Widespread availability of charging outlets is instrumental in making electric vehicles (EVs) a viable option for drivers. ChargePoint, a California-based company that installs and operates networked EV charging stations, has been building this aspect of the EV market—expected to be worth US$700bn by 2026—for 13 years. President and CEO Pasquale Romano likens the company’s steady growth to training for the Olympics: putting in years of work and practice to shine during the main event. “If you want to move something that’s as big as the mobility of goods and people, you have to be prepared to invest for a long time to benefit from what is an enormous business opportunity,” Mr Romano says.

While legacy companies struggle with ways to make their products or services more environmentally sustainable, ChargePoint has had the visionary leadership to chisel out this new market and build up the technology and business models. In fact ChargePoint’s business model helps other organisations align their own sustainability goals. Rather than sell power, ChargePoint sells the EV charging hardware and software solutions (subscription-based) to businesses that want to offer charging to their customers. ChargePoint’s network, sold as a cloud services subscription, includes everything commercial and fleet customers need to manage charging in their car parks and depots. For the driver, it’s all one network visible from a free mobile app, making fuelling EVs easy and accessible; for the organisation, it’s a turnkey resource that can be independently aligned with the company’s business and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals. Says Mr Romano: “I don’t want to force the concept of clean transportation onto consumers. That is not the way our business model is structured to scale with EV adoption. Using EV charging solutions should be a seamless, convenient and connected experience, and the environmental impact should be a byproduct.”

This strategy has helped ChargePoint amass some 70% share of the EV charging market in North America. Now, as a newly publicly traded company, it is set to broaden its expansion into Europe, leveraging HSBC’s expertise in seamless global transactions and in regulations and policies of local markets to do so. “Banks and other financial institutions need to lead by example and support decarbonisation because of the role [they] play throughout the economy,” says Scott Pendrey, HSBC’s global relationship manager of corporate banking. “While we can reduce our own carbon footprint, given our primary activity is the financing of companies, we can have more of an impact across the entire supply chain through our customers—whether that is supporting new initiatives in the electric mobility space such as ChargePoint, or helping traditional companies that are more carbon intensive transition to a cleaner alternative.”

The size of the global EV market is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of at least 20% through the next five years. Despite a rocky year for traditional car sales during the 2020 lockdowns, sales of EVs continued their steady march towards capturing incremental share of the overall market. EVs accounted for 4.2% of car sales in 2020, almost double the volume in 2019 of 2.5%, with Europe displacing China in new EV sales. ChargePoint’s growth, however, is tightly aligned to the adoption rate of EVs, and with that transition expected to happen over decades, Mr Romano sees years of ChargePoint growth ahead.

In the case of EVs, market growth acutely depends on the greater availability of electric options. Although sales of EVs have been rising, they are still a fraction of the overall market. Auto manufacturers are making greater inroads into expanding their electric offerings, but the switch to all-electric mobility will still take time. “You have to basically watch an entire industry and its supply chain retool,” says Mr Romano. “That takes time.”

The role of governments in galvanizing adoption of EVs is essential—whether it’s in the form of tax credits or business incentives that enable employers to provide EVs to employees or install charging stations at their office car parks. And now, as a traded company, ChargePoint not only has greater access to capital, but also a bigger microphone to build awareness of the planet-saving benefits of EVs and drive public demand.

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Tens of thousands of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are available in the United States. These charging stations are being installed in key areas throughout the country for public charging and workplace charging as a supplement to residential charging. Most EV owners do the majority of their charging at home.

Find charging stations by location or along a route. Use the Advanced Filters to search for private and planned stations, as well as charging stations to match certain search criteria.

Charging Infrastructure Development

Consumers and fleets considering electric vehicles—which include all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—need access to charging stations. For most drivers, this starts with charging at home or at fleet facilities. Charging stations at workplaces and public destinations may help bolster market acceptance by offering more flexible charging opportunities at commonly visited locations. Community leaders can find out more through EV readiness planning, including case studies of ongoing successes. The EVI-Pro Lite tool is also available to estimate the quantity and type of charging infrastructure necessary to support regional adoption of EVs by state or city/urban area and to determine how EV charging will impact electricity demand.

The Combined Charging System (CCS), also known as the SAE J1772 combo, charge port on a vehicle can be used to accept charge with Level 1, Level 2, or DC fast charging equipment.

