Electric Avenue Podcast

What is the federal government's role in deploying charging infrastructure in the USA? What are the business models for EV charging there? What about interoperability, roaming, subscription and ad hoc authorization? Are the same EV charging topics being dealt with in the US as in Europe? 

The USA & Europe are two very different electric vehicle (charging) markets and both are racing towards a dramatic increase in EV and EV charging infrastructure deployment in the coming decade but are going about it in different ways. US EV policy has gotten huge jolts with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. Just yesterday it was announced that all 50 US States have submitted National EV Charging Infrastructure plans for approval. Meanwhile, Europe is on the cusp of phasing out new combustion engine cars by 2035 and entering the final stages of drafting its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation. In this context, it was a good time to finally sit down with Joe Britton, president of the Zero Emission Transportation Association for a wind ranging discussion of EV markets and policy in the USA and Europe.

ZETA website: 100% EV Sales by 2030 - ZETA (zeta2030.org)

Joint Office of Energy & Transport: Home Page · Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (driveelectric.gov) 

ChargeUp Europe: ChargeUp Europe 

Recently in London, I sat down with Ryan Fisher, the Lead EV Charging Infrastructure Analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance to talk shop and their recent Electric Vehicle Outlook 2022.  The EV charging industry is extremely dynamic and rapidly growing with new entrants and technologies, and differences in different markets and regions, so it's great to have a leading industry researcher and analyst help illuminate the key trends and insights to look at from business models, to investment trends, power needs, utilization practices, eHDVs and much, much more.  The full report can be found here: EVO Report 2022 | BloombergNEF | Bloomberg Finance LP (bnef.com) 

Roaming is the main way that electric vehicle drivers recharge their EV out of network or internationally. It's about payment, but also about driver choice and the whole customer journey including additional services, energy system integration, interoperability and the open market model itself.  Yet it's controversial to what extent roaming should be regulated in EU legislation on EV charging (AFIR), and the time to decide is right now. This episode features the best discussion of roaming in the EV context that I've ever heard, hosted by Peter Badik from GreenWay (as Board member of ChargeUp Europe, which convened this conversation) with the CEO's of Europe's leading roaming platforms, Hubject and Gireve. This C-level discussion will be relevant and accessible for experts and newcomers alike and covers technical, commercial, and policy topics. If you're curious about roaming in the EV context you won't want to miss this discussion!

ChargeUp Europe's position paper on why roaming should be included in the EU's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation: The importance of including EVroaming in AFIR — ChargeUp Europe 

Transcript & video of the full interview are here:  eRoaming: Conveniently connected - the "smart" way of charging — ChargeUp Europe

First, what does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for energy supply, content, pricing and the energy transition? With the war, supply chain disruptions, and contradictory short and long term energy pressures, will e-mobility still play the same role in energy independence and decarbonization as envisioned just a few weeks ago? Then - what about the electricity grid? A new report from Eurelectric and EY looks at if and how the grid will be able to provide the needed electricity for 130 million electric vehicles by 2035, and at what cost. We are joined by one of the report's lead authors for a fascinating and wide ranging discussion of current bottlenecks, opportunities, and solutions to turn EVs into assets for EV drivers and the energy system overall, and to address the '2 speed Europe' gap.

You can find the full report here: https://evision.eurelectric.org/event/2022/report/ 

First, Ukraine. We hear a reaction from the COO of Go-To-U, a leading Ukranian EV charging platform, on the Russian invasion. Then, a detailed, expert discussion among EV charging network operators in Romania, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Slovenia about the electric vehicle and EV charging situations in their markets. Why does it take so long  to establish a grid connection? How does the local public administration approach emobility? What steps are needed to rapidly scale up charging infrastructure and emobility in CEE? If you’re interested in emobility or the energy transition in this region, you won’t want to miss this episode.

You can see the full panel here: https://ceegti.com/2022/02/02/the-importance-of-binding-targets-in-afir-ensuring-a-single-speed-europe-on-e-mobility/

In January 2020 before COVID, we surveyed a group of leading EV charging and user experience professionals from all over Europe for their key trends to watch in emobility in 2020. Now in February 2022, with the benefit of hindsight we're revisiting their observations on roaming and user experience, industry consolidation, and the EV charging and energy convergence. Did they pick the right topics? How were their predictions? You may be surprised at what you hear!

Wondering what it is like to drive long distances in an electric vehicle? How do you plan for such a trip? Where will you recharge along the way? Summer 2021 saw lots of families go on their summer holidays in an electric vehicle, and we interviewed 4 of them to hear in depth about their - very varied - experiences traveling and recharging all over Europe. There are a lot of insights here for industry insiders and policymakers as well as the EV curious, and a few good 'hacks' for your next (or first?) long distance EV trip.

Some of the most important laws governing the EV marketplace and EV charging infrastructure business in Europe are being revised and updated right now as a part of the 'fit for 55 package' as Europe deepens its climate ambitions and aims to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. These changes will have significant impacts on our industry and so we’re joined by special guest Julia Poliscanova, Sr. Director for Clean Vehicles at Transport & Environment for an insiders look at the current state of affairs and what we could – and should – expect

Season 2 launches just as the electric vehicle charging business is beginning to grow rapidly. It is seen as a key area for investment in the EU Green Deal and for European recovery funds. How should countries approach this moment? What are the key criteria countries can use to develop their own EV charging plans? This is a moment that cannot be wasted and we discuss it.

Even among those who support the growth of the e-mobility there are differences of opinion and ideas for how to best develop a customer-centric pan-European electric vehicle charging network. Dimitri Vergne from the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), and I, who come from different perspectives, debate and discuss the recommendations of their report “Making electric cars convenient" and topics such as how to structure and display pricing at charging stations, payment methods, pricing structure, roaming, business models, and more issues that come up between drivers of electric vehicles and operators of charging stations.