The Promising Potential in Electric Vehicles Infrastructure for Startups

Illustration by Teddy Tri Murdianto

We have arrived at the era of electric vehicles. McKinsey said more than 250 new battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) appear in the next two years. Additionally, there will be more than 50 million electric vehicles could be sharing roads in 2025. However, this green technology’s scaling would highly rely on complementary and supporting aspects to accommodate these EV’s mainstream use shortly. Those are including charging facilities, smart roads, and not to mention the ambitious autonomous driving technology. Altogether, these smart technologies will ‘disrupt’ conventional fossil-fuel-based vehicles and create a greener planet.

One of the most fundamental complementing aspects is the charging infrastructure. It is indeed a promising field, especially for startups. This article will help your business to catch the moment and step in the game. It will further discuss the electric vehicle by analyzing the current data while projecting this technology’s opportunities for startups related explicitly to the charging solutions.

Altogether, these smart technologies will ‘disrupt’ conventional fossil-fuel-based vehicles and create a greener planet.

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Challenge to Provide Charging Infrastructure

In May 2018, International Energy Agency projected that at least 130 million EVs could be sharing roads the world over by 2030. To support this growth, a significantly expanded charging facility is required. However, the cost is not cheap. An estimated $110 billion to $180 billion must be invested from 2020 to 2030 to satisfy the global demand for EV charging stations, both in public spaces and within homes.

Across the three most advanced EV markets (China, the EU-27 plus the United Kingdom, and the United States), charging in residential and commercial buildings is the dominant place for the foreseeable future. It will remain key to scaling the industry. However, without upgrading buildings’ electrical infrastructure, there simply will not be enough accessible EV chargers to meet the demand. Further complicating matters, EV charging at scale requires careful planning of a building’s electrical distribution system and local electric-grid infrastructure. To make EV chargers more accessible and affordable, providers must work together with the urban planners, building developers, and electrical-equipment suppliers to integrate charging infrastructure into standard building design plans either for existing or new buildings.

Points of Consideration upon “Joining the Game”

McKinsey’s research includes considerations and recommendations for the decision-making of startup companies interested in this field and does better in answering EV charging stations’ needs. Here are some points worth considering before you start your powering up business.

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• Match solution

The charging provider should identify the types of chargers and payment offers that fit their customers. To find the eureka, you need to ask a series of critical questions: What power level do you offer? Do users pay? Do you provide an inexpensive connector cable or a high-end charge point? Does the charging interface link to other payment profiles or accounts (such as payments tied directly to monthly rent or reviewable through a web portal)?

• Find the right business model:

Do you want to own and operate the charger, own and contract the operations, or have customers, tenants, or employees pay a third-party provider for charging as a service?

• Proactively engage high-potential customers on their charging needs:

Today, major fleet operators, shopping centers, and corporate offices are faced with decisions that will affect their ability to host EV chargers on their premises cost-effectively.

• Integrate EV-charging forecasts with grid-expansion plans:

The impact of EV charging on grid infrastructure will be unevenly concentrated in specific regions. Concentrated residential chargers and massive DCFCs will likely be significant drivers of power demand. Every grid operator should have a geospatial model of EV-charging uptake and a hosting-capacity map of areas of the grid where DCFCs can be installed at low cost.

• Design for buildings’ needs:

Charging-solution providers have made strides in designing user-friendly solutions tailored to EV owners’ needs. That said, it is also vital to create with building owners and operators in mind. Lowering installation costs by facilitating low-cost electrical upgrades, enabling cross-charger coordination and energy management, and planning for future expansion will be critical in the years to come. Considering EV-charging infrastructure outside of the context of a building’s total energy demand, existing electrical infrastructure, and grid connection will determine the site owner’s total cost of ownership.

Those Who Have Run the Game

Here is the list of the existing players in the EV industry who is having their core-focused on providing charging technology. Apart from usual in-building charging, some of these startups claim that they offer revolutionary transportation solutions including developing smart roads and wireless charging during a trip.

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1. ChargePoint (USA) | Funding: $659.2M ChargePoint is an electronics company that specializes in an open electric vehicle charging network. Check out its company profile on this link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biVF_YoIToA
2. ElectReon (Israel)| ElectReon provides a complete solution for the future E-city with no gas and charging stations, no visible infrastructure, and a shared energy platform for the near future ban on fossil fuel vehicles entering the urban environment. It’s developing a smart transportation technology for underground electric coils that recharge EVs wirelessly as they travel. Check out their presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNPXLk9ILgw
3. POD Point (UK) | Funding: £12.3M POD Point Ltd provides electronic vehicle charging stations. The Company offers charging stations for the public sector or private companies who wish to own their own charge points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20J56svlAM&feature=emb_title
4. NewMotion (Netherlands) | Funding: €13.6M NewMotion offers advanced charging solutions for drivers of electric vehicles (EV) and EV-charge locations. This company has acquired by Shell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQlF9KP6qDk&feature=emb_title
5. CityEV (UK) CityEV provides electric vehicle charge points that are safe, simple, and reliable. They are compatible with all standard electric vehicle charging cables. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7crvHUGGz_E&feature=emb_title
6. Chargestorm (Sweden) Chargestorm develops products, systems, and architecture for vehicle charging infrastructures. It provides an intelligent management and service network for the provisioning and billing of the service. The ChargeStorm solution is used by energy companies, real estate companies, and enterprises that provide parking spaces for EV charging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTEg0JvQP4&feature=emb_title
7. AmpUp (USA) AmpUp is an electric vehicle (EV) software company that enables drivers, hosts, and fleets to charge stress-free. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYTpFd13mNw
8. Elonroad (Sweden) Elonroad is a high-tech electric road concept. It auto charges all types of electric vehicles when parked as well as when driving. Electric roads extend the driving range and reduce the need for large and heavy batteries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH1QdxezKoY&feature=emb_title

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From the current trend, we can assume that the technology is developing fastly with advanced solutions offered by innovative companies. However, it is worth noting that the spread of startups in the charging field only is still limited to the developed countries. But as the trend grows, slowly but sure the other countries would follow. For instance, Korean Hyundai’s EV has started its market penetration in Southeast Asia. Not to mention that Chinese Huawei is working consistently on its smart road and autonomous driving technology.

To conclude, EV-charging infrastructure will operate at the nexus of three different sectors with distinct but interdependent energy transition roles: electric power, micro to macro urban planning, and transportation. Today, there is an opportunity to shape EV-charging strategy to benefit each of these sectors independently, accelerate the progress of the energy transition, and reduce costs for consumers, EV owners, and nonowners alike.

Are you interested to initiate a business in this field? 🧐

Glovory would verily welcome your ideas and gladly help you build the digital product that runs as the bridge between your service and your customer. Reach us anytime by emailing us at info@glovory.com or kindly visit our website at Glovory.com! 😉 ✨

Contributor: Rachmadita Kusumastiti