Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-03)

19

ZOI: AARON M. SPRECHER/BLOOMBERG. SION: COURTESY SONO MOTORS. DATA: BLOOMBERGNEF

Charging AddingPlugsAcross America

EVgoServicesLLC,thedecade-oldelectric-vehiclechargingnetwork,hasa

simplestrategyforbuildingstationsin theU.S.:Putthemwherepeoplespend

time(thinksuburbanWholeFoods),andmakejuicingupfast.ChiefExecutive

OfficerCathyZoitalksaboutweatheringtheCovid-19lockdown,preparingfor

electricpickuptrucks,andthecaseforstimulusfunds.—KyleStock

○CEO,EVgo○Co-founderandexecutivechairman,

OdysseyEnergySolutions○Formerpartner,Silver

LakeKraftwerk,a venturebetweenSorosFund

ManagementandSilverLakePartners○Former

assistantsecretaryforenergyefficiencyand

renewableenergy,U.S.DepartmentofEnergy

Whathasthepandemicmeantfor

EVchargingin theU.S.?

We’vehad 25 newstation

openings,evenwithshelter-

in-place.We’reanessential

service,whichis a goodsignthat

electrificationis mainstreaming.

Notonlyaregasstationsessential,

butchargingstationsare,too.

Yournetworkis mostlyin California?

We’rein 34states, 66 metroareas.

Weliketobuildin urbanplaces.

Utilizationis goingtobehigher

wheretherearemoreEVs,but

we’realsobuildingthroughpublic-

privatepartnershipsin places

wheretherearenotyetenough

EVstomakeit profitable—for

example,hundredsofstationsin

ruralVirginia.Youneedtostimulate

demandforthepurchaseofEVs

atthesametimeasyou’rebuilding

thecharginginfrastructure.

Inthoseruralplaces,howlongbeforeit

becomesprofitableonitsown?

It dependsona lotofthings.

Weabsolutelyhavetoelectrify

thecorridors.Interstateswere

a publicgoodthathadtobe

subsidizedbythegovernment.If

we’regoingtohavefast-charging

stationseverywhere,thereare

goingtobesomeplacesthatwill

requirepublicsupport.

Ride-hailingis takinga hitin thepandemic.Does

thatchangeyourmodelatall?

It doesn’tchangeourmodel.No.1,

wethinkit willcomeback.No.2,

deliveryis partofthat.Peopleare

stayingathome,butthere’sa lot

ofdeliveryhappening.Forusit’s

thesamehighusage.Getthose

deliverydriverstoelectrify,and

they’regoingtohavetocharge

awayfromhomebecausethat’s

whattheydofora living.

AreyouplanningonmorecommercialEVs?

Absolutely.Andmedium-and

heavy-dutytrucks.We’llprovide

bothaccesstoourpublicnetwork

andwhatwecallBTF—behind

thefence—wherewewillbuild

andoperateforfleetstheirown

charginginfrastructure.Theycan

havea depotthat’scomplemented

bytherestofournetwork.

In termsoffederalstimulus,whatmight

wesee,dependingontheelectionoutcome

in November?

TheNovemberoutcomeis

obviouslyhuge.Ourestimateis

thatby 2025 we’llneedclose

to50,000DCfastchargers

onAmericanroadsandmaybe

500,000slowerchargers.That’s

abouta 10-timesincrease.What

wouldbereallyniftywouldbeif

wehada $10billionpieceofa

stimuluspackageforpublic-private

partnershipsin EVcharging.That

shouldbecomplementedbysome

stimulustomakesuretheEVsthat

getproducedgetbought.Thething

youdon’twanttohaveis charging

infrastructurethatjustsitsidle.

Is pricingstilltooconfusingforconsumers?

I’vebeenin theelectricity

businesssinceI gotoutof

graduateschool,30-someyears.

Nobodyreallyunderstandswhata

kilowatt-houris.Consumerswant

simplicity.Wewillhappilyexplain

ourpricingtopeople,butmost

peoplejustwanttoknowthat

whentheydriveuptoa charger

thatit’sgoingtobeonand

they’reprobablygoingtospend

somewherebetween$7and$12.

○ Interviewsareeditedforclarityandlength.

400k

200

0

2010 2019

○ Totalpublicchargingconnections

 U.S.  Europe  China