Tesla is in a bit of a free fall.
Even before CEO Elon Musk’s explicit embrace of right-wing politics, signs were emerging that the EV manufacturer’s aging lineup was struggling to compete with rivals like China’s BYD and the slew of new electric models from other brands.
EV demand has slowed, Tesla has faced repeated issues with its Cybertruck, and its shares are down approximately 30% this year amid backlash over Musk’s role overseeing cuts to the federal government. There are widespread reports of Tesla owners offloading their vehicles to avoid association with the brand. Tesla has become the target of a global protest movement.
One area where Tesla has remained somewhat untouchable is in EV charging; its Supercharger network has long been considered the gold standard for public EV charging in the US.
A new Escalent report suggests that competing charge point operators (CPOs) might have opportunities to make up lost ground by improving the charging experience for users––addressing a persistent pain point and boosting their standing against Tesla in the process.
“Tesla is kind of the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” K.C. Boyce, a VP in the Automotive & Mobility and Energy industry practices at Escalent, told Tech Brew. “The good news is that that low familiarity that new-car buyers have with [CPOs] gives them this opportunity to really build their brand around something…and long term, to drive utilization.”
Going public: Escalent analysts set out to gauge how CPOs like ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo can better compete with Tesla. They found that more than 70% of drivers would opt for another charging network if the CPO installed stations along major corridors and allowed them to reserve a charger in advance. The report also recommends that CPOs model charging stations on gas stations by offering food, wi-fi, security cameras, and restrooms.
Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business
Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.
As it stands now, there’s plenty of room for improvement. The survey found that the vast majority of drivers have issues with slow charging times, long waits for available chargers, and charging costs being too high. Tesla drivers report fewer such issues.
Battery-electric vehicle “charging is definitely one of the key barriers to BEV adoption,” Nikki Stern, a senior automotive and mobility industry insights manager at Escalent, told us. “So overcoming those barriers is going to be good for OEMs, because that’s going to bring in new sales. And then it’s also going to be good for the CPOs, because they’re going to have more people charging at their chargers.”
That’s important, because boosting utilization rates is seen as key to profitability for CPOs.
“One of the things that is going to drive utilization is the brand perception of charge point operators,” Boyce said. “If you’ve got a brand where the perception is, there’s always a line or the chargers are always broken, or the chargers are always slow or they’re super expensive or they’re located in inconvenient places…that’s not going to be a good thing for drawing consumers to your brand.”
Going home: Still, most EV charging is done at home––and Escalent’s report underscored that there are opportunities for improvement there, too.
The survey examined three different scenarios for an EV brand to be involved in home charging installation.
More than 70% of buyers said they’d be more likely to buy an EV from a brand if the manufacturer set up home charging for them. Only 36% said they’d be comfortable handling the installation process entirely on their own.
“It can provide a competitive advantage for OEMs when consumers are down to debating between two different models from two different brands,” Stern said.