EVgo announced it is in the final stages of securing a loan of up to $1.05 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy, to build out roughly 7,500 new high-speed DC charging ports in the next five years.
“These will be deployed in community locations, so high-density, often, frankly, underserved communities,” Badar Kahn, CEO for EVgo, said during a Zoom meeting Thursday with Veloz, an EV policy and advocacy group in California.
EVgo already operates some 3,400 DC fast-chargers at approximately 1,000 sites, largely in urban areas and often in the parking lots of retail stores.
“They’re particularly convenient for people who don’t have charging at home,” Kahn said. “That’s a very important element.”
EVgo has been adding 800 to 900 charging stalls a year. This latest planned build-out would increase its annual deployment to around 1,500 stations.
“By the end of the five years, we expect to be adding 2,000 to 2,500 stalls a year,” the CEO said. “At that point, EVgo will be in a position where we will be able to sustainably add infrastructure without additional financing.”
There are about 4 million battery-powered electric vehicles (EV) on U.S. roads today, a number that is expected to grow to 30 million by 2030. And, there are now about 46,000 DC fast-chargers nationwide. To serve 30 million EVs, analysts say the country will need 250,000 to 350,000 fast-chargers.
“So there’s a lot of stalls that we need to build to be able to serve what I know will be very significant demand,” said Kahn.
Aside from the development of chargers, the company has been focused on improving the charging experience by replacing aging equipment and modernizing technology, allowing drivers to access a smoother “plug-and-charge” experience without opening apps, tapping payment cards and other steps in the way of a “one-and-done” charge.
That same philosophy is being taken up by other charging networks, as the industry has faced driver complaints related to malfunctioning or glitchy chargers, dampening the EV driving experience.
EVPassport, one of the top five largest charging networks in North America with stations in 35 states and three countries, now reports its chargers have a 99.7 percent uptime.
“Every 60 seconds … our entire network phones home to Los Angeles, and we run diagnostic testing,” explained Hooman Shahidi, CEO and co-founder of EVPassport. “We do that by leveraging our machine learning and AI algorithms, to ensure there’s no hiccups.”
Ultimately, Shahidi said in an interview with Government Technology last month, “... we’re in the business of operating on trust. We have to work in a way that we deliver trust for our customers … really all our stakeholders.”
EVPassport operates Level 2 and higher-speed Level 3 chargers, with about 80 percent of its network operating as Level 2 dwell charging at multifamily housing, workplaces and retail. About 40 percent of its customers live in multifamily apartment buildings. To start a charging session, they simply scan the QR code on the charger, which then accesses their digital wallet to pay and start the session.
“We built the company with the mission, remove the barriers for EV adoption. And we want to simplify that process,” Shahidi said.
Somewhat similarly, EVgo has a partnership with GM to develop what it calls “flagship locations,” sites with about 20 stalls each which include canopies with protection from the elements, lighting and a simpler plug-and-charge interaction. The company is developing about 400 chargers in these settings, Kahn said.
“The more we can deliver a better experience, the more we can eliminate confusion or anxiety for customers and drivers and increase adoption,” he said.
