Can Fastned compete with IONITY?

Dutch EV charging start-up Fastned is rapidly expanding across Europe, but is able to keep up with its main competitor IONITY? 

The joint venture IONITY is one of the strong contenders in Europe that rival Tesla’s vast supercharger network. But a third player is working diligently to create a reliable network of fast chargers throughout the continent. It’s name, Fastned. Is this Dutch charging start-up, with hundreds of charge points in Europe ready to take on its counterpart IONITY? 

Building Fastned

Fastned has a simple, yet ambitious mission, to construct a 1000 fast charging stations at prime locations, where electric vehicles can rapidly charge their cars with clean renewable energy. Fastned was established by current CEO and Co-founder of the company, Michiel Langezaal and Bart Lubbers in 2012. Both met each other whilst working at Epyon, a EV-charging start-up from Delft, who would eventually be acquired by technology ABB. The acquisition served as the fuel for Michiel and Bart to build their own EV charging company that would cater to this rapidly expanding market. However, Langezaal and Lubbers noticed that at the rate at which battery technologies were developing, a strong charging network would be required.

But Fastned’s journey would just begin. Langezaal explained to Leaseblog, “At one point we thought: those cars would also be available to consumers. Then there must be a charging network. A chicken and egg story. Charging throughout the Netherlands and Europe.” Wondering who would buy into this risky endeavor. To kickstart their network, they envisioned 245 locations along highways, located at fuel stations and parking lots. 

They drafted a proposal and presented it to the federal government in 2011, who created a tender to rollout a fast charging network throughout the dense highway network across the Netherlands. In July 2014, the EV startup received €2.5 million ($2.6 million) in funding through a loan provided by Flowfund to accelerate its network roll-out. The additional funding would be used to add additional charging stations to its network before going public. At the time of the interview with Leaseblog, in 2018, Fastned had 64 fast charging stations throughout the Netherlands with expansion across Europe still in full swing.  

Fastned partnerships

In 2015, Nissan and Fastned announced their partnership to deliver two years of free unlimited charging to each new Nissan LEAF buyer. At the time of the announcement, Fastned operated a humble 38 charging stations with its network expanding to 50 by the end of the year. The partnership with Nissan was two years before the establishment of the joint venture IONITY. Fastned wasn’t the only one who benefited from the partnership. Nissan had to ensure its customers could reliably charge their LEAF vehicles, as the LEAF only had a shy 30 kWh battery. A range of 250 kilometers (155 miles) was quite a remarkable achievement in 2015, but it was nowhere near the range of a petrol engine. The lack of range had to be compensated through reliable charging for Nissan to make the concept work. 

In 2018, Fastned partnered with supermarket chain REWE Region Mitt to deliver fast charge points at their supermarkets, piloting with four stores around Frankfurt in Germany. The partnership allows Fastned to expand its services across the wide network of supermarkets within the REWE group. Customers will be able to charge their vehicles while they are grocery shopping. CEO of Fastned, Langezaal, expressed his excitement for the upcoming partnership with REWE. The supermarket franchise had prime real estate, bringing the Dutch company close to the German consumer, which would help familiarize the concept and brand in the region.  

A year later in February 2019, Fastned opened a fast charging station at Van der Valk Hotel Gladbeck, Germany, close to the A2 highway. The opening up of another location in Germany, further strengthened its position in the region. The German expansion was followed by the tender grants in England and Switzerland, which marked the start of aggressive capital accumulation. For good reason. Fastned had to move fast as one of its primary competitors, IONITY, announced in November 2021, it had received €700 million in invest capital, welcoming BlackRock as a major investor. This funding would allow IONITY to accelerate its European expansion. At the time IONITY already operated 1,500 charge points across 24 countries through Europe. 

In December 2022, Fastned announced its partnership with EVBox, installing the first 400 kW fast charger in Europe. The EVBox Troniq Modular High-Power delivers up to 400 kW of power for supported vehicles, being able to charge a vehicle with 100 kilometers of additional range within 3 minutes. Both parties have extensive knowledge in electric vehicle charging, allowing Fastned and EVBox to expand their reach in the EV space through reliable products. 

Building capital

Fastned wasn’t oblivious to the rapid expansion of its competitors. It had to keep amassing funding to maintain a steady pace for its European expansion, primarily to fend off its aggressively expanding main rival IONITY, who might have been more concerned with Tesla’s Superchargers than Fastned. In June 2022, Fastned announced it had raised €23 million ($24.3 million) by issuing bonds. An additional €7 million ($7.4 million)  was generated through earlier issues. 

In the announcement, CEO at Fastned, Michiel Langezaal said, “This bond issue allows us to continue to invest in the expansion of our Europe-wide network, bringing more freedom to electric drivers.” Remarking that electric vehicle sales were at an alltime high, pointing to the EU ban on diesel and petrol car sales by 2035, which would further accelerate the adoption of EVs. Shortly after, in October 2022, the EV-startup received €75 million ($79.1 million) in funding from Schroders Capital. Through the investment, Schroders Capital would acquire a 10.61 percent stake in the Dutch company. The capital will aid Fastned in reaching its elusive target of deploying 1,000 charging stations by 2030. The investment by Schroders Capital marked one of the largest cash injections for Fastned since its founding. 

