Hardware specialist Voltera has officially debuted as EV charging infrastructure company.
The company builds, owns and operates charging facilities that enable electric vehicle (EV) deployment and operation at scale.
With equity backing from EQT Infrastructure, critical infrastructure expertise and an ongoing partnership with EdgeConneX, Voltera is focused on EV charging infrastructure.
“Fleet operators, automakers and consumers alike are adopting electric vehicles at a rapidly accelerating pace. Lagging far behind, though, is the power infrastructure needed to support EVs at scale,” says Voltera CEO Matt Horton, who has experience including as executive vice president of energy and charging solutions at Rivian and chief commercial officer at Proterra. “We have to bridge that gap if we’re going to make zero-emission transportation a reality. That’s what Voltera is doing, and it’s why I’m so excited to be part of this team.”
Voltera’s customers are companies that need to power EVs at scale.
“EV Charging infrastructure is one of the most critical requirements for EV deployment at scale. As companies take initial delivery on large EV orders, they’re finding that the charging infrastructure does not exist at the scale needed to support those, or future, deployments,” Horton explains. “A key part of the challenge is that charging facilities need to be strategically located and require vast amounts of power. In the U.S. and Europe, almost 150 gigawatts of power – about equivalent to the annual power consumption of all U.S. households – will be required by EV fleets by 2030. Voltera is uniquely positioned to help solve those challenges.”
As a turnkey solution provider, Voltera delivers at every stage of the value chain: site identification and acquisition, power procurement, facility design and construction, charging hardware deployment, operations and maintenance.
The company provides EV charging infrastructure facilities as a service, taking on the CapEx so customers can focus their capital on their businesses.
“As one of the largest and most active infrastructure investors globally, EQT takes a long-term view of investments and aims to partner with promising companies that can drive positive change, helping solve some of the biggest challenges society faces today,” comments EQT Partner Jan Vesely. “EQT Infrastructure aims to help support the global energy transition, including by having made several investments in the electrification of the transportation sector, and was looking for opportunities to help develop the EV charging infrastructure necessary to support vehicle electrification at scale.”
“The backing of a leading global private equity firm like EQT with EUR 77 billion under management is further evidence that EV infrastructure is maturing as an asset class, and it signals a significant shift in the EV market. The market is past the pilot phase,” Horton says. “As a complement to public funding of EV infrastructure projects, this commitment from a global leader in private capital marks a new phase in the transition to full electrification. The time is right to scale, and the market is hungry for new business models and creative market-driven solutions to address the power infrastructure challenges that have to date limited EV deployment at scale.”
“As a pioneer in the digital infrastructure industry, EdgeConneX has solved many of the same challenges EV fleet operators and automakers face – acquiring, permitting, powering and operating sites in strategic locations while ensuring customers’ speed to market,” mentions Randy Brouckman, EdgeConneX’s CEO. “It’s a highly logical and practical application of our long-developed data center innovations to solve another very real and significant challenge. Voltera will advance the transportation industry like EdgeConneX did digital infrastructure. It’s all a part of our commitment to sustainable innovation.”