EV Charging Network Leaders Are …

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News

---

Originally published on EV Obsession.

I still find it hard to believe that I am a “early adopter.” Soon, I hope I will not be thinking “Why are there not more EV drivers?#8221; Well, I do thank my lucky stars on this one. Primarily, I thank CleanTechnica.com and EVObsession.com for pointing me to “right drivelihood.” But it’s not just the cars and social support that make the EV movement. There’s an entire “EV ecosystem” in place, and growing.

For example, Navigant Research fills us in that, even for us early adopters, there is widespread EV charging support. “Governments, utilities, and automakers are increasingly supporting commercial charging infrastructure deployments.” A Navigant Research “Leaderboard Report” on EV charging networks shows a few major players in this arena.

I am not among the norm — I don’t charge where I live. This makes me heavily reliant on and grateful for these early charging leaders. It is interesting to see how Navigant ranks them. The company writes:

“While most vehicle charging today occurs at a driver’s personal home charger, many stakeholders looking to spur demand for plug-in EVs (PEVs) believe that widespread, convenient charging accessibility is critical to attaining this goal. Stakeholders have thus supported the rollout of public charging sites and installations at office buildings, parking garages, and other locations where the charging site owner is seeing demand from the growing number of PEV drivers.”

Indeed, I thank Sarasota’s planning — this is precisely what this upbeat municipality provides.

It is an interesting time for electric cars. With the industry once crushed at the junkyard, EVs are back in vogue due to superior technological, health, performance, drive quality, and climate factors. And, yes, we appreciate Elon Musk for pointing out that electric cars are cooler than the miniskirt. Cool they are. It is not a time to mince words. But they still need a well developed ecosystem of services to thrive. (Interestingly, Navigant leaves Tesla out of this ranking despite its Supercharger network.)

If you are not appreciative of political hands in the deep pockets of fossil fuels, vote by choosing electric vehicles, biking, and public transit. Also, give some thanks to the companies, organizations, and politicians who are enabling this.

Back to Navigant: “The commercial charging market has attracted a wide variety of vendors offering a range of solutions. Five years ago, there was a glut of players targeting this market. The landscape has since changed, with some large companies dropping out and smaller ones closing their doors or merging. At the same time, the commercial charging market itself is evolving.”

Here are the top 10 vendors in list format, according to Navigant:

1. The New Motion

2. ChargePoint

3. EV-Box

4. Chargemaster Plc

5. Fortum

6. innogy SE

7. Greenlots

8. EVgo

9. CLEVER A/S

10. POD Point

Check out the Navigant report for more info.

Related Stories:

• Navigant Research Report Analyzes Effects Of Demand-Side Policies Incentivizing EVs
• Navigant Research Global Car Sharing Services Revenue Surge 6.5 Billion 2024