Global spending on EV chargers to cross $US100 bn, set to double in only three years

Global investment in electric vehicle (EV) chargers is expected to cross the $US100 billion mark this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), with the second $US100 billion expected to take only three years.

Bolstered by a period of increased growth, which saw annual spending on EV charging infrastructure almost double to $US62 billion in 2022, BNEF expects spending to continue increasing, reaching $US200 billion by 2026.

“We’re in a phase of high growth,” said Ryan Fisher, BNEF’s lead EV charging analyst. “Just look at the jump in numbers in 2022.”

Unsurprisingly, EV charger spending reflects the strength of the EV market. As such, China and Europe lead the way, while the US continues to gain traction and will be strengthened by the $US7.5 billion worth of government funds that have recently been set aside for charging infrastructure.

Representative of its immature market, the North American EV charger landscape is dominated by two companies – Chargepoint and Tesla, although Tesla leads when considering fast and ultra-fast chargers.

Conversely, the European market boasts a much more balanced and mature market, with a much narrower gap evident between the top three EV charging operators.

“The US market is picking up steam, while the European market is much more mature, with some consolidation potential,” explained Fisher.

What will be of particular interest to watch over the next few years is the distribution of home and public EV charging points. Currently, with more than 12 million active EV plug points in operation globally, home charging points exceed public chargers.

However, BNEF expects that this will flip in the years to come as EV adoption increases.

The latest BNEF figures didn’t include any information about Australia. A separate BNEF report published last November highlighted that Australians were being effectively “locked out of the EV market” by a lack of supply and model choice. This, in turn, has impacted the number of EV chargers – though that is changing, slowly.

According to a Savvy report also published in November, there are currently over 3,000 EV public charging points across Australia – including 2,531 standard AC points and 470 supercharge DC points.