What’s The Issue With Volkswagen’s $2 Billion EV Education & Infrastructure Commitment?

October 24, 20169 years ago Cynthia Shahan 0 Comments

Tuesday, October 25, will bring forth another judgement on the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Many states will have a good amount of money going into EV education and infrastructure as part of the resolution to the Volkswagen scandal. With $2 billion for EV charging infrastructure and education programs, the judgement promotes a specific avenue for undoing VW’s damage, but some details are still up in the air.

States such as Florida are buzzing about how the money will be spent. EV infrastructure is top of the list. There’s excitement regarding the potential. Yet, concerns are flying around as well. Who will get the money? Will the judgment, in fact, put Volkswagen back on top of the auto industry, at the expense of other auto companies? Will Volkswagen be able to overtake and threaten the viability of charging station companies that have been dedicated to this transition?

The settlement, covering 2.0-liter diesel cars sold in the US, addresses three points for a total cost of $15 billion. The part regarding the $2 billion that could go toward infrastructure, however, is the part that initiated a lot of discussion at the EV Transportation & Technology Summit we just attended.

Wired reports that some charging leaders, such as EVgo, are not that upset, but the EV charging giant ChargePoint, the Electric Vehicle Charging Association, EV Connect, and others are quite concerned — so concerned that these 28 parties filed a letter with the US Justice Department. The 28 signatories wrote, “The agreement shouldn’t pick winners and losers, especially given that this emerging market transition will in no small part define 21st-century transportation.”

Wired continues:

“ChargePoint is getting it in the neck,” says John Alan James, chairman of the Center for Global Governance, Reporting, and Regulation at Pace University in New York. He calls this an example of the government “picking winners”—or, rather, making VW pick winners. “I don’t think it’s good public policy, and I think it’s a legacy issue,” a departing administration striking a deal to lock in a technology it supports.

Yahoo! offers some context on the big “Monopoly money” that could come out of the ruling. “Chargepoint, currently the largest charging station provider in the US, has 30,000 locations and in its nine years has raised $173 million. With VW forced to spend more than 10 times as much in the next 10 years, ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano says ‘You just handed them $2 billion of Monopoly money.'”

As a consumer, I know ChargePoint as a smoothly run and reliable company. My opinion is to give us more of that quality, and openness.

However, not everyone in the industry is panicking. EVgo is apparently not as concerned. EVgo did not sign the letter to the Department Of Justice that ChargePoint and others signed, and Terry O’Day, the company’s head of product strategy, reportedly said, “VW has an opportunity to do something really terrific for the entire industry.”

Expanding the infrastructure that supports EVs benefits everyone, he says, and the VW deal isn’t the end of the road. “This will transform the industry, but it won’t complete the transformation.” Because ultimately, the market will need far more than $2 billion and 10 years to meet the needs of a growing market for electric vehicles.

Reuters also reported that the Justice Department rejected ChargePoint’s initial arguments and concerns at the end of September. “The Justice Department rejected ChargePoint’s arguments in a September 30 court filing, adding it believes that zero emission vehicle infrastructure is likely to increase in coming years and will allow ‘for continuing competition in these emerging markets.’ The settlement requires VW to fund infrastructure that can be used with electric vehicles produced by all manufacturers.”

We will keep you updated as more information comes out about the requirements and implementation of Volkswagen’s $2 billion education and infrastructure commitment. A final judgement on spending requirements is supposed to come tomorrow, October 25, from a federal judge.

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Cynthia Shahan