Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) in the United States

Electric vehicle (EV) chargers are a complement to EV sales, as they are needed to charge EVs. EV chargers are offered in three levels, each level uses more power and charges an EV faster than the previous one. Most at-home chargers are Level 1 or Level 2. Public chargers are primarily Level 2 or Level 3. While early EVs had a variety of EV connectors, most manufacturers now use the SAE Combo connector, with Tesla being the exception. Many public chargers are “networked” so that they can be easily searchable, adjust prices based on the cost of power, and be updated or repaired remotely. The federal government and state governments offer a range of incentives to encourage the purchase of EV chargers, particularly public chargers, because they believe EV chargers are key infrastructure supporting increased EV sales. Many different types of companies participate in the EV charger supply chain, which has a few key areas: design, production, installation, management, and maintenance of a network. Some companies participate in all five areas, while others just participate in one or two. Most of those that participate in all five are startups, while established companies have tended to focus in areas where they already have competitive advantages. For example, gas companies have focused on installation and management of stations because they already have a network of gas stations. Similarly, electrical product manufacturers design and manufacture chargers. Public EV charger availability has increased rapidly in the United States with one public charger for every 18.5 EVs, but with EV sales expected to increase significantly in the next few years, EV charger availability will have to continue its rapid growth to keep pace. Trade data is difficult to parse, as EV chargers are in a highly aggregated statistical code. U.S. imports of that statistical code have increased significantly since 2017, possibly due to increased imports of chargers.