Enhancing user experience in public electric vehicle charging
IZEVA publication
Toward healthy competition in the European public charging market: Stakeholder dynamics and pricing trends
The public charging infrastructure market in Europe is undergoing rapid development, driven by the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the push for sustainable transportation solutions. This ZEV Alliance report aims to answer three main questions to better understand how charge point operator (CPO) market concentration is shaping the EV public charging market:
- Who are the key players in the European public EV charging infrastructure market and how does the European market compare to that of North America?
- What are the CPO market concentration levels in Europe and North America, and do they cause competition concerns?
- How do these market players set prices for public EV charging, and is there a correlation with their market coverage?
First, the European public charging market consists of a vast number of CPOs and mobility service providers (MSPs). The study found over 2,000 CPOs offering AC charging, more than 1,000 offering DC charging, and about 240 MSPs in total. Compared to the United States and Canada, which have mostly pure players, Europe’s leading CPOs are mostly sector-leaping players, particularly oil and gas companies and electric utilities, which come with a competitive advantage over pure players.
Second, the rise in EV adoption over recent years has not resulted in consistent market concentration trends across Europe. The leading AC CPO in 42% of European NUTS 3 regions had a market share exceeding 40%, which the German Competition Authority considers a threshold for market dominance. This number increases to 50% in the Netherlands for the AC market and 52% in Poland for the DC market. Ongoing monitoring could provide regulators with the necessary information to identify any potential competition concerns.
Finally, reflective of recent AFIR requirements, billing per recharged energy (kWh) is dominant among European EV public charging rates, and, while ad hoc charging prices are generally similar to MSP prices excluding subscription costs, once taken into account, average MSP prices tended to be highest among the pricing models analyzed. Lastly, as of now, market dominance by one CPO has not had a clear impact on ad hoc pricing.
