A wide range of new electric pickup trucks, SUVs and cars are coming onto the market, with a lot of consumer enthusiasm. They appear to be competitive on features, comfort and performance versus gasoline cars while also representing a major new growth market. The Inflation Reduction Act establishes big tax incentives for domestic production of EVs – and billions of dollars for upgrading the grid and expanding the EV charger infrastructure. This infrastructure build-out is spurring innovations in charging for fleets, trucks, school buses, V2G, fast charging and even battery swapping and electrified roadways. With EVs at more than 10% market share in some states, are we at the tipping point? Or will broken chargers or long waits at overloaded charging stations frustrate consumers and derail this experiment?
There are many misconceptions about charging and EV owners’ charging behavior. What business models work? Don’t charging stations make money by just selling kilowatt hours like gas stations sell gallons of fuel? What’s the role of electric utilities? Most EVs now have 300-mile range or more – is range anxiety a thing of the past? No one understands this better than Pat Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, the largest network of chargers. Pat has built ChargePoint to become the largest network of EV chargers in the country. President Biden recently appointed Pat to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC). The Council advises the President of the United States on how to reduce physical and cyber risks, and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.
We are fortunate to have MIT grad Pat Romano for a fireside chat with moderator Mark Platshon to share his insights on the trends and misconceptions around charging networks and the EV transformation.
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EVs are at less than 10% of the world vehicles. I heard the WEF this year said there will not be enough raw materials to replace every gasoline vehicle. But fear not a vehicle is used only 4% of the time (as you said), so what needs to happen is automated EVs will be run by independent companies so you only need to call for one with your phone rather than own one of your own. Automated EVs will also bring you what ever you need. No need to have something in your home taking up space when you don't use it often you merely order it on your phone and return it when you are finished. While I see this later part as a bit of fantasy, I have read lithium production will fact serious production levels by 2025.
My concern is, use will progress to 20% and Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street will enter the market purchasing placing huge orders of automated EVs and restricting the market for regular buyers. Now they own 70%+ of the market and have their own recharging/repair stations much like Ubers or Lyfts. Now owning the majority of the market they can push for laws to pressure people to give up their own vehicles or be the only ones to buy new automated EVs. This sounds very dystopian and could impact your business plan. Have you heard of these issues and what are your thoughts?
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