ChargePoint Announces 1 Million Charging Ports – CleanTechnica

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In a recent press release, ChargePoint announced that the company had reached a big milestone: 1 million plugs. Yep, that’s 1 with six zeroes after it. With all of those locations, the company also announced that approximately 10 billion electric miles were able to be driven.

“With more EVs on the road, ensuring drivers have access to reliable charging everywhere they need it is imperative,” said Rick Wilmer, CEO of ChargePoint. “Enabling access to more than one million ports, on a network that has enabled more than ten billion electric miles to be driven, underscores ChargePoint’s commitment to delivering a world-class driver experience.”

According to the company, this network has enabled drivers to avoid burning about 410 million gallons of gasoline and avoid 2.2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, so the environmental impacts are stacking up. It really is possible to both protect the environment and make money instead of losing it (assuming the company gets on a more even keel, of course).

Where The Company Has Been Along The Way

My first experiences with ChargePoint were in 2017, when I was driving a used Nissan LEAF. Its range sucked, but I would often stop at a few Level 2 charging stations in El Paso to be able to drive the vehicle more. One of them was at a Whole Foods, so there was a nice place to use the restroom, eat some food, and take a break for a few minutes. Since then, the whole region has gotten a lot of Level 3 charging stations, but in those days, there was only my plug at home and a few scattered Level 2s.

When I look at what has popped up in the last 7 years in west Texas and southern New Mexico, ChargePoint has been a big part of that. Sure, Tesla showed up first (even if only for the company’s vehicles), and then Electrify America, but most of the rest of the fast charging that has popped up has been ChargePoint units. The initial few stations by Electrify America made it make a lot more sense for auto dealers, local governments, and then small businesses to put in more stations without government funding or a Dieselgate settlement forcing their hands.

Other players have been involved in the region, and more are jumping in now that the NEVI program is funding more construction. But, it would be hard to argue that ChargePoint hasn’t been an important part of making EV driving reasonably possible in much of the region. Based on what I’ve seen in my travels around the region, across Texas, and across much of the United States, I think this is true in many places. (Editor’s note: It’s the same situation in my region of Southwest Florida.)

The Next Million Will Happen A Lot Faster Than The First

The death of EVs in the U.S. has been greatly exaggerated. While EVs have slowed down in projected sales growth, the number of actual sales in each quarter continues to go up. So, the need for plugs is going to do anything but go down. With demand for charging will come both more charging and more companies interested in providing that service for their customers.

Featured image by ChargePoint