The electric vehicle (“EV”) industry is projected to grow exponentially over the next few decades as countries, states and cities strive to reduce carbon emissions and meet climate goals. Electric cars accounted for 2.6% of global car sales in 2019, and although authorities have introduced a variety of policies to make EVs more affordable and push EV adoption, charging has been a major thorn in the young industry’s side. This can partly be attributed to the fact that companies don’t generally look at EV charging as a business and, consequently, don’t invest much into public EV charging infrastructure.
Gas stations, on the other hand, have long been considered a lucrative business. They make most of their profit from selling fuel to drivers and, in many cases, supplement their income with attached convenience stores and eateries. There are an estimated 25,000 EV charging stations with more than 78,000 charging outlets in the United States, more than enough to provide their operators a reasonable income, especially as the EV market grows. However, few EV charging stations operate as a business.
One reason for this is that most EV buyers tend to be homeowners with the resources and, most importantly, the space to install a home charger. They usually arrange “time of day” pricing with their electricity provider, charging their vehicles at night when electricity is at its cheapest. On average, this costs them 8 to 16 cents/kWh or around 2 to 4 cents per mile. In addition, plenty of employers offer free charging as a perk at work to encourage green-driving EV drivers to charge at work.
Most drivers with modern generation EVs with 200 miles of range can generally get by with charging at home or at work, with little incentive to use public stations. Since most free public-charging stations rely on government funds, they tend to be in disrepair. The ones that aren’t free and operate as businesses charge two to five times the cost of charging at home, with drivers having to fork out 25 to 55 cents/kWh. Unless they are desperate, these drivers most likely won’t plug into such stations.
Tesla, which runs the largest super-charging network, charges around 25 to 30 cents/kWh, a rate the EV maker says is their break-even price. Electrify America/Electrify Canada, which is building the largest non-Tesla network, charges around 43 cents/kWh, which in comparison to $2 for a gallon of gas is sure to put off plenty of drivers.
EVgo, a charging station operator that sells electricity in slow- and fast-charging stations admits it doesn’t get much business from ordinary consumers. The company is looking to charge EV fleets that can’t rely on overnight home chargers such as personal vehicles, making them a relatively reliable company for businesses that want to tap into EV charging.
Will the day come when charging electric vehicles proves to be a lucrative business opportunity? The jury is still out on this one, but it’s definitely worth staching.
Meanwhile, Clean Power Capital Corp. (CSE: MOVE) (FWB: 2K6A) (OTC: MOTNF) has opted to go the direction of hydrogen fuel cells. By using its 90% stake in PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp., the company is working on creating hydrogen fueling infrastructure at existing truck stops across the country.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Clean Power Capital Corp. (CSE: MOVE) (FWB: 2K6A) (OTC: MOTNF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/MOTNF
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