🤑Making Bank With Fast Charging

Good Morning, this is your Electric Daily. The email that gives you a daily jolt of electric vehicle trends, insights, and predictions, in 5 minutes or less.

In Today's Email:

• 🤑More Green in Fast Charging than Selling Gas

• 💸Non-Tesla Supercharging is Expanding

• 🚗 5 EVs to Watch Out for in 2022

• 🗒️ Three Nuggets

—Riz Nwosu

More Green in Fast Charging than Selling Gas

Electric vehicles need a solid charging infrastructure to thrive. A significant portion of this infrastructure comprises public fast chargers because they allow EV drivers to charge their batteries faster when they cannot access their home chargers. Also, public DC fast chargers come to the rescue for drivers who cannot install a charging station at home.

Due to the high setup costs for DCFC, fast-charging stations are usually run by third-party companies. However, if these companies cannot turn a profit, the business will eventually be abandoned. Gas stations stay in business because they make a profit selling fuel to ICE drivers. The question, then, is, can fast EV charging be more profitable than selling fuel?

In this article, we look at BP, a company with a chain of gas stations trying to shift towards EV charging.

Can fast EV charging be more profitable than selling fuel?

According to BP, the answer is yes. Like the rest of its rivals, BP had spent years investing heavily in expanding its charging network. As such, it had been recording losses. However, the company recently revealed a turnaround.

BP announced that its EV charging business is on the cusp of being more profitable than its fuel selling business, which means it is already making a profit. The company projected this milestone would come in 2025, but it has already exceeded its goal with three years to spare.

Responsible for this dramatic turn of events is the surge in demand for electric vehicles in Europe, allowing BP to reap the benefit of its expansion faster than it expected.

Revenue from public charging increased by 45% between the second and third quarters of 2021, allowing the division to come close to overtaking the fuel dispensing business in terms of profit.

The company is yet to reveal its profit margin from its fast-charging stations, but we have an idea from an estimate provided by Thunder Said Energy. The consulting firm reports that BP’s profit margin on gas is 17 cents per gallon and 0.4 cents per kWh from EV charging.

I'd show you a chart from Thunder Said Energy about this, but they charge way too much to access their research studies. So here's something how BP feels right about now:

BP, however, has not stopped expanding. It promises to increase its public charging points from 11,000 units to 70,000 by the end of the decade.

BP is proof that even though government intervention is necessary to develop EV charging infrastructure, there is room for companies to build profitable businesses charging EVs.

Non-Tesla Supercharging is Expanding

And Tesla owners are freaking out.

Well not actually...yet. However, the rollout in Europe is coming with some growing pains and things need to be figured out in this new norm. 

Non-Tesla Supercharging has always been the endgame for the Tesla Supercharger network which recently expanded to all stations in the Netherlands and is now accessible in Norway and France.

We already know that some situations have compatibility concerns regarding to short charging lines and different charging outlet positions. However, there are some other more pressing issues that would need to be addressed before this program is rolled out more broadly.

According to a recent video by Bjrn Nyland, there is also a problem with the connector not being firmly closed while charging a non-Tesla EV at a Supercharger.

Bjrn made a demonstration using a Kia EV6, which showed that in the absence of the driver, a nefarious third party may simply push a button to terminate the charging session and disconnect the vehicle. He/she can then begin a new session with his/her own EV.

I can already imagine the fights and conflicts that could arise from someone prematurely unplugging your vehicle. Putting aside the invasion of privacy and the breach of EV charging etiquette at play here, this could pose a security risk.

Tesla has already solved this problem for its vehicles while Supercharging and should be able to come up with a solution for other vehicle models. Since this is still a pilot program in Europe, Tesla has some time to gather data and design a final solution.

With gas prices in Los Angeles hitting $6/gallon today, I am reminded by the immortal words of Fat Joe "Yesterday's price is not today's price". 

5 EVs to Watch Out for in 2022

In 2021, EV companies like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid hugged the limelight for different reasons. However, come 2022, other electric vehicle startups will make a splash and are worth paying attention to. Some have been working in stealth mode and will unleash their models on the unsuspecting market next year.

Atlis XT

Several startups are working on electric pickup trucks but Atlis Motor Vehicles Inc., on the other hand, believes it has a superior idea than its competitors. The start-up is working on an EV truck with a 500-mile range and a battery that recharges in less than 15 minutes.

The Arizona-based EV manufacturer has released the first photographs of its new Atlis XT all-electric work truck which it anticipates will rival the highly anticipated Chevy Silverado EV. The XT is aimed at commercial customers in the agriculture, construction, service, and utility industries, giving it a huge TAM in the US alone. The vehicle will be comparable in size, refueling, towing, and payload to conventional diesel-powered pickup trucks that this target audience is already very familiar with.

Canoo

This EV startup has had its fair share of turbulence. All the five co-founders have exited the company, but the new management team seems to be making calculated steps.

Canoo is attempting to differentiate itself with a unique design, and it seemed to have succeeded as it caught the attention of the king of design, Apple. The company will start production with a funky minivan followed by a couple of delivery vehicles, including a work van that looks like what the US Marines will drive.

Bollinger B1 & B2

If you desire a brutally minimalist battery-powered vehicle, the Bollinger B1 SUV and B2 pickup truck might interest you. The company gathered lots of attention when it released the sharp-looking pair of EVs in 2017. However, the startup is also marketing the vehicles as good off-roaders, making it a direct competitor to the Rivian R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV.

Production was billed for 2021, but as it is common in the EV industry, delays have pushed it to 2022.

Fisker Ocean

The CEO and founder of Fisker, which bears his name, is a veteran of the automobile industry. However, 2022 promises to be a big year for the company as the Ocean production will start towards the end of the year.

The 2023 Fisker Ocean claims to be one of the most eco-friendly cars, with parts made from recycled or reclaimed materials. It will give 250 miles per charge, and you can get 2,000 miles through the solar panels on the roof. Thanks to bi-directional charging, you can even power your home with the car’s battery.

Aptera

How does a 1000-mile range EV make you feel? Excited? Well, you might have to sacrifice one wheel, but as long as you get to your destination, it is no problem.

A range of 1,000 miles sounds too good to be true, but that is precisely what Aptera is promising. Part of the secret ingredient is a very light car and aerodynamic design. Its three-wheeled solar charging vehicle, which is 100 percent street legal, will let you drive to your heart content without stopping for a charge. This is in addition to the many heads you will turn, courtesy of the unique design.

Don’t be surprised if most or all of the above listed EV startups IPO in 2022. Investors, start your electric engines!

3 Nuggets

• Volvo gives dealers its road map to EV future - [Read more here]

• Irish EV named one of "the greatest electric cars on Earth" - [Read more here]

• This EV charger prototype could make US installation rollout much faster and easier - [Read more here]

Consider yourself 80% charged. Why 80%? Well, according to legend, charging your battery to 100% repeatedly will damage it faster than you can say...[Insert clever saying here]. See ya tomorrow!

What'd you think about today's email?

• ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ Fully charged

• ⚡⚡ Meh - was ok

• ⚡ Not even close

Written by Riz Nwosu

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