evVG Building Out the EV Charging Network

The EV Charging Puzzle: Building Both the Grid and the Chargers

He also presented data showing most charging points are private - Level 2 char- gers at homes or workplaces- with public fast charging representing a smaller portion of the infrastructure. Currently, about two-thirds of charging happens at home, though this may shift as EV ownership becomes more mainstream and includes more people without home charging access. Focusing on infrastructure, Fitzgerald explained why EV loads are challenging for utilities: “EV loads are substantially different than other residential loads, and also other commercial loads, in part because they’re growing quite fast. They’ve been doubling every two to three years, which is much faster load growth than any other discrete load growth source. They’re significantly higher power than any other residential load.” For commercial charging, he highlighted the mismatch between utility planning cycles and charging infrastructure deploy- ment timelines. For example building a stadium with 5 megawatt capacity takes years of planning, while installing 20 DC fast chargers with the same 5 megawatt power requirement can happen in months. He emphasized that most EV load is inherently flexible. Vehicles are typically connected to chargers longer than needed to complete charging, creating opportunities for managed charging programs. In a nutshell, he explained, “there’s a number of different ways that we’ll charge your vehicles and we’re going to be using a mix of all of those.” Fitzgerald also detailed the utility regulatory structure, explaining that utilities are regulated monopolies with an obligation to serve all customers with reliable, affordable power. On the flip side, regulators must balance consumer needs with utility business requirements. He described how investor-owned utilities earn profits through regulated returns on capital investments, creating financial incentives for infrastructure spending that regulators must balance to prevent

The evVG virtual meeting, held on April 30, 2025, was facilitated by Mike Austin , executive editor of Road and Track Magazine , and Nathan Niese , managing director & partner, Boston Consulting Group. Garrett Fitzgerald , senior director of transportation electrification at SEPA (Smart Electric Power Alliance) and evVG Member, kicked off the meeting with his presentation “The EV Charging Puzzle: Building Both the Grid and the Chargers.” Throughout the presentation, members actively engaged in discussion based on their unique perspectives in various industry sectors. Fitzgerald, who has been in the EV industry for about a decade, is now at

“ We’re really dealing with a mismatch in the planning and building cycle of what loads used to look like and what loads are looking like now. Garrett Fitzgerald , Senior Director of Transportation Electrification, SEPA (Smart Electric Power Alliance)

SEPA, a nonprofit with about 1,000 members including electric utilities, hardware, and software vendors in the energy transition space. First he introduced the paradigm shift in refueling, noting that EV charging offers multiple options at various locations,

asserting that “charging integrates into your life rather than the other way around. “You have to integrate into where the fueling infrastructure is.”