EV Charging: Throw away the Yo-Yo!

By John Tough | January 26, 2021

I have been watching the electric vehicle charging market since 2010. Back then there were a few businesses kicking around with the idea. Boy have times changed.

Over the past few months we have had some major announcements:

ChargePoint going public and is now >$10 billion company
EV Box going public and is now >$2 billion company
EVGo going public and is now >$4 billion company
Ubitricity getting acquired by Shell
Volta raised $125M Series D (Energize an investor, participant)

It is easy to look at these numbers and say “of course”… but I can assure you that even while EV adoption felt inevitable… it is agonizing being “early” to a market. In this “too early?” stage, executives and investors are looking for any signs to double down or accelerate investment… while always being mindful of cash. I call this the yo-yo effect. And this yo-yo effect of being early is very hard on founders and their employees.

I am glad that the industry has tipped. And that all of these firms can firmly and perpetually lean into growth and investment. Let’s throw the yo-yo away.