Major ZEV Announcements At Global Climate Action Summit

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EV infrastructures across North America and Europe will receive a major boost in charging points by 2025. In announcements at the Global Climate Action Summit, ChargePoint and EVBox  — along with 3 other energy companies — have committed to a total of 3.5 million new chargers on the road. EV industry growth projections confirm the messages coming out of the Global Climate Action Summit — determined leadership today will produce a rapid transition to a net-zero emissions society tomorrow, and the results will be good for both the environment and business.

The Global Climate Summit, which took place from September 14-16 in San Francisco, focused on bold climate initiatives by countries, states, cities, civil society groups, and businesses which gathered in common cause to address climate change and work to fulfill the historic Paris Agreement. Innovation and collaboration throughout the Summit produced consensus that our climate future and economic power structures can bring together two seemingly disparate issues when renewable energy is part of the conversation.

Transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) worldwide and was a special focus at the Global Climate Action Summit. Reducing GHG emissions is key to slowing climate change and making sure our planet stays a healthy place to live. EVs fight climate change by powering transportation with electricity, not fossil fuels. Driving an EV can cut fossil fuel emissions in half and even eliminate them entirely when powered by renewable energy sources.

An international infrastructure acceleration for the roll-out of zero emission vehicles at the Global Climate Action Summit was accompanied by major announcements of 100% ZEV targets by 26 cities, state/regions, and businesses. The Global Climate Action Summit claimed transportation electrification as an essential action step with its #ZEVchallenge — calling out major constituents to deliver an acceleration of a clean transport roll-out across the world. #ZEVchallenge brings together leading initiatives for states (Under2 Coalition ZEV commitment), cities (C40 Cities – Green & Healthy Streets) and businesses (EV100).

Today, more states, regions, cities and businesses are stepping up on climate action and announcing 100% zero emission vehicle targets https://t.co/TpwUKj7ZzF #ZEVChallenge #StepUp2018 @C40cities #GCAS2018 #EV100 pic.twitter.com/seL4J5QRJj

— Climate Group (@ClimateGroup) September 13, 2018

Helen Clarkson of the Climate Group remarked at the Global Climate Action Summit,

“Ramping-up charging infrastructure is critical to accelerating the car market to zero emissions. Seeing charging points on the streets both normalizes electric vehicles and reassures owners. It is also encouraging to see so many large industry players commit to a goal of 100% decarbonised hydrogen for transport by 2030.”

2 Extensive Commitments to EV Charging Points

ChargePoint believes that, as its network grows, it becomes easier for more people to choose EVs as their primary mode of transportation. As one of the world leaders in charging infrastructure and technology, ChargePoint already has more than 50,000 places to charge on its network globally. The company announced at the Global Climate Action Summit that it has committed to delivering 2.5 million places to charge by 2025, “accelerating the future of electrified transportation and further reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.”

CEO of ChargePoint, Pasquale Romano said,

“Our commitment to deploy 2.5 million charging spots by 2025 comes as the company embarks on the most significant period of growth in our history and in the midst of a revolution in transportation. The time for transformative change is now. One hundred percent of what we do is focused on developing technology that enables cleaner transportation, and ChargePoint is proud to play a critical role in facilitating the transition to electric mobility and supporting the Summit’s mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.”

In addition to ChargePoint, EVBox outlined its global plan to expand its charging points through a mix of fast and regular charging. Speaking at the Global Climate Action Summit, CEO of EVBox, Kristof Vereenooghe announced the company’s commitment of “having at least 1 million charging points by 2025.” This is from a current 60,000 EVBox charging points the company currently has in place. Vereenooghe also spoke at the Global Climate Action Summit about the importance of announcing EVBox’ commitment to an expanded chargepoint network.

“GCAS is a perfect forum to do so, a place where thought leaders from across the globe come together and look at the solutions of tomorrow. This is also why we chose GCAS to announce our commitment to having 1 million charging points by 2025. An ambitious commitment, but high ambitions are crucial if we hope to turn the tide.”

Both of these businesses are also backing the #ZEVChallenge, created by The Climate Group and C40 Cities and inspired by the Global Climate Action Summit.

EVBox and ChargePoint pledge to have 3.5 million charging points installed between them by 2025. https://t.co/ohMUakH2EI #ZEVChallenge #AimHigh #rEVolution #climateaction

— electrive global (@ElectriveGlobal) September 17, 2018

Three other business entities committed at the Global Climate Action Summit to expanding their charging point networks.

• Southern California Edison (SCE) will commit to pursuing over 50,000 EV charging ports.
• FLO has committed to 42,000 charging points.
• National Grid now plans to enable 10,000 public charging ports by 2025 in its US jurisdictions (MA, NY, and RI) with the approval of state regulatory agencies.

Currently, there are approximately 500,000 public chargers in the US, Europe, and China. The 3.5 million new chargers announced at the Global Climate Action Summit will support the forecast that 37 million EVs will be on the road globally by 2025, driving a combined 384 billion electric miles per year.

The announcements made at the Global Climate Action Summit will result in a significant increase in the level of infrastructure for ZEVs and provides additional future certainty for individuals who depend on EVs. For those considering the purchase of an EV for their next vehicle, the charging point expansion will offer the comfort of the transportation electrification triumvirate: driving and charging an EV can be simple, easy, and cost effective.

Final Thoughts

The Global Climate Action Summit took place under the theme “Taking Ambition to the Next Level.” To keep warming well below 2°C, and ideally 1.5° C — temperatures that could lead to catastrophic consequences — worldwide emissions must start trending down by 2020. The Summit showcased climate action around the world, along with bold new commitments to give world leaders the confidence they can go even further by 2020 in support of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The summit’s five headline challenge areas were:

• Healthy Energy Systems
• Inclusive Economic Growth
• Sustainable Communities
• Land and Ocean Stewardship
• Transformative Climate Investments

Driving on electricity reduces or eliminates GHG emissions. The average US driver can avoid more than 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by driving an EV. EV driving will continue to get even cleaner as more renewable energy comes onto the grid, as charging stations can run on renewable energy to keep pushing down emissions and electricity costs related to charging. EVs improve local air quality by centralizing emissions at power plants, and they are more efficient overall than vehicles powered by fossil fuels. The increases in charging point infrastructure revealed at the Global Climate Action Summit bring us one step further to that cleaner transportation mindset.