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Automakers Volkswagen AG<VOWG_p.DE>, General Motors Co and Ford
Motor Co have announced plans to spend billions of dollars over
the next several years launching EVs in a bid to directly
challenge electric carmaker Tesla Inc, which has its own network
of charging stations. Investor enthusiasm for electric vehicles
has sent shares in Tesla and big battery makers soaring in
recent days.
ChargePoint, which operates but does not own its charging
network, and the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO)
told Reuters they formed the National Highway Charging
Collaborative, with plans to install Level 2 and DC fast
chargers at more than 4,000 U.S. locations by 2030 to expand EV
charging along highways and in rural communities.
The money will be raised through private operators, state and
local governments, private infrastructure funds and others,
ChargePoint Chief Executive Pasquale Romano said.
"Enabling long distance electric travel and equipping rural
areas with vital universal charging is key and must begin
scaling aggressively today," he said in an interview. "This
collaboration will play an important role in paving the way to
the mass adoption of EVs."
There are only a few million EVs on U.S. roads today, but in May
2019 the International Energy Agency forecast that figure could
reach over 130 million by 2030.
"It appears clear that the next generation of fuel is going to
be electricity, so we want to make sure that our members are
prepared to meet the needs of their customers," NATSO CEO Lisa
Mullings said in a separate interview.
ChargePoint operates more than 108,000 charging points globally,
mostly in North America, and aims to increase that to 2.5
million by 2025. ChargePoint estimates it has a 70% share of the
market for commercial charging in the United States.
In June 2019, ChargePoint signed a deal with VW subsidiary
Electrify America to make the United States' two largest EV
charging networks accessible to customers of both companies.
ChargePoint, founded in 2007, has raised $538 million from
investors including Daimler, BMW and Siemens in Germany, as well
as U.S. energy firms Chevron and America Electric Power.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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