California-based ChargePoint, an EV charging network, has made it to the headlines for raising over $200 million in its latest funding round, making the firm’s total more than $500 million. As per reliable sources, investors ranging from power generators to automakers such as Daimler and BMW are clearly focused on protecting their businesses while electric cars are taking over fossil-fuel based cars. Reportedly, ChargePoint is leading the race to provide a reliable and omnipresent network to power the new set of electric cars in Europe. The list of ChargePoint’s key competitors includes French electric utility Engie, Britain’s E.ON, RWE of Germany’s Innology, and FastNed of Holland, cite sources.
However, the challenge is that electric cars market is growing at a slow pace, despite some powerful government regulations to control emissions. A considerable amount of people still believe that electric cars are expensive and less practical as compared to conventional vehicles that run on fuel, claim market experts.
According to sources familiar with the development, Campbell-based ChargePoint plans on building 2.5 million charging points worldwide by 2025. Reportedly, the company independently owns about 60,000 public and semi-public charging spots. While nearly 1,000 charging points are in Europe and the rest in the United States, ChargePoint claimed that its expansion plans will possibly be split evenly between the two regions.
Reportedly, ChargePoint hopes the sales of electric cars to soon accelerate. Automobile manufacturers like Volkswagen estimate the sale of battery-powered vehicles will surge up to 25% of global sales by 2025, sources stated.
According to ChargePoint, the latest funding would be directed towards the expansion of its network and the firm would continue to grow its footprint in the US and European regions. The company further stated that it plans to improve the experience for electric vehicle drivers and advance solutions for fleets as the market rapidly approaches the mass adoption of electric transportation, cite sources.
