The Next 24 Months Will Redraw the EV Charging Map
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For years, charging was about coverage. Now, it’s about leverage.
Governments are tightening their grip (NEVI in the U.S., ultra-dense rollout in China). OEMs like VW and XPeng are forming cross-brand coalitions. And startups are solving for grid gaps with modular tech.
So, here’s the new race.
Be the brand drivers that plug into wherever they go.
🔦 Spotlight: TWIKE
What if your EV didn’t just move you, but made you move?
Meet TWIKE, the radically efficient, human-electric hybrid vehicle from Germany. With room for two and a top speed of 190 km/h, it blends pedal-powered input with electric drive, giving you up to 500 km of range on just 15 kWh.
TWIKE’s aerospace-inspired design makes it one of the lightest EVs in the world. And its minimalist cockpit ditches complexity in favor of control, simplicity, and… a little cardio.
⚡ Less weight.
💨 Less energy.
🚴♂️ More movement.
TWIKE is redefining what personal mobility could look like.
🚦 Past → Present → Future: The Charging Strategy Shift
🔙 Past: Build It and Hope They Come
For years, EV charging was stuck in the infrastructure chicken-and-egg:
- Governments pushed for raw charger counts.
- Tesla built its own network because no one else would.
- Most OEMs treated charging as an afterthought — outsourcing it to third parties.
- “Coverage” was the only KPI. Uptime? UX? Interoperability? Rarely tracked.
Plug anxiety ruled and charger reliability was anyone’s guess.
⚠️ Present: Charging Gets Competitive
In 2025, the shift is undeniable. Charging is now a product, a platform, and a power move.
- XPeng and Volkswagen are building a joint ultra-fast charging network in China, featuring open access, shared cost, and 420-city coverage.
- Tesla is licensing its NACS plug to competitors while scaling Supercharger reliability.
- BP and Shell are betting on retail-location charging with coffee and convenience baked in.
- Off-grid startups like L-Charge and FreeWire are solving deployment bottlenecks with plug-and-play systems.
- Roland Berger’s EV Charging Index shows that countries like Norway and China are leading the way in accessibility, reliability, and integration.
Charging is no longer a support system. It’s a competitive moat.
🔮 Future: The Rise of the Charging Ecosystem
The next phase of EV charging will be about experience and ownership:
- OEMs will fight to control the charging layer, where the user journey starts and trust is built.
- Expect dynamic pricing, loyalty systems, and in-car routing that favors branded chargers.
- Grid-buffered and V2G solutions will become standard in urban rollouts.
- Charging networks will monetize data, energy arbitrage, and partnerships.
It seems the new market clashes are happening around who owns the socket, and the experience around it.
📰 This Week in Mobility News
We have some catching up to do.
🇬🇧 UK Puts £63M Into Smarter Home + Public Charging
The UK just dropped £63M to expand EV charging, including £25M for cross-pavement tech that helps drivers without a driveway charge at home (at just 2p/mile). Public chargepoints have now passed 82,000, with 100,000 more in the pipeline. (GOV.UK)
🔌 Tesla Opens Superchargers to Lucid, Honda & Acura
Lucid drivers can now access Tesla’s 12,000+ Superchargers, though they’ll need a $220 adapter and be capped at 50 kW. Honda and Acura joined earlier in July. Meanwhile, Tesla’s network grew 14% in sites and 17% in connectors over the past year. (Teslarati / Engadget)
🇺🇸 NEVI Funding Freeze Slows U.S. Rollout
Trump’s Executive Order 14154 froze billions in federal EV charging funds. As of July, just 57 NEVI-funded stations were live across 15 states. A judge unfroze $1B in June, but the program’s future is still on shaky ground. (NPR)
🇨🇳 China Plans 100,000 Ultra-Fast Public Chargers by 2027
China is going all-in on 800V-ready charging. The NDRC will deploy 100,000+ ultra-fast public chargers across high-traffic highways — all open-access, with smart load balancing and renewable energy integration. (Electrek)
🇪🇺 Spark Alliance Creates Europe’s Largest Charging Network
IONITY, Atlante, Electra, and Fastned teamed up to launch the Spark Alliance, linking 11,000+ chargepoints at 1,700 stations in 25 countries. Stations are now visible across all member apps, with full roaming and payments coming soon. IONITY also secured a record €600M to expand even further. (Reuters)
🇰🇷 South Korea Boosts Charging Budget 43%
South Korea is spending ₩618.7B ($448M) on EV charging this year, up 43% from 2024. That includes ₩375.7B for fast chargers and ₩243B for smart slow-chargers. The country’s biggest fast-charging hub opened in Goyang in April, with 46 stalls and up to 200 kW. (Korea.net / Trade.gov)
🇦🇺 Australia Now Has a State-Wide Charging Network
South Australia just finished building a border-to-border EV charging network: 550+ plugs across 144 hubs, 98% of them within 200 km of each other. Built with $12.35M in state funds, it’s already delivered over 100,000 charging sessions. Plus, a new federal EV charger mapping tool is helping providers pick smarter sites. (Zecar / AFMA)
🔍 Deep Dive: Charging Gets Strategic
Charging used to be an afterthought. Build the cars, toss in some plugs, and hope the network catches up.
