Here in the U.S., we’re used to driving to the pump to fill up our gas- and diesel-powered engines, but EVs free us from these petrol-soaked shackles because we can charge them pretty much anywhere, even in the most convenient places like at home.
Some charging manufacturers are really taking that idea of “anywhere” to the next level, too. We usually think of chargers outside the home as these attention-demanding obelisks representing beacons of power, but a look at what start-up Trojan Energy is doing might change your mind.
This past August the company announced they’d be testing its on-street charge points that sit flush within the pavement on a street in London, with no permanent raised street furniture at the pavement edge. These cute little charge points are so small, your average Joe might not even realize they’re there. The company has installed only five so far, but it’s planning a full trial of 150 of these guys later this year.
It’s this kind of innovation that really opens the door to expand on the opportunities in this market, expected to reach a value of $103.6 billion by 2028.
Think about the overall electric vehicle charging stations market segments: charging type, for example, like Level 1, 2 or fast charging, all have their quirks that can be improved; there’s connection type, which includes wireless charging and pantograph charging, those hook-looking chargers you see looming over electric buses; and there’s vehicle type – passenger cars, commercial trucks, ebikes and scooters – the charging demands for all of these vehicles is different, and this must be reflected in the chargers themselves.
Then there’s mounting type – today, there’s wall mounts, pedestal mounts and ceiling mounts; is there opportunity elsewhere? There’s also the individual charging station components – hardware, software, and services. As infrastructure demands increase, this segment will require huge innovations to keep up.
Then you have the end-user to think about – we often think of selling to consumers, but the commercial EV charging stations segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall EV charging stations market. Parking lots, restaurants, airports – the demand is there for all of these to have EV charging available. And, of course, you can’t sleep on geographical opportunities. North America isn’t the only place where EVs are expected to boom in the next decade. Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa are all ripe opportunities for growth.
Each of these areas are begging for innovation, it just takes the right player to be the first one to step up and take a swing.
