[Editor’s note: “The EV Charging Revolution Is in Full Swing” was previously published in November 2022. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.]
What good is a car without a gas station? Not much good at all.
By that same token, what good is an electric car without a charging station?
Not much good, either. An EV runs on electric charge. If that charge runs out – and there’s nowhere to ‘refuel’ – then you’re stuck… No charging stations, no usable EVs.
Indeed, the EV megatrend that everyone’s excited about won’t come to be unless there’s an equally large growth spurt in EV charging infrastructure.
The International Energy Agency estimates that the number of EV chargers globally will have to increase by 12X by 2030. And that’s just enough for companies and governments to reach the low end of their targets for 30% of new car sales to be electric by then.
The EV charging market will explode in size over the next decade. As it does, it will lay the foundation for the whole EV market to do the same.
As that happens, relatively tiny EV charging companies, will turn into global charging giants.
So… time to buy EV charging stocks, right?
Not so fast.
There are lots of EV charging companies out there today. Not all of them will make it. Indeed, only a handful will make it big. Most will fail. So, it’s not time to buy EV charging stocks – rather, it’s time to buy the best of them.
And to know which ones are “the best,” we need to first understand EV charging technology.
Reviewing the Basics
That analysis starts with the fundamental question: How does electricity work?
In short, we generate electricity at a power source, like a coal-fired power plant or a solar farm. Then we promote the flow of electrons (the charged particles that carry electric power) outward from that source via wires. This flow of electrons is called a “current.”
That current can take two forms: alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). DC is a direct constant flow of electrons through the wire. It results in heavy power delivery but also in significant drain on the grid. AC is an oscillating flow of electrons that results in lower power delivery but minimal stress on the grid.
Since the grid has always been load-constrained, we decided long ago to build it on AC. But since an alternating current physically hinders the ability to store energy, today’s batteries can only store power as DC.
That’s why most electronics devices, like laptops, come with power cords that have big boxes in the middle of them. Those boxes are AC/DC converters. They transform the AC power from the grid to DC power that can be stored in your laptop.
EV charging works in much the same way.
EV chargers plug into the grid, which provides AC power. That AC power is then pumped into the EV. In every EV, there is an AC/DC converter which converts the AC power from the charger into usable DC power, which is then stored in the car’s battery.
How to Pick the Best EV Charging Stocks
There are two classifications of AC electric vehicle chargers – L1 and L2.
L1 chargers are the most basic chargers out there. They’re really slow but really cheap. They’ll give you about three to five miles of EV range per hour of charging. Given that they’re low-cost, low-performance in nature, L1 chargers are common as residential solutions. But they’re very rarely used beyond the home.
L2 chargers are a big step up from L1s. They’re much faster but also much more expensive. They’ll give you around 30 miles of EV range per hour of charging. These L2s constitute the majority of chargers on the road today.
There are also DC fast-chargers. These are fundamentally distinct from AC chargers. They have built-in AC/DC converters that transform grid energy into DC power within the actual charger itself. What this enables, then, is for the charger to pump DC power directly into an EV battery. This completely bypasses the AC/DC converter in the car and results in a far more powerful charge.
These chargers are really, really fast… and really, really expensive. As a result, they can give you over 100 miles of EV range per hour of charging. But there aren’t many of them on the roads these days – just a few thousand across the whole U.S.
The Future EV Charging Landscape
Considering this context, it’s important to understand that the future of the EV charging landscape will be a mix of mostly L2 chargers throughout urban areas and some DC fast-chargers on interstate highways.
That’s because L2 chargers are good enough. The enormous shift from gas stations to charging ports will be accompanied by a huge shift in where we “refuel.”
Since EV chargers are tiny and can be built anywhere there’s an electric connection, the days of dedicated gas stations are over. You won’t see EV charging stations replace gas stations. You’ll see gas stations become extinct. EV charging ports will pop up everywhere — your gym, grocery store, and local mall parking lot.
In the EV Charging Revolution, you’ll charge your electric car everywhere you go. So long as you aren’t traveling hundreds of miles, L2 chargers will do the job just fine. That’s because you’ll be charging as you shop or work out.
For those long road trips… well, that’s where DC fast chargers will be super-useful.
Not to mention that charging does actually cost money. Right now, it costs about $2 per 30 minutes of L2 charging in a public lot.
To that end, the future of EV charging is super clear. Millions of L2 chargers will pop up across every parking lot in urban and suburban areas. DC fast chargers will replace gas stations on interstate highways, and consumers will be paying for all that charge.
That’s the future. And it starts right now.
The Final Word
So… which EV stocks should you be buying right now to play that future?
To answer that question, let’s turn to my ultra-exclusive research advisory service, The Daily 10X Stock Report. It’s dedicated to picking one explosive, hypergrowth stock pick, every single the day stock market is open, with the potential to soar 10X in value.
I started this service just over a year ago. And in that short time, I’ve already scored my readers over 100 triple-digit winners and six different stocks that have soared 10X or more in value.
I firmly believe that some of the EV stocks we’ve highlighted in that service over the past few months – including my all-time favorite EV charging stock, which has figured out how to do free charging via the industry’s most innovative business model – will be our next batch of 10X winners.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.