Wikipedia

Fastned

Fastned is a Dutch company that owns and operates a growing fast charging network of 297 stations with 1,714 EV charging stations in the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. A large majority of its stations are located at Dutch highway rest areas. Fastned was founded in 2012.

Fastned
Company typeBesloten vennootschap
ISIN
IndustryEV charging
FoundedFebruary 2012; 12 years ago (2012-02)
Founder
  • Michiel Langezaal
  • Bart Lubbers
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Number of locations
  • 208 stations
  • 6 offices
 (2021)
Areas served
  • Netherlands
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
Key people
  • Michiel Langezaal (CEO)
  • Victor van Dijk (CFO)
RevenueIncrease €60.5 million (2023)
Increase −€12.1 million (2023)
Increase −€19.25 million (2023)
Total assetsIncrease €357 million (2023)
Total equityIncrease €146 million (2023)
Owner
  • Bart Lubbers (37%)
  • Michiel Langezaal (21.5%)
  • Breesaap (5.9%)
  • Schroder Capital 10.6%
Number of employees
222 (End of Year 2023)
Websitefastnedcharging.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4]

The company, a besloten vennootschap, is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Nxchange. As of 2023, 25% of the company can be traded, while the remaining shares are owned by co-founders Bart Lubbers (37%) and Michiel Langezaal (21.5%), and by investment firms Breesaap (5.9%) and Schroders Capital (10.6%).[3][5][6] Fastned's headquarters are located in Amsterdam, and its CEO is Michiel Langezaal.[1]

History

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Former Fastned logo (until 2019)

Fundraising and first stations

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Fastned B.V. was founded in February 2012 by Michiel Langezaal and Bart Lubbers, the son of former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers.[2][7] The company received a permit that same year to build and operate charging stations at 201 rest areas in the Netherlands for a period of fifteen years.[8] The first four locations opened in November 2013, the first of which was located at rest area Palmpol in Terschuur, Gelderland.[9][10]

Building a single charging station required about €200,000.[11] That money came from a number of funds owned by wealthy families, one of which was the Lubbers family fund called "Breesaap", that loaned €10 million.[7][12] That loan was later converted to shares.[13] Besides, the company started issuing stock certificates on NPEX, a stock exchange aimed at SMEs, in July 2014, raising €3.2 million in one and a half years.[14][15]

The fiftieth charging station near Goes was opened by former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in January 2016.[16] Due to the low proportion of electric vehicles in the Netherlands at the time, most charging stations were used between two and four times per day according to Fastned.[17] In April, Fastned became the first company to be listed on Nxchange when it raised €3 million in five weeks through the issue of stock certificates.[18] The company also issued bonds with a total face value of €22 million in 2016 and 2017.[19][20][21]

Further expansion

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In 2018, the usage of Fastned's charging stations had slowly increased to an average of five to six customers daily. According to Langezaal, nearly one third of the stations were breaking even, having between 15 and 20 customers per day.[7] The company's first foreign charging station was opened in June 2018 close to Limburg an der Lahn in Germany.[22] Fastned also started constructing some smaller locations at Albert Heijn supermarkets and reached the mark of 100 charging stations in June 2019.[23][24]

The company started being listed on Euronext Amsterdam on 21 June 2019, one week later than planned, making it possible for investors to convert their Nxchange stock certificates to Euronext certificates.[25] The price rose from €11 to €53 on its first day, but returned to a price slightly above the initial price in the following days.[26] Fastned had also planned an IPO that day in order to raise between €27 million and €30 million by issuing at most three million stock certificates. However, it was blown off the day before.[27] Co-founder Bart Lubbers had left the management board one month earlier to become chairman of the supervisory board.[28]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Fastned experienced negative effects; its sales declined by 70% from February to March.[29]

Network

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New design charging station at rest area De Wâlden along the A7 motorway

As of March 2024, Fastned's network consists of 308 EV charging stations, of which 173 are located in the Netherlands. The lion's share of Dutch charging stations are located at highway rest areas. Three are located at Albert Heijn supermarkets, and some more are situated in cities. The charging stations outside the Netherlands are in Germany (19), the United Kingdom (6), Belgium (2), and Switzerland (2). Four German locations are at hotels of Van der Valk, while the remaining are close to highways. The first British location was in Sunderland, and the company has won a tender to expand to London.[1][30][31] In Switzerland, Fastned had won a tender to build twenty charging stations.[32] Fastned's stations were used a total of 194,000 times during the last quarter of 2020 by 53,000 different customers.[1] The company has plans to expand to France.[28]

The earlier charging stations are characterized by two yellow arches with a curved roof, consisting of solar panels, in between.[16] The company introduced a new station design in 2016 with a higher roof in order to accommodate electric trucks. Additionally, it is better suited to increases in the number of individual charging points at a station.[7] The roof is still composed of solar panels, but they are see-through in the new design.[33] The design is inspired by bolts of lightning.

