TTI’s director of marketing for transportation, Gabe Osorio, explains the challenges the EV sector is facing are signs of a boom period and TTI is eager to face them head-on.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are certainly having a moment right now. Portland, OR recently hosted its inaugural FIA Formula E race, an F1- style event showcasing the power of electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Cyber Truck has finally hit the market, EV prices are on the downturn and 2023 end-of- year sales are estimated at more than one million units.
Culturally speaking, this feels like a high watermark. EVs are no longer a novelty: they’re not a fad and it’s getting easier to sell people on their advantages over fossil fuel-based vehicles.
At the same time, big strides are being made regarding charging. The 2023 Infrastructure Bill allots $7.5 billion to EV charging resources, so there’s government support, and 2022 alone saw more new charging ports than the previous three-years combined. By 2030, the sector is looking at 17,000 Tesla superchargers, 126,000 Level 2 ports and over two million Level 2 chargers across the nation. That’s not even counting in-home charging ports.
All of this said, there are more roadblocks ahead than behind. EVs have found federal level government support but support is also needed at the municipal level. Convincing voters and elected officials of EV charging’s importance on a county-to-county basis is easier said than done.
Add that charging stations built in the US with federal funding require at least 50 per cent of their components to be sourced from North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) members and the sector has another layer of challenge for the groups building this infrastructure.
Further complicating matters is the upswing in business sparking intense competition. EV startups and special purpose acquisition companies have been struggling to develop and launch mass- production electric vehicles, and it’s only gotten more difficult with big auto brands like Ford throwing their hats into the ring. Many small and medium-sized EV companies are starting to feel as if they’re being crowded out of the very industry they helped build.
This is not to say the situation is dire, far from it. This is the turbulence expected in a developing industry. The challenges, roadblocks and setbacks faced by those in the EV field are all signs of a bright future and great opportunity for electric vehicles. These are the issues faced when an industry is booming, not petering out. The path forward will be carved by those willing and eager to face these challenges.
TTI is excited to tackle these challenges as it plays its part in achieving net-zero emissions. A team of seasoned specialists is putting decades of combined experience to work in equipping customers to stay ahead of the curve with the best products on the market.