“EVBox and ENGIE have always affirmed their commitment to providing responsible support to all stakeholders, employees, suppliers, and customers while fulfilling the current and future contractual obligations of the company,” concluded the official statement on the end of the eMobility giant as we knew it.
It was revealed that the DC business (both sales and after-sales) would be taken over by EVtronic.
The company would assume control of the site in Bordeaux, France, along with all its employees (100 people in Bordeaux and 34 from other EVBox entities).
As for the AC line and Everon, commitments would be honoured, but there is no certainty regarding their future continuation.
Now, this liquidation marks a before and after in the business sector, but one must not think the announcement translates into a decline in the industry.
The milestone of one million electric vehicle chargers in China, EVs surpassing combustion vehicles in Norway, and the firm commitment from both public and private sectors set a clear course.
What is up for debate here is the solvency and strategy of charging point manufacturers.
“From now on, customers will begin to position themselves much more critically, scrutinising the product closely,” sources told Mobility Portal Europe.
Now, charging point operators and bidders will focus on elite manufacturers… but who has entered this group?
Some in the sector are already eyeing players like “Alpitronic, Kempower, or Ekoenergetyka.”
Will the rules of the game change? Possibly yes, and the key is to understand how.
Until now, solvency certificates were not a requirement when selecting a supplier.
But with the possibility of making a multi-million euro purchase only to later watch the provider close, bidders will begin to be more cautious.
Particularly in Spain, this type of documentation is not yet being requested, but “if a major player falls, they will start choosing more carefully,” sources told this outlet.
Additionally, macroeconomic strategies will be affected.
Nowadays, the allure of acquiring charging point manufacturers is fading. Who are the new stars when it comes to investing millions?
CPOs (Charge Point Operators).
“Total Energy and Shell are doing this very well; they buy already established businesses instead of factories. There’s a shift towards more sustainable and selective models in terms of providers and businesses,” argue eMobility specialists.
Tritium and EVBox: What happened there?
Now, let’s review what has been happening in the charging station manufacturing sector.
The first big impact came from Tritium.
The Australian manufacturer of electric vehicle charging equipment declared bankruptcy in April 2024.
Months later, a buyer was found for its assets, and now India’s largest EV charger manufacturer, Exicom, has stepped in to safeguard the company (at least the plant in the United States).
This month, the media spotlight turns to EVBox, and to get into the subject, let’s look at some numbers.
Founded in 2010, when the electric vehicle market was still in its infancy, EVBox gained more than 20,000 customers in 14 years of operation.
Its founders, Bram van der Leur and Huub Rothengatter, bet on a clear concept: a fully modular charging station that facilitated installation, updates, and, above all, uncompromising quality and durability.
Over the years, they developed a 360-degree solution that conquered cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Monaco.
In 2017, EVBox was acquired by ENGIE, which paid 800 million euros for the purchase.
What the buyer didn’t know was that years later, it would come close to those figures again, but in losses.
In 2018, the company acquired EVtronic, a manufacturer of ultra-fast charging stations, adding 700 stations to its European network.
Fast forward to today, EVBox had a presence in over 70 countries, 13 offices in different world capitals, more than 700 employees, and 70 million euros in revenue by 2020, according to public records.
Recognitions were not lacking throughout its history.
Awards such as the CES Innovation Award in the Smart Energy category, a place in the 22nd position on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 list in the Netherlands, and first place in the CleanTech sector.
Moreover, that same year, they won the Red Dot Award for their excellent product design.
And believe it or not, that’s not all.
In 2023, they announced the milestone of shipping 500,000 charging points to customers and partners worldwide.
How did EVBox go from “eMobility star” to announcing its own liquidation?
The reasons have been varied, according to specialised and close sources to EVBox, consulted by Mobility Portal Europe.
The “increased investment burden” in countries where the company sought to expand, as well as “movements regarding incentives and subsidies that were lower than expected,” played a role.
Regarding this last aspect, Ricard Puiggros, Senior Advisory Consultant at EAVE (a company with a strong partnership with EVBox), explains:
“The problem here originates in a market that has been artificially driven by subsidies.”
This has been the way many companies in the sector have grown, which now employ between 700 and 1,400 people, some even jumping to major stock exchanges.
They set goals based on forecasts that have not yet materialised, make large investments, but these are “unsustainable over time.”
When this happens, “they can’t maintain that pace and must take a break.”
