EVBox CEO Kristof Vereenooghe has announced that EVBox, one of the leading global manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations and related software, is committing itself to having a minimum of one million EV charging points placed globally by the year 2025. He announced this on stage at the Global Climate Action Summit, which took place September 12-14 in San Francisco, US.
We are living in extremely challenging times. Global temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, while air quality is now at a level that can cause permanent and serious health damage. The sad reality is that around 90% of people living in cities today are not breathing safe air due to high CO2 emissions. Approximately 23% of these emissions are caused by (fossil fuel-based) transportation. However, there’s also hope, with many countries, cities, and companies stepping up by banning ICE vehicles and investing heavily in electric mobility. At EVBox, we are ready and able to contribute to accelerating electric mobility on a global scale—which is why, as an organisation, we are committed to having at least one million charging points by 2025. An ambitious commitment, but high ambitions are crucial if we hope to turn the tide.
The Global Climate Action Summit brought together over 5000 global thought leaders, nations, cities, and companies. The Summit set out to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of organisations with respect to climate action, but also to create a deeper commitment to take even more action against climate change globally.
Besides the 300+ media outlets present, the full list of delegates includes many high-level representatives of multinational companies, countries, and cities worldwide, such as Al Gore (Former US Vice President), Paul Polman (CEO Unilever), Eric Garcetti (Mayor Los Angeles), Anne Hidalgo (Mayor of Paris), and Ahmed Aboutaleb (Mayor of Rotterdam).
Reaching one million EV chargers by 2025
EVBox now has a global installed base of 60,000 charging points (including 700 fast charging stations). Reaching a minimum of 1 million charging points by 2025 (an increase of over 1500% in seven years) may seem overly ambitious; however, there are several reasons why EVBox is not only committed, but also confident it will reach this goal:
- Global sales of electric vehicles continue to rise exponentially. BNEF forecasts show sales of electric vehicles increasing from a record 1.1 million worldwide in 2017 to 11 million in 2025, leading to a total of 30+ million electric cars on the road
- Demand for charging stations will surge along with the sales of electric vehicles. California alone will need up to 279,000 chargers by 2025 to meet state goals, according to the California Energy Commission. Globally, there is an expected demand of at least 20 million residential, commercial, and public chargers by 2025, according to research by BNEF and GTM
- Economies of scale are kicking in as electric vehicles and related equipment (such as charging equipment) are becoming more affordable (with battery prices decrease). This reduces the cost of charging points at homes, at businesses, and in cities
- EVBox continues to expand its portfolio (now offering the full 3.7–350 kW range, with both AC and DC charging) and is heavily scaling up by forming new partnerships to design, develop, and (mass-)produce millions of competitive charging solutions by 2025 in an efficient and cost-effective way
On top of this, EVBox will (continue to) work together with any country, company, city, or individual that shares the same values and sense of urgency towards reducing CO2 emissions. EVBox is committed to accelerating electric mobility on a global scale, as can be witnessed by its collaboration with leading zero-emission cities and states such as California, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, was also a delegate at the Global Climate Action Summit:
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said: “All citizens of Rotterdam deserve a healthy and green city. Part of that is having clean transportation. To achieve this, we very much need the help of the companies working in the mobility industry. A great example of this is EVBox, which is supplying, together with Engie, the public chargers for people to charge their electric cars. EVBox was also the one that came up with the AED integration with their charging station. This way our city doesn’t just become greener, but also safer.”
