Electric Avenue Podcast

What is the federal government's role in deploying charging infrastructure in the USA? What are the business models for EV charging there? What about interoperability, roaming, subscription and ad hoc authorization? Are the same EV charging topics being dealt with in the US as in Europe?  The USA & Europe are two very different electric vehicle (charging) markets and both are racing towards a dramatic increase in EV and EV charging infrastructure deployment in the coming decade but are going about it in different ways. US EV policy has gotten huge jolts with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. Just yesterday it was announced that all 50 US States have submitted National EV Charging Infrastructure plans for approval. Meanwhile, Europe is on the cusp of phasing out new combustion engine cars by 2035 and entering the final stages of drafting its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation. In this context, it was a good time to finally sit down with Joe Britton, president of the Zero Emission Transportation Association for a wind ranging discussion of EV markets and policy in the USA and Europe. ZETA website: 100% EV Sales by 2030 - ZETA (zeta2030.org) Joint Office of Energy & Transport: Home Page · Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (driveelectric.gov)  ChargeUp Europe: ChargeUp Europe 

Recently in London, I sat down with Ryan Fisher, the Lead EV Charging Infrastructure Analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance to talk shop and their recent Electric Vehicle Outlook 2022.  The EV charging industry is extremely dynamic and rapidly growing with new entrants and technologies, and differences in different markets and regions, so it's great to have a leading industry researcher and analyst help illuminate the key trends and insights to look at from business models, to investment trends, power needs, utilization practices, eHDVs and much, much more.  The full report can be found here: EVO Report 2022 | BloombergNEF | Bloomberg Finance LP (bnef.com) 

Roaming is the main way that electric vehicle drivers recharge their EV out of network or internationally. It's about payment, but also about driver choice and the whole customer journey including additional services, energy system integration, interoperability and the open market model itself.  Yet it's controversial to what extent roaming should be regulated in EU legislation on EV charging (AFIR), and the time to decide is right now. This episode features the best discussion of roaming in the EV context that I've ever heard, hosted by Peter Badik from GreenWay (as Board member of ChargeUp Europe, which convened this conversation) with the CEO's of Europe's leading roaming platforms, Hubject and Gireve. This C-level discussion will be relevant and accessible for experts and newcomers alike and covers technical, commercial, and policy topics. If you're curious about roaming in the EV context you won't want to miss this discussion! ChargeUp Europe's position paper on why roaming should be included in the EU's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation: The importance of including EVroaming in AFIR — ChargeUp Europe  Transcript & video of the full interview are here:  eRoaming: Conveniently connected - the "smart" way of charging — ChargeUp Europe

First, what does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for energy supply, content, pricing and the energy transition? With the war, supply chain disruptions, and contradictory short and long term energy pressures, will e-mobility still play the same role in energy independence and decarbonization as envisioned just a few weeks ago? Then - what about the electricity grid? A new report from Eurelectric and EY looks at if and how the grid will be able to provide the needed electricity for 130 million electric vehicles by 2035, and at what cost. We are joined by one of the report's lead authors for a fascinating and wide ranging discussion of current bottlenecks, opportunities, and solutions to turn EVs into assets for EV drivers and the energy system overall, and to address the '2 speed Europe' gap. You can find the full report here: https://evision.eurelectric.org/event/2022/report/ 

First, Ukraine. We hear a reaction from the COO of Go-To-U, a leading Ukranian EV charging platform, on the Russian invasion. Then, a detailed, expert discussion among EV charging network operators in Romania, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Slovenia about the electric vehicle and EV charging situations in their markets. Why does it take so long  to establish a grid connection? How does the local public administration approach emobility? What steps are needed to rapidly scale up charging infrastructure and emobility in CEE? If you’re interested in emobility or the energy transition in this region, you won’t want to miss this episode. You can see the full panel here: https://ceegti.com/2022/02/02/the-importance-of-binding-targets-in-afir-ensuring-a-single-speed-europe-on-e-mobility/

In January 2020 before COVID, we surveyed a group of leading EV charging and user experience professionals from all over Europe for their key trends to watch in emobility in 2020. Now in February 2022, with the benefit of hindsight we're revisiting their observations on roaming and user experience, industry consolidation, and the EV charging and energy convergence. Did they pick the right topics? How were their predictions? You may be surprised at what you hear!

Wondering what it is like to drive long distances in an electric vehicle? How do you plan for such a trip? Where will you recharge along the way? Summer 2021 saw lots of families go on their summer holidays in an electric vehicle, and we interviewed 4 of them to hear in depth about their - very varied - experiences traveling and recharging all over Europe. There are a lot of insights here for industry insiders and policymakers as well as the EV curious, and a few good 'hacks' for your next (or first?) long distance EV trip.

Some of the most important laws governing the EV marketplace and EV charging infrastructure business in Europe are being revised and updated right now as a part of the 'fit for 55 package' as Europe deepens its climate ambitions and aims to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. These changes will have significant impacts on our industry and so we’re joined by special guest Julia Poliscanova, Sr. Director for Clean Vehicles at Transport & Environment for an insiders look at the current state of affairs and what we could – and should – expect

Season 2 launches just as the electric vehicle charging business is beginning to grow rapidly. It is seen as a key area for investment in the EU Green Deal and for European recovery funds. How should countries approach this moment? What are the key criteria countries can use to develop their own EV charging plans? This is a moment that cannot be wasted and we discuss it.

