Shares in ChargePoint Holdings (Ticker: CHPT) and EVgo (EVGO) are each down more than 3% in early trade Monday. Later in the day, ChargePoint was up more than 5% and EVgo was down about 1%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.6%. Shares fell 13.2% and 11.7% respectively on Friday.
General Motors (GM) announced on Thursday evening that it would introduce the Tesla (TSLA) charging plug, which caused a lot of volatility. Investors fear that either the cost of adding a Tesla plug to existing grids is high, or that Tesla will monopolize the EV charging business.
Uncertainty is never good, but both fears seem a bit exaggerated. Shares in electric vehicle charging company Tritium DCFC (DCFC) fell 10.8% on Friday. They rose 4.2% in Monday trade, apparently as the company announced it would support the Tesla connector and integrate it with the company’s existing network of charging stations.
“Tritium is committed to enabling the rapid transition to EVs by providing our customers and EV drivers with fast, reliable charging capabilities that can charge any EV model,” said Tritium CEO Jane Hunter in a press release. “As the electric vehicle industry aligns with global technology standards, Tritium is committed to supporting all connectors that are widely deployed in our core markets of Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.”
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Tritium adding the plug comes as no surprise. All players and gear makers will do the same. ABB (ABBN.Switzerland) makes devices that are purchased by electric vehicle charging companies. On Friday, the company announced that it would add an optional Tesla connector to its products.
The news is, of course, positive for Tesla, which is the largest EV retail chain in the US with around 17,000 outlets available. Agreements with GM and Ford Motor (F) mean more EVs will arrive at Tesla charging stations, but Tesla and other EVs will use other chargers as they do today.
Blink Charging (BLNK) stock fell 10.6% on Friday, despite most of its activity not being in the fast-charging business like Tesla does. Blink makes other so-called Level 2 chargers that offer a range of around 20 to 30 miles per hour, and you might see them in an office building or train station.
Blink shares rose 12.2% on Monday, while Tesla shares gained 2.1% after rising 4.1% on Friday. Blink stock is up a cent from where it closed prior to GM’s announcement.
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The market has added about $45 billion to Tesla’s market cap over the past two trading days as investors recognize that it is a gas station chain and not just an electric vehicle maker. On the other side of the swing, stocks that charge electric vehicles have lost about $300 million in market value over the past two days.
Somehow that feels a little weird.
Investors should keep in mind that the total EV charging infrastructure in the US is expected to grow four to fivefold by the end of the decade. According to Bloomberg BNEF, at the end of 2022, the US had about 37,000 fast chargers, of which Tesla operates about half, and about 121,000 slower chargers.
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China ended 2022 with about 750,000 fast chargers and 1 million slower chargers. Western Europe ended 2022 with about 89,000 fast chargers and 540,000 slower chargers.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]