SK E&S buys EverCharge, a U.S. EV charging company

An electric vehicle is being charged by a charger developed by EverCharge. [SK E&S]

SK E&S said Thursday it has acquired San Francisco-based electric vehicle (EV) charging company EverCharge, though specific details have not been disclosed.

It is the first time a Korean company has acquired a U.S. EV charging company, SK E&S said in a release.

Earlier in the month, the Korean energy company made an announcement that it will provide $400 million of financing to SK E&S Americas, its U.S. subsidiary, for investment in energy businesses in the United States. Some of the funds will be used in acquiring EverCharge.

Established in 2013, EverCharge is an EV charging solution provider that manufactures charging equipment and operates charging stations. It runs about 4,600 EV chargers in the United States and Canada.

SK E&S said the acquisition will help it respond effectively and quickly to the growing EV charging market in the United States and become a leading energy company.

“Entry into the U.S. EV charging market is a starting point for SK E&S to be transformed into a carbon-neutral energy optimizer as it declared,” Yu Jeong-joon, Vice Chairman of SK E&S said in Thursday's release.“I believe SK E&S will become a leading power solution company in the North American market within years as it leverages its energy solution business capabilities."

The United States had around 1.74 million EVs on the roads as of 2020. The number is expected to increase to around 25.8 million by the end of 2030, a 15-fold increase. The size of the U.S. EV charging equipment market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 27 percent by 2030.

In September, SK E&S acquired a 95 percent stake in Key Capture Energy, a New York-based energy solution company. Founded in 2016, Key Capture Energy has 254 megawatts (MW) of standalone energy storage projects either in construction or in operation and 3,000 MW of storage projects in development in the United States.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]