First, how has the Corona virus pandemic affected the EV recharging industry? Then, part 1 (of 2) of our discussion of “Recharge EU: How many charge points will EU countries need by 2030?” the exhaustive recent report from Transport & Environment, with lead author Lucien Matheiu.

What is experience anxiety? Will vehicle to grid finally become a commercial reality? What new market changes are coming in 2020? These topics and more are tackled by leading e-mobility experts in Part 2 of our Trends 2020 special. If you want to know what the defining trends in the industry will be, this episode is for you! 

Will 2020 be the year of the electric car? Will we see more range anxiety or experience anxiety? Leading experts from across the industry share their views on the top trends to watch in the fast changing world of electric mobility from electric vehicles, to charging infrastructure, to user experience, to energy. This is part 1 of a not-to-be-missed 2 part special look at the year ahead.

Wondering how to make a podcast? How this one got started? How each episode is produced and distributed? Meet the rest of the Electric Avenue team who contribute to the making of each episode. Find out what they do and what they've learned over the year - and a little bit about what's in store for the future. Whether you're a regular listener, a podcast novice or enthusiast, or curious about production, we've made our 20th episode, 1 year anniversary, last show of 2019,  "behind the mic" special just for you!

New, tougher EU CO2 emissions standards. Fridays for the Future. Vast improvements in battery technology.  Major automotive investments in electric vehicles. 2019 was a pivotal year for e-mobility and its emergence to the mass market – and, also the first year of Electric Avenue Podcast. Join for this look back on 2019 and at many of the key moments that propelled e-mobilty forward.

From CO2 emission standards to energy directives, batteries, and financing of charging infrastructure, Brussels plays an out sized role in the development of e-mobility and a cleaner energy future in Europe. With a new European Commission about to take office, what can we expect from them? We head to Brussels & talk with our plugged in purveyor of all things Brussels and e-mobility, Julia Polsicanova from T&E, for part 1 of our miniseries. . And, GreenWay managing Partner Peter Badik gives us his insights into the changes that the company has been working on for the past few months.

As new EVs, like the Porsche Taycan, Jaguar iPace, and Mercedes EQC, with bigger batteries capable of handling more power hit the market, at GreenWay we’ve been busily increasing the amount of power at a number of our 50kW charging stations to 100 and 150 kW. Hear directly from the heads of R&D and Asset Management about this experience, the challenges, and the lessons learned. And, an interview with Elias Pyory from Virta about their cloud based energy management system. It’s all about power and power management as we build towards installing our first Ultrafast charging stations and learn lots of things along the way.

 Is 2019 the pivotal year for development in EVs? A new report from Transport & Environment says that the market is about to Surge. So where will all these vehicles charge? We have an exclusive interview with the CEO of Chargepoint, the world's largest EV charging provider, and a discussion with Central & Eastern Europe leader GreenWay's managing partner. Plus, summer brings its own challenges & opportunities to the EV world. Ice cream anyone? (promo code is valid for new registrations at Greenway Infrastructure & GreenWay Polska only and expires Aug 31, 2019)   

Electric vehicles and electricity are inherently tied together. But how does the energy sector feel about EVs? Are they upstarts, or opportunities? In the face of the climate crisis,  how power is generated matters immensely. Do Europe's energy generators feel the need to decarbonize? Is the energy mix actually becoming carbon free? What role can EVs and new business models play in charting the energy future? We discuss all this and more, as well as get exclusive interviews to share, at Eurelectric's 2019 Power Summit.

Are you a company wondering how to access financing from EU institutions? We were and then through a lot of effort we made it happen. In this episode we share the story of unlocking 17 million EUR of financing, followed by a highly informative panel discussion with representatives from the European Commission, European Investment Bank, and Innovation & Networks Executive Agency.  If you're interested in public financing, this episode is for you! This is the third and final panel from a conference organized by GreenWay Infrastructure in March 2019 in Brussels.   

In this special episode we talk about the upcoming elections to the European Parliament and what it could mean for EU policies on emissions, clean fuels, EVs, and the decarbonization agenda. First we talk to young, talented students – debaters from Slovakia about their perception of, and approach to these elections and their criteria for their votes. Then we are joined by two EU experts from Brussels  – Julia Poliscanova, Clean Vehicles Manager at Transport & Environment and Petar Georgiev, Policy  Advisor for Climate and Emobility at Eurelectric. They explain the role of EU parliament, how the clean mobility & fuels agenda developed and evolved over time and how it works now.  How should EU parliament approach environmental, clean tech and emobility issues to maintain Europe’s leadership and moving in a cleaner direction, especially when it comes to EVs? How can we persuade countries with large automotive industries to accept the stronger regulations, look at the future and invest in the inevitable transition? What should be the long term goals for  energy and climate across the EU?  Join our debate and do not forget to vote, the time is now.