“These firms increased their production in the last three or four years, but now they can’t find a market to offset the decline, whether in Spain, Germany, or other countries,” the expert argues.
Each had sales targets that were not met, and when the market stalls, they cannot handle the “pause.”
But this is not all that may have influenced the closure.
Another significant factor could have been the political tension between France and the Netherlands over the rejection of the “two major offers” received for the purchase of EVBox.
“There is no doubt that the French government did not agree with one of Engie’s companies ending up in the hands of British or even Chinese investors,” other sources told Mobility Portal Europe.
In May, the following was announced:
“French Engie confirms that its electric vehicle charging station business lost 22 million euros (24 million dollars) in the first quarter and will continue to lose money next year.”
“Engie has failed to find a buyer for its troubled subsidiary and is now considering selling the business in parts to limit its exposure,” stated Pierre-Francois Riolacci, the CFO of the multi-energy company.
Losses of 100 million euros per year were not a factor that went unnoticed in the slow fall of the eMobility giant.
Adding to this were alleged product quality issues that caused EVBox to lose contracts in major cities like Schiphol and Amsterdam.
“In 2019, we were selling many chargers from the brand—up to hundreds of units each quarter. However, these devices started to have problems, overheating, and suddenly we were told they would no longer be manufactured,” sources told Mobility Portal Europe.
Despite this, Ricard Puiggros, from EAVE, confirms that the product quality never failed them and that this point “never came into question,” from his experience.
Chronology leading up to the announcement of EVBox’s liquidation
Looking back almost to the present, the perfect storm was brewing with the news on Saturday, October 12.
After the publication of Het Financieele Dagblad, it was announced through internal Engie sources that progress was being made towards the planned closure.
But the reality was that the workers of the charging point giant had “seen this coming for almost two years now,” as reported to the portal.
It is worth remembering that in July of this year, all hiring processes at EVBox were halted, another signal that had already raised an alarm.
On Monday, the 22nd, EVBox began contacting customers, suppliers, and partners to inform them of the next steps.
All this without yet having clear answers from Engie, which was asked for comments by Mobility Portal Europe but declined the request.
Meanwhile, companies like Monta took charge of the situation, already communicating to their customers that they would take control of the chargers in operation and had the necessary personnel to maintain them.
At the same time, the official confirmation only notifies that Financière de Pessac will acquire EVTronic, which should ensure the employment of the 100 employees based in Bordeaux.
Another 34 positions in sales departments are also secured, but it’s important to remember that the company had a total of 700 employees, most of whom are in France.
A blow or a new opportunity for the eMobility sector?
Speaking to this outlet, Joel Martín, Business Development at Vega Chargers and eMobility advocate, provides an analysis on this point:
“Companies with a clear strategy can see this news as an opportunity, though it remains a negative impact for the sector.”
The fact of “removing a competitor” could mean more available market, and the contracts that EVBox can no longer fulfil could be an attractive business for others.
But the reality is that, seeing that some in the eMobility ecosystem are still “undecided,” this could create uncertainty.
What could happen? In Martín’s words, “we might see investment shifts towards other models, such as hydrogen.”
He adds:
“It cannot be denied that these kinds of announcements create nervousness and could lead to the loss of crucial workers for the sector.”
Despite this, it is worth reviewing some numbers related to eMobility, particularly in Spain.
The sector is currently facing an investment of nearly 60.000 M€ over a ten-year period, from 2021 to 2030.
Each year, this investment generates almost 11.000 M€ in GDP, which equates to 17.2% of industrial GDP and can be linked to electric mobility.
Moreover, this GDP facilitates the creation and/or maintenance of around 55,000 jobs annually, representing nearly 2% of national industrial employment, as indicated by AEDIVE in its latest “Socioeconomic Impact Study of Electric Mobility in Spain.”
Furthermore, sustainable mobility has become the most significant segment globally in terms of financing.
It was the only sector to experience growth, developing by 42% and reaching 21.000 M€ .
This growth has been primarily driven by investments in battery and charging solutions, as well as in original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of electric vehicles.
This is outlined in the report prepared by Oliver Wyman, titled “Mobility Startup Radar,” which identifies the key investments in startups within the global mobility sector.
This encompasses areas from sustainable mobility and connected solutions to autonomous driving, as well as shared transportation.
With these figures in mind and considering the insights presented in this report from Mobility Portal Europe, attention must be directed towards how expansion strategies are being formulated and the changes in the rules of engagement moving forward.
