In-Between Charges

The EV charging industry is entering a market-rate moment. Incentives are fading in many markets, growth has slowed from the early-2020s surge, and operators are under real pressure to prove their business models. In this start-of-year episode of In-Between Charges, Kevin Spangenberg and Mike Hawks reflect on what 2025 revealed about the state of EV charging, from shifting government targets and cooling investor sentiment to the growing importance of site quality, reliability, and utilization.
They unpack what the much-talked-about “shift to profitability” actually means in practice, where operators are getting it right, and why some networks are starting to pull ahead while others struggle. The conversation also turns practical: Mike and Kevin put on their investor hats and answer a simple but important question: if you had $10m to invest in EV charging today, where would you put it? A candid discussion about what really matters as the EV industry turns the page on a rocky year and looks forward to 2026.

Some DC fast charging sites print money. Others quietly ruin portfolio-wide ROI. In this episode of In-Between Charges, Kevin and Mike sit down with Rohan Puri, CEO & Co-Founder of Stable Auto, to unpack why. Stable Auto works with many of the largest American CPOs and investors to predict utilization, pick winning locations, and set smarter prices for DC fast charging networks. Rohan shares how he went from building robotic charging arms for autonomous fleets to running a software company that underwrites the profitability of EV charging assets.
Together, they dig into what actually drives DCFC performance: traffic patterns, EV penetration, trip distances, amenities, competition, hardware choices, and even how many ports is the right amount for a site. They talk about why “put it near a highway and a gas station” is often wrong, why co-locating with competitors can increase your utilization, how to think in IRR and margin instead of just kWh per port per day, and where dynamic pricing and energy arbitrage could unlock new revenue streams. If you’re a CPO, retailer, investor, or just trying to understand why some sites thrive while others bleed cash, this episode goes straight to the core of DC fast charging economics.

Getting from A to B in an EV isn’t as simple as swapping gas for kWh. It is a fundamentally different experience. The companies - CPOs and eMSPs - that serve EV drivers have to navigate a challenging maze to profitability. 
Gideon van Dijk from chargetrip joins Mike and Kevin to unpack what CPOs must own - digital, physical, and everything in between - to put themselves in a position to succeed in a world of electrified transport.

Founded in 2016, Einride is a freight tech company from Sweden, providing end-to-end technology solutions for electric and autonomous shipping. Starting with trucks and tech, it quickly realized the charging infrastructure in its home market was not ready to meet their unique needs.
So they became a CPO as well. They are building Scandinavian-design charging stations throughout the Nordics, powering up their own fleet as well as other heavy duty providers.
In this episode, Mike and Kev chat with Anne-Lise Deraedt, who heads up Einride's charging efforts. She details the Einride charging journey, why design is so important to their sites, and what's in store as they expand beyond the Nordics. 
Plug in and enjoy!

In this episode of In-Between Charges, Kevin and Mike sit down with Rami Syväri, advisor and founder at beY0nd, to unpack the evolving dynamics of performance, strategy, and resilience in the EV charging industry. With a rich background spanning Fortum, Swisscharge, and now advising CPOs across Europe, Rami brings a front-row perspective to what “good” really looks like in a CPO’s operation, and where the industry still has work to do.
Together, they dive deep into the importance of transparency, the power of benchmarking, and how operators can meaningfully compare themselves to peers without compromising sensitive data. Rami shares insights on building scalable, future-proof charging businesses, the operational maturity journey of CPOs, and why now, amidst market “hiccups,” is the time when tomorrow’s winners are forged.
From tech stack choices to the business case for ultra-slow charging, and from strategic pivots to trust-building through anonymized data models, this episode is a masterclass in navigating the high-stakes, fast-changing EV ecosystem.
Key Topics:
The DNA of CPO success and benchmarking KPIs that matter
Why ultra-slow charging might just be the next big thing
The "ketchup bottle effect" of delayed EV adoption and its implications
Platform vs. in-house software: when to build, when to partner
How to prepare now for the next wave of growth

Tune in for a grounded, strategic look at where the EV industry is headed—and how to get there with confidence. Happy charging!