EVgo has achieved stellar fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 revenue gains with the help of partnerships, including one with Flying J, EVgo’s CEO Cathy Zoi said Friday.
The Los Angeles-based electric-vehicle (EV) charging-station company has begun construction with Pilot Flying J as the companies aim to capitalize on the federal government’s support of EV and growing excitement in the industry.
“Most Americans live with within a short distance of a Pilot Flying J if they live near a highway. And so us being able to electrify those is going to improve drivers' ability, their confidence in being able to buy an EV and go on a big road trip. And so we love that partnership,” Zoi said in an interview Friday with a Yahoo Finance auto-industry reporter.
Financial Results
EVgo’s stock rose 22% after the company reported its fourth-quarter revenue soared about 283% to $27.3 million from the year-ago period. For the full year, the company posted a net loss of $106.2 million, while revenue rose to $54.6 million, up 146% from $22.2 million in 2021, the company said.
It generated $18.9 million in retail charging revenue in 2022, up 71% from $11 million in 2021. Its commercial charging revenue rose 39% to $3.4 million in 2022, up from $2.4 million in 2021.
The company, launched in 2010, had more than 2,800 stalls operating or under construction at the end of the year, according to the company. It added 670 stalls in 2022, including 180 in the fourth quarter, when it began delivering charging equipment for the Flying J project, the company said.
The project involves an “eXtend” infrastructure partnership with Pilot Flying J and General Motors involving about 500 sites, EVgo said. To date, the project has begun site development and construction. EVgo also works with Toyota, Subaru and Cadillac, according to the investor presentation on its 2022 accomplishments.
- Pilot Co. is No. 13 on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Knoxville, Tennessee-based Pilot Co.’s travel center network includes more than 750 Pilot Travel Center and Flying J locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces.
EVgo has more than 900 fast charging locations in 60 metropolitan areas across 30 states, according to the investor presentation. In 2022, it also expanded Autocharge Plus technology allowing for seamless plug-and-charging with the EVgo app for EVs with CCS connectors supporting two-way vehicle data sharing. It launched Evgo Advantage, technology that aims to deliver on-the-spot promotions from local businesses while drivers charge and Evgo Optima, software for fleets that provides real-time data to optimize charging.
Looking ahead, EVgo expects to generate revenue of $105 million to $150 million in 2023, and reduce its loss to about $60 million to $78 million in 2023, it said.
Besides the Flying J partnership, EVgo has announced a national program with Lyft serving its driver network. It offers preferential pricing on its public charging network for partnered rideshare operators and fleets, along with EVgo Inside’s integrated software, EVgo said.
Digital Coupons
The company in February announced its EVgo Advantage digital coupon platform was active in 22 retail locations, including EG Group's Cumberland Farms and Wawa locations, in eight states.
- Cumberland Farms is No. 5 and Wawa is No. 9on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update.
The EVgo Advantage digital platform allows participating retailers to offer “on-the-spot coupons” and other promotions to drive in-store shopping, the technology company said. Retailers using the program can boost customer engagement, loyalty and sales by improving the charging experience for EV drivers.
In the March 31 interview with Yahoo Finance, Zoi said the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of building a network of EV charging point along the nation’s interstate highways is going to be big for the expansion of electric vehicles in the United States.
Government Incentives
The administration’s Inflation Reduction Act provided new incentives for consumers, automakers and local governments to accelerate EV charging in the United States. President Joe Biden’s goal is a network of 500,000 EV chargers in place by 2035.
“So it's in these early moments that government policy, government incentives can help build that bridge for capital markets to create that confidence to invest in this infrastructure that will be absolutely essential going forward,” Zoi said.
Before the partnership with Flying J, EVgo’s strategy was to put chargers in well-traveled cities in places where people could spend 15 to 20 minutes while their EVs charged, such as retail parking lots.
“And our thesis is, since electricity is everywhere, we put our charters where people are going to be anyway,” she said.
In the past EVgo hasn’t sought out charging sites at fuel stations, Zoi said.
“Well, we don't like the gas station model because, as I mentioned, we actually prefer that you can charge and do something else at the same time. But in terms of ubiquity, I think we're on that trajectory now. EVgo and others, we're all building right now to satisfy the demand,” Zoi said.
“We're thinking that there's going to be a 7 [times] increase in the number of EVs by 2030. There will similarly be an increase in the number of fast-charging locations and, let's not forget, workplace locations. So what we do is we build fast chargers where the dwell time of that location matches a fast charge time,” she said.
The company said it upgraded 100 EV charging stalls in 2022 and retired about 160. Its network throughput reaching 44.6 GWh in 2022, a 69% increase over 2021, the company said.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.