Fwd: US fast-charging speeds up
Loretta Lohman
| Read in browser | ||||||||||||||
One of the main impediments to buying an electric vehicle in the US was the availability of charging infrastructure. But new data shows that charger operators are making that a roadblock of the past. Today’s newsletter looks at the US’s ever-expanding network of fast chargers as well as how far it still has to grow to catch up with other countries. Meanwhile, France has pledged to invest €240 million ($280 million) in heat pumps and electric trucks for households and businesses. Life in the fast-charging laneBy Kyle Stock US electric vehicle charging networks were still racing to catch up to demand when the Iran attack and surging gas prices reignited EV interest. Some 605 public, high-speed EV fueling stations switched on in the first quarter, a 34% increase over the year-earlier period, according to Bloomberg News analysis of federal data. The country now has nearly 13,500 places to quickly add electrons to a car or truck, 25% more than it did a year ago. The charging boom proved particularly propitious in March, as the Iran War roiled oil markets, gas prices surged and Americans started searching for EVs en masse. After skidding for months, Tesla Inc. sales climbed in the first quarter compared to last year. (Though they did come in under analysts’ expectations.) “It’s obviously been a very anti-EV situation at the federal level,” said Ingrid Malmgren, senior policy director at Plug In America, an EV advocacy group, referring to the Trump administration’s gutting of subsidies and clean air regulations. “But what we’ve seen continuously is that people love their cars, and once they start driving an EV, nobody wants to go back.”  Most of the demand is driven by the private sector. Truck stops, in particular, have been adding electron pumps in a bid to sell lucrative snacks and sodas to battery-powered road trippers. Pilot Flying J Inc., an empire of interstate rest stops, added chargers to nearly 30 of its locations in the first quarter, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, to North Platte, Nebraska. The company now has nearly 1,200 charging stalls, roughly half of what it intends to stand up. The goal is to offer “the same convenience, access and reliability that non-EV drivers have come to expect,” said Brandon Trama, Pilot’s head of electrification. Networks, meanwhile, have been emboldened by an improving business model. Recent EV buyers are more likely to live in multi-unit housing thus, more likely to charge in the wild. And newer, more efficient chargers are pumping more electrons in less time, making charging more profitable. That’s creating a virtuous cycle, as speedier and more reliable chargers convince more drivers to go electric and use public plugs, according to Paren, a data platform focused on EV infrastructure. Despite several months of slumping EV sales, Paren expects US fast-charging infrastructure to expand by 8% in 2026. “The charge-point operators we talk to are not building for 2025 or 2026; they’re building for 2035,” said Paren cofounder and Chief Technology Officer Bill Ferro. “They may slow down their deployment, but they’re still going to deploy.” Read
more
Quick stop5 The number of minutes that Chinese battery maker CATL and automaker BYD say it will take to top up vehicles using their technology. That’s well beyond the capabilities of the current crop of battery tech in the uS. What really matters“What really drives our business is not only new EV sales, but the cumulative number of EVs that are on the road.” Rick Wilmer Chief executive officer, ChargePoint The math for charging companies gets better with each new electric car and truck driver on the road. A €240 million pushElectricite de France pledged €240 million ($280 million) in investment and funding for households and businesses to boost the adoption of heat pumps and electric trucks, and help firms set up power-hungry facilities.  Charging
stations for electric vehicles in Paris
Photographer:
Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg
The state-owned utility is seeking to boost power use as French consumption remains about 6% lower than before the Covid pandemic and Europe’s energy crisis. The subdued demand and the continued addition of solar and wind power capacities have depressed electricity prices, while EDF is boosting investments in new nuclear plant projects and upgrading France’s power grid. A third of the funds earmarked by EDF will subsidize the installation of 80,000 heat pumps, it said in a statement Wednesday. Another third will be used to help small companies buy electric trucks and to install 180 charging points across the country. The rest will be used to support projects for new electricity-consuming industries, with EDF offering turnkey sites with grid connections. Read
more
Listen to ZeroWill the Iran War finally be the moment where countries move to renewables en masse, or will they rely more heavily on fossil fuels? This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Aurore Belfrage, a tech investor, geopolitical risk advisor, and sustainability strategist, to look at how the energy investment landscape is changing with a fresh war in the Middle East, and how climate tech is making countries more resilient. Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday. More from Green China is wasting renewable power at an alarming rate, approaching limits that the government had relaxed only two years ago to accelerate solar and wind usage. The amount of solar power generated without being delivered to customers rose to 9.2% in January and February, from 6.1% in the same period last year, according to the National New Energy Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center. For wind, curtailments rose to 8.5%, from 6.2%. Read
more
More from Bloomberg
Explore all Bloomberg newsletters. We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us fine-tune your experience by reporting it here. Follow us
You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Green Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox.
|
