The Battle for the Development of the European E-Charging Network Heats Up

The battle for where Europeans will charge their electric cars is spreading from the cities of the Old Continent to the highways, and many start-up companies, as well as large global corporations, have joined this fight for a share in this rapidly growing industry.

Energy and technology start-ups, as well as major oil companies, are vying for a dominant role in the fast-growing charging station business. However, the development of electric vehicles has led to changes in the locations where charging stations are built, writes Reuters.

>>> Electric Vehicles – Who Will Seize the Opportunity Offered by Charging Stations in New Buildings

When the range of electric vehicles was less than 100 kilometers, electric utility companies were happy to help cities and companies set up slow and cheap stations near homes, offices, or shopping centers, often with the support of government subsidies.

However, Tesla, Porsche, and BMW have begun producing cars with batteries powerful enough for longer journeys across the country. The charging infrastructure, however, is often not located where it is most needed.

“Where is the network of charging stations that will be needed? Indeed, where is the energy and the grid?” asked Ralf Speth, head of the British automotive company Jaguar Land Rover, last week.

Electric utility companies, including ChargePoint and Engie, are planning to build networks of high-voltage fast charging stations in Europe, where batteries can be charged in half an hour instead of overnight.

>>> HEP in a consortium with partners is developing charging networks for electric vehicles

Morgan Stanley’s estimates show that by 2030, Europe will need 1.3 million public charging stations, adding that although electric utility companies have natural advantages and experience in the new industry, it is too early to say who will take the lead.

“The winning business model has not yet been established and is open to everyone,” they note.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), there are currently less than 100,000 publicly available charging stations in Europe, of which only about six percent are for fast charging. Globally, in 2016, charging stations reached a total of 322,000, of which only about 110,000 were for fast charging, with more than 88,000 located in China.

According to the agency’s data, the number of newly registered electric vehicles globally reached a new record of over 750,000 in 2016.

>>> The Commission funds electric vehicle charging stations on the corridor that includes Croatia

“In a few years, we expect hundreds of millions in annual revenue from EV-Box,” said Thierry Lepercq, head of innovation at Engie, to Reuters. He expects that Engie’s revenue from electric charging stations could increase 20 times in the next three to five years.

Last year, revenue from EV-Box, Engie’s European electric vehicle charging business, amounted to 16 million euros. EV-Box CEO Kristof Vereenooghe stated that unlike most competitors, EV-Box has been profitable from the start.

German energy giant E.ON has also announced a strategic partnership with Danish start-up CLEVER and emphasized that it aims to open several hundred ultra-fast charging stations on European highways.

Among oil companies, BP, Shell, and Total have either announced plans or launched pilot projects for electric charging stations. However, few people expect them to become serious competitors in a business that would significantly reduce demand for their main product – oil.

A Shell spokesperson stated that there is currently no economic justification for fully equipping gas stations with electric charging stations.

“Companies like Shell and Total talk a lot, but nothing is happening. On the other hand, we are building a network of charging stations,” said Michiel Langezaal, founder and CEO of Fastned, which has 63 electric vehicle charging stations in the Netherlands.

>>> Tesla installed a ‘supercharger’ in Vrgorac

Unlike energy companies and start-ups in the electric charging sector, electric vehicle manufacturers do not see fast charging stations as profit-making places, but rather as a necessary loss to convince customers that electric vehicles can travel across continents.

This evidently works for some. Tesla, for example, has its own charging network across Europe, mostly in hotels, but it is not dense enough, with only ultra-fast charging stations in the region around the French capital Paris.

The most developed electric vehicle market is Norway, with a share of 29 percent, followed by the Netherlands with 6.4 percent and Sweden with 3.4 percent. Market shares in China, France, and the United Kingdom are around 1.5 percent.

Despite rapid growth, the number of electric vehicles remains small. Globally, in 2016, it doubled compared to the previous year, reaching 2 million vehicles, but that is only 0.2 percent of the total number of passenger vehicles.

According to IEA estimates, by 2020, those figures could range from 9 to 20 million and between 40 and 70 million by 2025.