Tesla’s creation of a vast new EV charging business was, apparently, an accident. The debate over how to build charging infrastructure has raged since the early days of electric vehicles.
from investment bank Piper Sandler & Co. found that a decade from now, Tesla’s opening up of its charging network to other car manufacturers could generate the company upwards of $5 billion in revenue annually. “This is a bit of an AWS moment for Tesla,” Jonathan McNeill, a former Tesla executive who now sits on GM’s board, toldMcNeill is referring to Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing business, which began as way to reduce costs and has since become a key source of revenue.
None of the companies exploring different business models in the EV charging space have proven it can be profitable. Blink Charging, EVGo, and ChargePoint have all built some combination of a charging network for consumers and businesses, with other revenue streams like fleet charging and bespoke charging for office parks. “We’re making money on equipment, services, and software subscriptions,” ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano told me.