(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump can’t stop the shift to electric vehicles, according to the head of America’s largest charging network.
Rick Wilmer, chief executive officer of ChargePoint Holdings Inc., says EV sales will continue to grow even if Trump returns to the White House. While accepting the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention last week, Trump vowed to target President Joe Biden’s electric car policies “on day one” if he wins November’s election. The Biden administration has pumped billions of dollars into helping automakers switch to EVs and building a nationwide network of chargers for them.
“I think that the overall market forces are a much stronger force than whatever the government can do to accelerate or not accelerate EV adoption,” said Wilmer in an interview Friday. “There’s been too much investment made, [and] you hear many auto CEOs — auto OEM CEOs — talk about the fact that we’re past the tipping point.”
Wilmer, who gushes about his own electric Ford F-150 Lightning, also says most drivers who make the switch won’t go back. “For those who have experienced EVs, it’s a superior product, from a driveability perspective, from a quietness perspective,” he said.
Although Trump has frequently bashed EVs — claiming they don’t work well and cost too much — his comments during his acceptance speech Thursday made a mark. Stocks of electric vehicle makers and charging companies fell Friday, with ChargePoint dropping 4.9% and Tesla Inc. sliding 4%.
Even if Trump tries to end Biden’s buildout of a nationwide charging network, other aspects of ChargePoint’s business won’t be affected, Wilmer said. That includes installing chargers for commercial building owners who offer charging to their customers or tenants.
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