In December 2022, Fastned raised €10.8 million ($11.39 million) through bond issuing to accelerate its network expansion. CFO at Fastned, Victor Van Dijk, highlighted the rapid expansion of the company, adding the highest number of charging stations to date. Van Dijk thanked the continued support of its investors that believe in the mission of the company. The funding paled in comparison to the massive cash injection IONITY received a year earlier, but for Fastned it was a much necessary investment to remain competitive.

Accelerating European expansion

In June 2023, Fasted raised €21.9 million ($23 million) in funding to accelerate its European expansion. CFO of Fastned, Victor van Dijk, commented that through the cash injection, the company can grow its network of fast chargers at high traffic locations. Adding that creating a hassle-free charging experience, serves a crucial role in accelerating mass EV adoption. By creating a strong European network, it wants to aid this mobility revolution. 

In September 2023, Fastned announced its first location in Italy, along one of the country’s major highways, marking its entry into the Mediterranean country. Through the motorway operator, A4 Holding Group, it would be building a fast charging location along the A4 Brescia to Padova in Northern Italy. Fastned adds that Italy is an important market with its expensive highway network which is one of the largest in Europe. The car-loving country also has one of the highest car density per capacity across the continent. 

Founder and CEO Fastned, Michiel Langezaal, commented on the contract, “Starting our activities in Italy, the eighth country on Fastned’s map, means a lot to Fastned and to me personally.” Adding that Italy is another milestone in the company’s ambitions to create a European wide fast charging network. Langezaal was confident that it would be one among many charging stations throughout Italy. 

Fastned challenges

Despite its accelerating momentum and expanding network, the rise of the company hasn’t been all moonlight and roses. Over the years, Fastned has been entangled in a sleuth of legal battles with fossil fuel company Shell over operating charge points at fuel locations. In December 2017, the EV start-up argued that the fossil fuel company was receiving preferential treatment after opening up its first fast charging location at one of its fuel stations along the A1 highway. The Dutch news broadcaster NOS commented that Shell’s entry into the charging market sparked unrest at smaller players, as just a few months earlier Shell acquired EV chargepoint operator Newmotion. 

Fastned challenged Shell’s expansion into the EV market, saying that the fossil fuel company used a fueling permit to deliver electricity, which shouldn’t be allowed as a utility company cannot sell fuel without the appropriate permits. Shell wasn’t impressed however, commenting, “An additional decision has been granted under the existing permit from Rijkswaterstaat (federal government).“ Adding that it’s allowed to install fast charging points. On top charge points, Fastned wasn’t allowed to operate retail spaces as often seen at fuel stations under the existing permit, further weakening its competitive offering. 

The verdict came quickly. The same month the judge dismissed the complaints brought forward by Fastned, seeing no objections for Shell operating its own charge points under the same permit scheme. CEO Langezaal commented that new players were bullied out of the market, as it was the same government who allocated these permits five years prior, as fossil fuel companies had little appetite to build their own charging networks.  

In March 2023, announced it had generated a net loss of €22.2 million ($23.6 million) over 2022, coming down from €24.6 million ($26.1 million) in 2021. These losses came as revenue grew by 191 percent of €36 million. In a 2019 interview with Dutch entrepreneur and business magazine, De Ondernemer, the poor cash position of Fastned was highlighted. The company had accumulated tens of millions in debt. With the addition of the almost $50 million it had generated in 2021 and 2022, debt became a greater burden for the financial position of the company.  

A few months later, in May 2023, Simply Wall Str questioned when Fastned would finally break even. It acknowledged the EV start-up had made significant progress, reaching a market cap of €656 million, but its recent earnings report leaves investors wondering when the company will finally turn a profit. Especially since Fastned believes it will add more losses to its balance sheet in 2024.  

The EV start-up expects to turn its first profit in 2025, anticipating a modest €13 million ($13.8 million), hence reaching break even during that time. However, if Fastned cannot maintain this growth rate, investors might have to wait for several years before seeing a return on their investment. Simply Wall Str points out that growth figures can be skewed as reaching high growth rates is to be expected when investor funds are flowing in during the early growth phase. 

Charging to profitability 

In July 2023, Fastned installed its 1500th fast charger in Europe over more than 270 charging stations. Its network of chargers is most dense in the Netherlands, spreading further into Europe through Belgium, Germany, France and Switzerland. Overseas, it has locations throughout the United Kingdom. IONITY is spread out in more countries, including Scandinavia and parts of Southern Europe with more locations to come. 

The article was framed as IONITY being the primary competitor of Fastned. In some cases this might ring true, as its car manufacturers versus a charging operator who are trying to create a dense network of fast chargers throughout Europe, who, in time, will become the fuel stations of tomorrow. There are others who are trying to claim their own space in the EV market, like Tesla’s with its Superchargers or Shell through its Newmotion chargers. But perhaps the real competitor for Fastned aren’t the other players in the field, but its own financial position. 

The Dutch startup doesn’t have infinite money like Shell and IONITY, or the hardware sales that Tesla has. It is fully reliant on vehicles charging at one of its locations. This business model can only become profitable if the company can stay in the expansion game long enough to see electric vehicles adopt critical mass in the regions it is most active.