Charging the growing number of EVs in use requires a robust network of stations for both consumers and fleets. The Alternative Fueling Station Locator allows users to search for public and private charging stations. Quarterly reports on EV charging station trends show the growth of public and private charging and assess the current state of charging infrastructure in the United States. Report new charging stations for inclusion in the Station Locator using the Submit New Station form. Suggest updates to existing charging stations by selecting “Report a change” on the station details page.

Learn more about state electrification planning and funding, including information about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. For information on currently available charging infrastructure models, see the Electric Drive Transportation Association’s GoElectricDrive website and Plug In America's Get Equipped publication, which include information on charging networks and service providers. For a list of ENERGY STAR certified chargers, see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Product Finder list.

Charging Infrastructure Terminology

The charging infrastructure industry has aligned with a common standard called the Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) protocol with this hierarchy for charging stations: location, EV charging port, and connector. The Alternative Fuels Data Center and the Station Locator use the following charging infrastructure definitions:

• Station Location: A station location is a site with one or more EV charging ports at the same address. Examples include a parking garage or a mall parking lot.


• EV Charging Port: An EV charging port provides power to charge only one vehicle at a time even though it may have multiple connectors. The unit that houses EV charging ports is sometimes called a charging post, which can have one or more EV charging ports. EV charging ports are also sometimes referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) ports.


• Connector: A connector is what is plugged into a vehicle to charge it. Multiple connectors and connector types (such as CHAdeMO and CCS) can be available on one EV charging port, but only one vehicle will charge at a time. Connectors are sometimes called plugs.

Charging Equipment

Charging equipment for EVs is classified by the rate at which the batteries are charged. Charging times vary based on how depleted the battery is (i.e., state-of-charge), how much energy it holds (i.e., capacity), the type of battery, the vehicle's internal charger capacity, and the type of charging equipment (e.g., charging level, charger power output, and electrical service specifications). The charging time can range from less than 20 minutes using DC fast chargers to 20 hours or more using Level 1 chargers, depending on these and other factors. When choosing equipment for a specific application, many factors, such as networking, payment capabilities, and operation and maintenance, should be considered.

Increasing available public and private charging equipment requires infrastructure procurement. Learn about how to successfully plan for, procure, and install charging infrastructure.

Once charging infrastructure has been procured and installed, it must be properly operated and maintained. Learn about charging infrastructure operation and maintenance considerations.

Additional Charging Options

Another standard (SAE J3068) was developed in 2018 for higher rates of AC charging using three-phase power, which is common at commercial and industrial locations in the United States. Some components of the standard were adapted from the European three-phase charging standards and specified for North American AC grid voltages and requirements. In the United States, the common three-phase voltages are typically 208/120 V, 480/277 V. The standard targets power levels between 6 kW and 130 kW.

Extreme fast chargers (XFC), such as the SAE DC Level 2 standard, are capable of power outputs of up 350 kW and higher and are rapidly being deployed in the United States light-duty and select medium-duty applications (e.g., for in-route charging of electric buses). XFC will also support long-dwell overnight charging for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle applications. A 2022 report looks at the requirements for charging stations that could support in-route charging for heavy-duty EVs. While XFC are currently available from several charging manufacturers, the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office is pursuing research that will bridge the technology gaps associated with implementing XFC networks in the United States. A 2017 report highlights technology gaps at the battery, vehicle, and infrastructure levels. In particular, many EVs on the roads today are not capable of charging at rates higher than 150 kW. However, vehicle technology is advancing, and most new EV models will be able to charge at higher rates, enabling the use of XFC. You can find additional resources on EV charging and advanced charging system research efforts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. For answers to frequently asked questions about the Megawatt Charging System and SAE J3271, see the fact sheet on Charging for Heavy-Duty Electric Trucks from Argonne National Laboratory.

Inductive Charging

Inductive charging equipment, which uses an electromagnetic field to transfer electricity to an EV without a cord, has been introduced commercially for installation as an aftermarket add-on. Some currently available wireless charging stations operate at power levels comparable to Level 2, though this technology is more common for transit or other fleet operations at higher power levels comparable to DC fast. The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting research to investigate the feasibility of high-powered wireless charging. More information on inductive charging research efforts is available from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.