Senior editor covering cleantech and advanced mobility Follow Author ChargePoint ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer on the outlook for the EV charging industry amid changing federal policies The Trump Administration isn’t supportive of EV incentives and the budget bill eliminates them and funds for charging infrastructure. What does that mean for your business? It's a big stewpot full of headwinds and tailwinds. The current administration's position on clean energy and climate change obviously is a headwind. I think more tactically, the uncertainty around tariffs and the current budget bill and what that means for federal incentives has put a lot of uncertainty in the market, which has people on hold and waiting in some instances to decide how to move forward. Regardless of how that all comes out, I think just some certainty is going to help stabilize things and get people moving forward again. So those are headwinds. I think on the tailwind side, for us at least, we've still got a strong market in Europe without the types of headwinds we're facing here in North America. I'm firmly convinced, as biased as I am, that EVs are just a superior product to gas-powered vehicles: fewer moving parts; way more reliable; very little service required; and a better driving experience. And I think as more and more consumers experience them, the switch is going to happen, in addition to an ever-increasing selection of vehicle types for people to buy. Do higher tariffs also impact your costs for charging equipment? We have manufacturing facilities in a variety of countries, including the U.S. We've got manufacturing operations in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Romania, and the U.S. So we've got the ability to reconfigure supply chains, to mitigate tariffs, but there's definitely production of chargers overseas. And there's also the sourcing of the parts that go into chargers. Like many other hardware products, many of those come from overseas suppliers. So tariffs have an effect based on where they stand today. They're obviously very dynamic and changing regularly. We see an effect, but it's pretty minimal and we believe we can overcome it through cost reductions and other optimizations. But again, that's based on where things stand today. What does your plan to work with Eaton Corp. mean for ChargePoint’s business? Think of chargers sitting in front of the meter. If you're at home, your charger sits in front of your meter. Part of your electric bill at home, if you have a home charger, is the electricity used by your charger. Having the front-of-the-meter stuff that we develop, collaborate and cooperate with the behind-the-meter infrastructure that Eaton provides is where we can really unlock a lot of value through innovation. Making sure that the chargers in front of the meter work seamlessly and efficiently, and that they balance the energy and use the energy optimally that's being made available from the equipment behind the meter. This is really key to the innovation that we're going to develop in collaboration with Eaton and bring to market. They have various products like smart breakers and smart panels, where you now can have the charger collaborate with the rest of the home's energy use and energy management to provide solutions like [vehicle to home] power. What Else We’re Reading NASA scientists describe an “absolute sh*tshow” at the agency as Trump budget seeks to dismantle top US climate lab (CNN) Transportation chief seeks to weaken fuel economy standards, calls Biden-era rule ‘illegal’ (Associated Press) Red-state factories are most at risk in climate fight, report finds (Axios) Americans’ views on energy at the start of Trump’s second Term: Republicans far less supportive of renewable energy than during the first Trump administration (Pew Research) Trump’s EPA tried to bury some good news. A report obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request shows U.S. climate pollution fell in 2023 (Yale Climate Connections) How one climate tech company is hanging on in the Trump era. A carbon removal company has been particularly adept at dodging Republicans’ guillotines (Politico) California is wasting more and more clean energy. There are ways to fix that (Canary) Collapsing Forest Eco-Systems Could Destabilize Economies, Study Finds (Forbes) More From Forbes