Infrastructure development for EVs is at the top of the docket for the auto industry: As the new Madbouly government embarks upon an ambitious plan to green the Egyptian economy, industry players are giving EV infrastructure expansion another look. A meeting of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce auto division recently saw discussions with representatives from companies specializing in EV charging put forth three new proposals aimed at developing EV charging infrastructure and overcoming obstacles to the spread of EVs. One in particular caught the attention of industry insiders — a proposal to allow charging stations to operate via multiple charging protocols rather than a single, unified protocol.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

The proposal: Currently, each EV charger has two outlets that operate on the European protocol. If the proposal were to be accepted, just one of the outlets in a given charger would have to adhere to the European standard, while the second outlet could follow American, Chinese, Japanese, or other protocols, depending on each company’s investment goals.

It would also entail more flexible pricing: The proposal would also allow firms to set the prices for charging based on their own investment costs rather than the mandatory pricing system currently in place, while the cost of purchasing electricity is kept at the same price. Companies currently purchase electricity at a fixed cost of EGP 1.2 per KW and sell it at EGP 1.9 for slow charging (AC) and EGP 3.75 for fast charging (DC).

Why it makes sense: Diversifying charging protocols would mean that firms and EV users wouldn’t be restricted to the European standard for charging EVs, head of the clean energy at the auto division Ahmed Zein told participants. Instead, a more diverse range of protocols would allow charging station operators to choose specifications from different countries while unifying the standards for chargers in accordance with international requirements.

Chinese EVs’ expanding market share is a key push-factor: "I've personally been using an EV for nine years now,” Zein tells us. “Initially, American and European brands dominated, so the available chargers were mostly from there, and they were the only type of charger sanctioned under the current regulations. However, the countries from which we import EVs have become more diverse in recent years, with China now holding 75% of the EV market. But most people who use Chinese EVs have to charge their vehicles at home due to the lack of infrastructure for their vehicles.”

Diversifying charging protocols would attract new investments and expand existing ones in the sector. It would also help ensure that the market doesn’t become monopolized by the two largest charging companies, which currently hold a large share of the market. While there are six other firms interested in further investing in EV charging infrastructure, they are struggling to expand their operations due to the ban on using non-European chargers. Indeed, the one company that has invested in Chinese charging stations has seen its investments brought to a halt by the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Egyptera), Zein tells Enterprise.

Six of the EV charging companies that attended the meeting agreed to the proposal, while two firms opposed it — however, the two companies that were in opposition currently hold a combined 90% share of the market, raising concerns over potentially monopolistic practices, a source from the auto division said on condition of anonymity. The division’s board of directors also expressed its support for the proposal, with the head of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce's auto division Nour Darwish saying that it could reshape the market’s future for the better.

The two firms that refused the proposal offered counter arguments for having multiple charging protocols:

#1- Infinity — which holds the largest market share in the EV charging market — was one of the companies that refused the proposal. Infinity’s head of government relations Khaled Salah compared the situation to the mobile phone market, where charging protocols are gradually heading toward a unified type of charger. “EVs are a lot more valuable than mobile phones, and their charging infrastructure represents a large investment that can’t be easily replaced, unlike mobile phone chargers,” he added.

#2- EGX-listed MB Engineering's EV charging subsidiary Sha7en — the firm with the second largest market share in the EV charging market — was the other firm to refuse the proposal, with the firm’s senior operations manager Ahmed Nawwar saying that all countries currently operate using a unified protocol, regardless of the protocol’s country of origin. “I honestly don’t understand the need to adopt protocols that aren’t followed internationally, when the company prefers to invest in a single protocol — the one in which it initially started investing,” he said.

Concerns over monopolistic practice exist on both sides: Nawwar argues that the proposal could lead to a different kind of monopoly — one that favors the cheapest market source, particularly China. In this view, protocol diversification would allow for China to export vehicles to Egypt with Egyptian specifications rather than global ones. Moreover, he added, the Chinese protocol is currently directed to the local Chinese market, and not for export. “If, say, India produced cars at a third of the cost and exported them to Egypt, importers would favor these vehicles and their presence in the Egyptian market would see a surge, which would then force charging companies to adapt to the new car’s charging protocols — putting the Chinese protocol in the same position as the European one, and bringing us back to point zero,” Nawwar said.

The two firms were also against the idea of flexible pricing, which Nawwar said would lead to significant disruptions in the market. He compared it to the telecom market, in which companies aren’t free to set their own pricing plans and are instead subject to the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), saying that the EV charging market should operate under similar regulated procedures in order to protect competition.

The new proposal also throws a wrench in existing investment plans: The firms who rejected the proposal have already invested in and have made future investment plans based upon a unified protocol — therefore, newer firms will be given an advantage in the market if the proposal were to be applied.

Two other proposals were discussed during the meeting, the first of which involved issuing legislation to require all new service buildings like hotels and large restaurants to allocate space for EV chargers — a proposal that was unanimously agreed upon by the companies attending. However, the companies unanimously rejected the final proposal, which called for issuing legislation that would allow existing gas stations to allocate space for EV chargers — which the companies said would undermine their existing investments in charging infrastructure.

The proposals still have a long way to go: The companies that participated in the meeting have each been instructed to issue a memorandum in which they detail their reasoning for accepting or rejecting each proposal, with these memoranda to be submitted to Egyptera before being raised to the relevant government bodies for a final decision, Darwish said. The goal for the division is to combat any monopolistic practices that could negatively affect consumers, especially as EVs become more widely available locally, Darwish adds.

Until then, industry players still have ambitious expansion plans in the pipeline: There are currently around 1.2k charging points across 300 charging stations in Egypt that serve European and American EVs, which make up about 20% of the local EV market, with around 11k vehicles currently in use, according to estimates from the auto division. Infinity is currently working to increase its number of stations to 350 from 180 currently by the end of 2025, Salah tells us. Meanwhile, Sha7en is looking to increase its stations to 180 from 80 currently by the end of the year, Nawwar said.

More EV usage and the expansion of EV imports could cut Egypt’s fuel import bill by a significant amount, which amounts to bns of USD annually, according to Amir Helali, the head of the importers committee at the auto division. Many industry players are also preparing to invest bns in EV chargers, Helali added, saying that this necessitates reinstating the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system and the issuing of ACID numbers for passenger cars — which he said would allow import operations to return to normal.

The auto shipping crisis needs to be solved quickly: Helali’s sentiments regarding the need to bring back vehicle imports were echoed by the deputy head of the auto division Osama Abu Al Magd, who said that “stopping the import of cars would shrink the market, which would lead to the inability of companies to invest in chargers and the state incurring potential losses of bns of EGP that have already been invested at a time when the world is heading towards clean energy.”

Your top infrastructure stories for the week:

• Dabaa nuclear power plant to get another USD 418 mn worth of construction work: Arab Contractors and Russian state-owned nuclear developer Rosatom have inked a USD 418 mn contract to build two breakwaters, a sedimentation basin, and marine life protection facilities at the Dabaa nuclear power plant. (Statement)
• Electricity Ministry + Elsewedy Electric: Representatives of the Electricity Ministry and Elsewedy Electric discussed potential collaboration in the energy sphere, between reducing electricity losses and theft and making electricity distribution more efficient. (Statement)