charging network opportunity.
My current view is that the biggest opportunity is in home chargers as all buyers will need one. These are mostly sold by the car manufacturers, but also sold by some large companies such as Qingdao TGOOD Electric Co. Ltd.
The next best opportunity is in the manufacturers of fast chargers and ultra-fast chargers that will ultimately be adopted to build out the infrastructure, as we have with gasoline stations today. For now, Tesla leads that area in the US and Europe with their large network of destination and superchargers (latest is version 3 - 250kw). Porsche and others (ABB Ltd etc.) are introducing even faster chargers (ultra-fast chargers - 350kW) which look for now to become the most popular.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market 2019 Opportunity,
Another opportunity lies with companies that build a network of chargers. Just like the gasoline companies own the gas stations. Leader here include ChargePoint, EVgo, Blink, Ionity, and Qingdao TGOOD Electric Co. Ltd.
Unfortunately, many of the charging companies are either not listed, a car manufacturer, or not a pure play on EV charging. Nonetheless a few interesting opportunities exist such as Blink in the USA.
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Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
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Disclosure: I am/we are long TSLA, BYD CO [HK:1211]. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
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