Factbox: Potential winners and losers from the new U.S. EV charging standards

Lincoln Electric Holdings

15/02/2023 19:18

Feb 15 (Reuters) - The Biden administration announced
new standards for building out a national electric vehicle
charging network on Wednesday as part of a push to accelerate
the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
    President Joe Biden previously committed to building a U.S.
network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, and has now set the
standards to disburse $7.5 billion in federal funds to support
that effort. Today, there are more than 3 million EVs and more
than 130,000 public chargers across the country, according to
the White House.
    Among the potential winners and losers analysts and industry
officials see as a result of Wednesday's announcement, with some
players appearing on both lists: 
    WINNERS
    EV DRIVERS: Consumers who drive EVs "now have assurance of
knowing that they can charge their cars reliably, conveniently
and hopefully with cost upfront that they can be aware of," said
Colleen Quinn, head of the National EV Charging Initiative, a
coalition of automakers, power providers, EV and charging
industry leaders, labor and public interest groups. Others call
that wishful thinking, citing complaints about bad service
within the current charging systems.
    U.S. STATES: Quinn said the states now have a "green light"
to move forward with their plans to award $700 million in
federal funds to build up their charging networks.
    EV CHARGING COMPANIES: Many, including Volkswagen's
 VOWG_p.DE  Electrify America, ChargePoint CHPT.N  and EVGo
 EVGO.O , will accelerate the rollout of chargers due to the
federal funding.
    SKILLED LABOR: The requirement that trained electricians 
provide installation and maintenance of the charging stations
will likely lead to the creation of more higher-paying jobs,
said Miles Muller, an attorney in the clean vehicle program at
the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental
advocacy group. The standards require that all chargers work at
least 97% of the time.
    U.S. STEELMAKERS/SUPPLIERS: The standards immediately
require any manufacturing of the chargers' iron and steel
enclosures or housing occur in the United States. In addition,
at least 55% of the cost of all parts in the chargers must be
made in the United States by July 2024. 
    Welding giant Lincoln Electric LECO.O  for instance has
announced a new line of fast chargers, while Blink Charging Co
 BLNK.O  will expand its charger manufacturing plant in Maryland
and plans to announce another factory this year.
    U.S. EV AUTO SECTOR: The rollout of more charging stations
will encourage EV adoption in the United States. That could
potentially boost sales for automakers like Ford Motor Co  F.N ,
General Motors Co  GM.N , VW as well as startups like Rivian
 RIVN.O  and Lucid  LCID.O . 
    U.S. ELECTRIC UTILITIES: They get to tap the new federal
funds to build chargers, and accelerated growth for EVs would
boost electricity use.
    INTERSTATE HIGHWAY REST STOPS: They could see an influx of
investment as companies establish charging stations along
heavily traveled routes. That could benefit companies like BP
 BP.L  and Hertz  HTZ.O , which are expanding charging at their
gas stations and rental car locations, respectively. Rest stop
operators like privately held Pilot Co and TravelCenters of
America  TA.O  could also benefit.
    TESLA: Under the new charging standards, the White House
said EV market leader Tesla  TSLA.O  has agreed to open part of
its U.S. charging network to EVs made by rivals. That could help
turn Tesla charging sites into the universal filling station of
the EV era, analysts said. 
        LOSERS
  
    TESLA: However, the opening of Tesla's network also risks
eroding the company's competitive edge for vehicles made by the
company that currently have exclusive access to the biggest U.S.
network of high-speed superchargers, analysts said.
    EV CHARGING COMPANIES: While the charging companies get
financial support in their expansion efforts, only a handful of
the dozen who commented to the Biden administration ahead of
Wednesday's announcement said that they could meet the "Buy
American" standards under the proposed timelines.
    OVERSEAS STEELMAKERS/SUPPLIERS: The requirement on domestic
manufacturing will hurt overseas suppliers, although the Biden
administration hopes that forces them to open plants in the
United States as a result, analysts said. 
    Australia's Tritium DCFC.O  on Wednesday announced it will
add more than 250 jobs at its Tennessee charger manufacturing
plant. Germany's Siemens  SIEGn.DE  recently announced its
second U.S. charging manufacturing plant in Texas, while South
Korea's SK Signet  260870.KN  will open a manufacturing plant in
Texas, the White House said.
 (Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, and Jarrett Renshaw and
David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie)
 ((benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com; 313-600-2277; Reuters
Messaging: benjamin.klayman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))