EV charging stations are increasing in the U.S., but remain relatively scarce just as electric vehicle adoption becomes more mainstream.
Carmakers want to phase out internal combustion engines in hopes of going vertical like Tesla. By 2030, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, aspire to have as much as half their total vehicle sales be electric, up from a negligible share today.
Automakers are courting EVgo, ChargePoint and Blink Charging to grow charging networks, while Wallbox and Volta wait in the wings.
The newly passed infrastructure bill earmarks $7.5 billion to help build a national network of 500,000 chargers.
Still, EV charging companies for now boast relatively little revenue and are losing money.
EV Charging Stocks: 800 Volts
Without the EV charging infrastructure to support it, the adoption of electric cars is going nowhere. Many EV owners rely on home chargers that refuel cars at painfully slow speeds. Options for extremely rapid charging are expanding, but finding a charge plug isn't as easy as finding a gas pump yet.
EV chargers tend to come in three flavors.
Level 1 chargers, which use a regular 120-volt household outlet, take about 17 hours to add 100 miles of range.
Level 2 chargers, which use a 240-volt outlet and are found in offices and malls, slash charging times to around 3 hours. They're also found in single-family homes. But the charge time is less than ideal for people making long-distance trips.
Level 3 or DC (direct-current) fast chargers use a 480-volt outlet and further cut charging times to half an hour. But they are costly and hard to find outside of EV charging stations. They also may cause batteries to degrade faster over time.
Even faster charging times are on the way. The newest electric vehicles tout clever fast-charging technology, leveraging both hardware and software. And they can be juiced up in record time at ultrafast, 800-volt DC chargers.
Hooked up to ultrafast chargers, Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Kia's EV6 claim to add nearly 70 miles of range in five minutes of charging. So does Audi's e-tron GT, while GM's Hummer electric truck claims to enable 100 miles in 10 minutes. Each of those EVs uses an 800-volt charging or electrical system, an advanced technology that is twice the norm. They follow a path blazed by the Porsche Taycan, one of the first EVs to offer an 800-volt architecture — and ultrafast charging — in 2019.
Charging stations are relatively common in China and Europe, the two largest EV markets.
The United States has 43,525 public charging stations, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center. Only 5,260 of those stations actually have DC fast chargers — including 1,074 built by Tesla. That gives Tesla a 20% share of the nation's DC fast chargers, but its system is proprietary and not open to non-Tesla owners unless they install a converter, for now. Additionally, Tesla's fast-chargers or Superchargers tend to have 10 chargers or charging ports per station; rival stations have as little as two.
As EV competition picks up in the U.S., Tesla's Supercharger network continues to be a significant selling point.
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Growth Of EV Charging Market
To meet Biden's goal by 2030, nearly 15,000 public EV charging ports will have to be installed each quarter for the next nine years, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report in December 2021. That would be a sharp increase from the 5,322 charging ports installed each quarter on average since the start of 2020.
By some estimates, the EV charging demand could grow 30 times by 2030 and 100 times by 2040, due in part to commercial use. By 2030, Ford sees nearly a million electric trucks and vans in the U.S. needing a regular recharge.
The massive anticipated increase in chargers, especially fast-chargers, could tax the grid with huge power needs for short periods of time. Level 1 and Level 2 chargers could be easier on the grid, but leave out vast swathes of people living in apartment buildings and condominiums, who must share parking space with neighbors.
Both automakers and some utility companies are working on solutions. For example, California's SoCal offers rebates to commercial and multifamily properties to offset the costs of EV charging stations.
And last October, General Motors unveiled a program to install 40,000 Level 2 chargers across rural and urban communities lacking charger access. However, the move was panned by critics who argue what EV infrastructure really needs is more Level 3 chargers, to enable work commutes and serious travel.
GM, Ford Vie With Tesla Superchargers
Tesla, the trailblazing EV pioneer, began building out its Supercharger network a decade ago. It has more than 30,000 fast-charging outlets across the globe, a key competitive edge vs. rivals.
Last July, Tesla CEO Elon Musk first suggested opening his EV charging network to non-Tesla vehicles via a tweet, then expanded on that idea during a quarterly earnings call. The news made waves, because non-Tesla EV owners largely rely on a patchwork of third-party systems to fast-charge their vehicles. Tesla has since opened up Superchargers in the Netherlands, but not in the U.S.
Since then, Ford and GM have ramped up partnerships with charging providers, to offer more seamless top-ups on the go.
Using Ford and GM mobile apps, drivers can see which of 60,000-70,000 public charging ports across the U.S. are available to use in real time. The apps integrate information about charging plugs from partners such as ChargePoint, EVgo and Blink Charging. They also allow drivers to find stations along a route and to pay for charging just by plugging into a station, without having to swipe a card.
Given the relentless march to electrify, even oil majors are getting in the game. By 2025, Royal Dutch Shell is targeting 500,000 EV chargers globally. By 2030, BP is targeting 70,000 public chargers globally.
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Wallbox Stock Leads
Most of the pure-play EV charging stocks are young companies, with a history of losses. Several debuted on the stock market via Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) or blank-check mergers. But most are well off highs, after a broad sell-off for EV plays.
Among them, Wallbox stock stands out with an IBD Relative Strength Rating of 95 out of a best-possible 99. That means it has outperformed 95% of all stocks over the past year. Still shares have lost more than 50% since spiking to a record 27.50 on Oct. 16.
Founded in 2015, Barcelona-based Wallbox is seeing massive growth from a low base. For the September quarter, it grew revenue 250% year over year to $22 million. For the full year, it's targeting revenue of $79 million.
In 2022, analysts on Wall Street expect revenue to leap 144% to $191 million, according to FactSet.
ChargePoint touts one of the largest charging networks in North America and Europe. It grew revenue in the October quarter 79% to $65 million.
The other EV charging stocks have even-lower revenue but big goals. By 2027, EVgo expects to build more than 16,000 DC fast chargers, on the back of a flashy new GM partnership.
Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna.