That era’s over.
Today, charging is a front-line decision, shaping alliances, user behavior, and long-term margins.
⚠️ Myth: More Chargers = Better Experience
🚫 Reality: Ownership, access, and control matter more.
In July, we saw a shift in how charging is being deployed and who gets to benefit:
- Volkswagen and XPeng agreed to share ultra-fast charging sites across China, strengthening their defense against Tesla’s entrenched network.
- Tesla granted access to Lucid, Honda, and Acura drivers, with adapter pricing, voltage caps, and user experience all tightly controlled.
- The Spark Alliance went live in Europe, connecting 11,000+ chargers and positioning itself as a roaming layer across 25 countries.
⚠️ Myth: Governments Just Write the Checks
🚫 Reality: Policy design and execution now shape the market.
Subsidies aren’t new. But in 2025, how they’re applied is making all the difference:
- The UK is funding home-charging access for households without driveways using cross-pavement tech, a move to level the playing field.
- China is targeting its 100,000 new ultra-fast chargers toward congested highway corridors and enforcing open-access rules for OEM-built networks.
- South Korea is doubling down on smart-controlled slow chargers alongside its fast-charging hubs, signaling that flexibility and grid intelligence are priorities.
- The U.S. NEVI program, meanwhile, is stalled in political and legal red tape, with just 57 stations opened and over $3B frozen or delayed.
⚠️ Myth: Range Is the Real Bottleneck
🚫 Reality: Drivers worry more about finding a charger than reaching one.
Most modern EVs already offer enough range for daily driving. What’s missing is trust in the charging experience:
- Mercedes-Benz and BMW are building curated charging environments with premium lounges, plug-and-charge billing, and live availability tracking.
- Bolt.Earth in India is deploying smart charging sockets embedded in urban lampposts, focused on density, not just speed.
- Tesla continues to scale but is now choosing when and how others can access its network, turning infrastructure into leverage.
What matters now → Control the node, control the ecosystem
Every charging interaction is a brand moment, a chance to earn trust, gather data, and lock in loyalty.
Some companies are still playing catch-up. Others are designing charging strategies like product roadmaps.
Only one group will shape the habits of the next 10 million EV drivers.
And they’ve already started.
📚 Article You Shouldn’t Miss
“Equity in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure” — Resources for the Future
This recent working paper cuts straight to a challenge that’s often overlooked: charging deserts reinforce inequality. It argues that unless EV infrastructure investments are designed with equity in mind, well-intentioned programs could unintentionally leave low-income, rural, and disadvantaged communities behind.
The paper highlights concrete strategies, such as targeted siting, inclusive pricing, and community partnerships, that can ensure charging deployment improves social outcomes and plug density.
Finished reading it? You’re better equipped to think through:
- Where EV charging can, and should, go beyond highways
- How to design equitable deployment policies
- The risks of a one-size-fits-all rollout that ignores socio-economic divides
🤔 Hot Take: Charging Is the Product Now
Range and speed still matter, but they’re not what breaks the experience.
What drivers really care about:
- Can I find a charger when I need one?
- Will it work every time?
- How long will I wait?
That’s where the real brand trust gets built.
Automakers and charging networks that solve for availability, reliability, and simplicity will earn something more valuable than range bragging rights: repeat users.
And the ones that don’t? They’ll keep losing drivers, no matter how fast their EVs charge in theory.
📬 Hit reply and tell us: Who’s building the best real-world charging experience you’ve seen?
