Governments, utilities, and automakers are increasingly supporting commercial charging infrastructure deployments. While most vehicle charging today occurs at a driver’s personal home charger, many stakeholders looking to spur demand for plug-in EVs (PEVs) believe that widespread, convenient charging accessibility is critical to attaining this goal, Navigant observes.

Buoyed by stakeholder support, the commercial charging market has attracted a large number of vendors offering a range of solutions and approaching the market from a variety of vantage points: manufacturing equipment, developing software, and running public charging networks.

Over the past 2 years, there has been some winnowing in the market, with a few large multinationals dropping out and a few small companies exiting the market or being acquired.

For the Leaderboard report, Navigant focused only on companies with a large public charging network in one or more major markets that are offering a range of solutions for the commercial charging market. In addition, companies must be operating a public charging network under their own name; this network must either have a minimum of 1,000 charging points; or must be the major network in a key PEV market.

Based on Navigant’s criteria, the research firm selected The New Motion, ChargePoint, and EV-Box as the “Leaders” due to market share, breadth of products, and adaptability to the changing dynamics of the charging market. There is a large cluster of “Contenders” that could move to a Leader position or fall further behind if they fail in securing key partnerships and innovating products.

Source: Navigant Research. Click to enlarge.

Companies in the commercial charging space will face a transitional market over the next few years. This transitional phase presents opportunities for companies if they are able to adapt their business models, innovate their technology offerings, and establish relationships with automakers and utilities. For example, the entry of US utilities into the EV supply equipment (EVSE) market presents an opening for companies with easy-to-use interoperable software management systems. The push to deploy direct current (DC) charging networks will create opportunities for companies that focus more on DC charging. Overall, the player landscape for commercial charging services is likely to continue to shift over the next few years.

—“Navigant Research Leaderboard Report: EV Charging Network Companies”