Developing public infrastructure: Assessing the roadmap of public EV charging

In a report titled, ‘Electric Vehicle Charging: 192 million connections by 2030, generating USD4.8 billion in revenue’, Transforma Insights has unpicked the topic of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. New sales of pure Battery EVs (BEVs) reached 10 million worldwide in 2023, up from 7.7 million in 2022 and 4.8 million in 2021. Such increases in the number of EVs on the roads has clearly increased the demand for charging stations for EVs.

This article assesses the roadmap of public EV charging, describing different approaches and discussing the role of government initiatives. It also highlights the major communication technologies that will be used and the potential revenue streams that will be enabled by public EV charging stations, together with current market barriers.

EV charging and its types

EV charging refers to electric vehicle charging points, typically with a connection to monitor usage, load, power distribution and payments for both public and private use. Transforma Insights categorises Electric Vehicle charging into two segments: Public EV charging and Private EV charging.

Public EV charging encompasses charging stations located at various public venues such as workplaces, shopping malls, hotels and retail outlets. These charging stations are generally accessible to drivers at any time and are typically managed by various entities such as governments, OEMs (like Tata, Tesla and Mahindra), power companies (like Tata Power and NDMC) and specialised charging service providers (like EVGo, ChargePoint and G2 Mobility). Also, there are some charging stations (like those at workplaces) which serve as private facilities during the day, but after work hours, they are available to the public and are hence categorised as public charging stations.

Private EV charging meanwhile encompasses two primary categories: residential charging stations that are installed in homes; and charging facilities that are operated exclusively by government entities or private companies for their own vehicle fleets. These fleet-oriented charging stations are commonly found at locations like public bus depots and logistic company fleet depots. They are intended for the internal use of these organisations and are not accessible to the general public, although residential chargers may be made available for use by other individuals through various programmes and mobile apps, such as Co Charger or EVmatch, creating opportunities for shared EV charging among private users.

The focus of this article is on dynamics in the public EV charging space in particular.

Current market development in the public EV charging station segment

Historically, there were different roles in the EV charging value chain (such as energy providers, equipment manufacturers, installation and field services, site and asset owners, Charge Point Operators and e-Mobility Service Providers or MSPs), but many of these groups have now integrated to provide one-stop service to users, consolidating the market.

The market is also evolving with Charge Point Operators being required to upgrade their infrastructure to cater to the changing charging needs and greater battery capacity of new electric vehicles. Besides, bigger MSPs (such as NewMotion and Virta) have begun offering their charging networks as full-service white-label solutions to big manufacturers such as Audi and Volkswagen.

As part of rapidly evolving business models, charging infrastructures have started providing extra capabilities to the grid suppliers and operators, such as balancing and distributing available capacity equally among multiple vehicles. They can also provide higher charging capacities when fewer vehicles are being charged.

Numerous EV charging stations have adopted the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), which offers various advantages to both drivers and operators. For instance, drivers can now make advance reservations for charging spots and remotely manage their charging needs. On the other hand, operators can adjust the power that they procure to meet the demand, proactively diagnose station issues, provide real-time dynamic status updates to relevant stakeholders for each station and to the vehicle drivers about the availability of vacant stations.

Most electric vehicle charging devices use a combination of short range and wide area connectivity technologies, most commonly Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity. Since these EV chargers are static by nature, many of them will depend on wired communication technologies as their primary means of wide area connectivity.

Major drivers of Public EV charging

All around the world, governments are pushing hard for faster EV adoption and many are investing heavily to establish sufficient public EV charging infrastructure. To cite a few instances, the UK government has diverted GBP300 million towards the installation of EV charging infrastructure. To build a network of 300,000 public chargers by 2030, it has allocated an additional GBP1.6 billion. Similarly, the US government has allocated USD7.5 billion to build 500,000 charging stations in the country by 2030. One-third of this allocated fund will be used to build a charging network in rural areas.

The expanding public EV charging network is bound to increase revenue streams for various businesses such as car park and service station owners, as they can attract more customers to use these facilities. Businesses may also generate extra revenue by selling electricity to EV owners, and targeted advertising to EV owners may also increase income opportunities since businesses can show information about promotions, products and opportunities to waiting drivers.

What are the main barriers to the adoption of public EV charging stations?

More consumers are transitioning to EVs without home charging options, which underscores the need for expanded public charging infrastructure. However, barriers to the widespread implementation of public EV charging stations persist, for various reasons as discussed below.

• Reluctance towards their adoption in urban spaces. Despite the high government spend and the limited number of private parking spaces, urban areas might not be inclined to spend heavily on new infrastructure in a bid to promote the usage of public transport and reduce congestion in cities.
• Alternative solutions preferred by drivers. Drivers who have to travel longer distances regularly may prefer alternative solutions like battery swap stations or hydrogen-powered or internal combustion engine vehicles, since EVs can take a long time to charge. On the other hand, those drivers who do not travel long distances may prefer charging their vehicles at their homes (since it is more convenient and cheaper, notwithstanding the up-front installation costs), instead of depending on public charging stations.
• Lack of charging stations. Many EV drivers face “range anxiety”, since they are worried that they may not be able to find an appropriate charging station before running out of power, which may affect EV adoption. For instance, in 2020, only three countries in the EU (the Netherlands, France and Germany) accounted for 70% of EV charging stations but only had 38.1% of the total vehicles, implying that the rest of the EU nations constituted 61.9% of the total EVs, but possessed only 30% of public charging stations.

A dynamic and fast-evolving landscape

In conclusion, the rapid growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales and the increasing demand for EV charging stations have shaped a dynamic landscape. The market is evolving, with various stakeholders integrating to offer comprehensive services. Methods facilitating communication (like the Open Charge Point Protocol) have improved user experience, while government initiatives worldwide are driving EV adoption and expanding public charging infrastructure. Public charging stations offer new revenue streams for businesses, but challenges such as urban reluctance, alternative solutions and the need for more charging stations must be addressed to realise the full potential of public EV charging.

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