Utilities companies partner to electrify US highways, pushing a cure for range anxiety

Sparks are flying… There’s a new EV power player on the scene. Con Edison, Duke Energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and nearly 50 other US electric companies partnered to launch the National Electric Highway Coalition (NEHC) yesterday. Together, they plan to build a coast-to-coast network of fast-charging EV stations along major US highways by 2023.

• NEHC members have already pitched in $3B, but the group hasn’t set precise funding or station goals yet.

EV envy… Lately, carmakers have been the key drivers behind EV investments: VW, Daimler, Stellantis, Ford, and GM have committed $330B to developing EV tech in the next four years. But President Biden’s recent infrastructure bill (now a law) sets aside $7.5B for EV-charging stations, offering more types of companies an incentive to support EV infrastructure too. That’s:

• Good news for utilities companies, which could tap into Biden’s coffers, and good for EV-charging companies like ChargePoint and EVgo, which run their own networks and might access more $$.
• Bad news for Tesla, which has spent billions building 30K+ global charging stations and could lose the competitive moat of its own network. Also: Tesla isn’t eligible for some of the gov’t funds. Elon Musk told WSJ that the charging subsidies in Biden’s bill should be deleted.
• Just the beginning: Analysts say $7.5B is only 15% of the $50B necessary to hit Biden’s goal of building 500K EV chargers by 2030.