Fastned allows roaming access to their network for third party apps and access cards. Current partners include Gireve,[34] Q8 in Belgium,[35] Paua in the UK[36] and Greenflux across Europe.[37]

Operational stations in different countries[38]
Country 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Netherlands 98 105 132 151 168
Germany 15 19 31 37 39
United Kingdom 1 6 8 12 20
Belgium 2 9 18 24
Switzerland 2 2 3 7
France 6 23 38
Denmark 1

Finances

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Fastned's revenue had been close to zero during its initial years due to a low number of customers. In recent years, it has increased to €36 million (2022). The company has never turned a profit due to its continuing expansion.

Year[39] Revenue
in mil. EUR 		Net income
in mil. EUR 		Total assets
in mil. EUR 		Employees on
average, FTE 		Number of
charging stations 		Electricity delivered
in GWh
2012 0.00 –0.3 0.2 2 0 0
2013 0.00 –0.8 3.0 14 5 0.002
2014 0.01 –2.2 7.6 19 19 0.038
2015 0.1 –4.0 16.7 24 50 0.129
2016 0.3 –5.1 18.6 21 57 0.460
2017 0.6 –5.0 33.0 24 63 1.006
2018 1.6 –6.5 40.7 40 85 2.903
2019 6.4 –12.0 57.6 47 114 7.969
2020 6.9 –12.4 80.3 54 131 11.044
2021 12.4 –24.6 214.6 76 188 20.9
2022 36 –22.2 315.2 114 244 51.9
2023 60.5 –19.2 357.5 204 297 99.6

Lawsuits

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Fastned has been involved in a number of lawsuits concerning permits to operate at rest areas.

Initial permit

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A number of gas station operators sued the Dutch government in 2013 after Fastned had received its permit to operate charging stations at rest areas. They claimed Fastned should not have been given the permit, as existent gas stations at rest areas had been given the exclusive right to sell fuel at those places. A judge upheld Fastned's permit in July 2013 stating that the agreement between the government and the gas stations only concerns fossil fuels.[40]

Amenities at charging stations

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When Fastned wanted to add toilets and convenience stores at some of their locations, Rijkswaterstaat, the owner of the land of rest areas, did not grant the necessary permits. The government agency considered it inappropriate and unsafe to have some amenities twice at a single rest area.[41] Fastned subsequently went to court in 2017 and won the case, as the judge found that Rijkswaterstaat provided insufficient support for its claim.[42] Rijkswaterstaat appealed the decision, but lost again in 2019 at the Council of State, forcing the agency to grant a permit or to come up with better reasons for another denial.[43]

Royal Dutch Shell

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After Royal Dutch Shell announced in 2017 it would place charging stations at some of its locations, Fastned filed a number of lawsuits trying to prevent this in December. Some of those charging stations were to be located at rest areas already having a Fastned location.[44] Fastned did not manage to prevent the placement through the cases, in which it raised safety concerns and argued Shell could not sell electricity with its permit to sell fuel.[42][44]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2020" (PDF). Fastned. March 31, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Fastned BV". Drimble (in Dutch). Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Braaksma, Jan; Brinker, Gijs den (April 23, 2019). "Fastned heeft tientallen miljoenen per jaar nodig van beleggers". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "Anual Report 2023" (PDF). www.fastnedcharging.com. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  5. ^ Dobber, Joost (June 26, 2019). "Euronext heeft geleerd van de beursgang van Fastned". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "Fastned announces a 75 million euro strategic investment from Schroders Capital that will accelerate Fastned's future growth". www.fastnedcharging.com. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Voermans, Ton (April 12, 2018). "Laadpaal-oorlog om de elektrische rijders is ontbrand". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  8. ^ Bremmer, David (January 24, 2018). "Laadpalenoorlog ontbrandt langs Nederlandse snelwegen". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "Annual report 2013" (PDF). Fastned. March 21, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  10. ^ Pit, Henrico (November 27, 2013). "Eerste snellaadstation langs de snelweg". Omroep Gelderland (in Dutch). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Koot, Jeroen (May 19, 2015). "Fastned biedt investeerders gratis opladen auto". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Laadpaalexploitant Fastned trekt geld aan om kosten tot 2019 te dekken". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). January 11, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  13. ^ "Investeerder in Fastned zet lening om in aandelen". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). June 29, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Smit, Mathijs (May 21, 2015). "Verkoop certificaten Fastned valt tegen". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Smit, Mathijs (March 15, 2016). "Verkoop certificaten Fastned blijft tegenvallen". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Balkenende opent bij Goes het vijftigste Fastnedstation". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). January 20, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  17. ^ Voermans, Ton (February 6, 2016). "De stress van de elektrische auto: haal ik de laadpaal?". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  18. ^ Grol, Carel (May 23, 2016). "Fastned haalt € 3 mln op met emissie alternatieve beurs". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  19. ^ "Fastned trekt weer vers kapitaal aan voor snellaadstations". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). December 5, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  20. ^ "Fastned haalt € 7,7 mln op met vijfjaarslening". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  21. ^ Rodenburg, Sjors (December 7, 2017). "Fastned haalt 12 miljoen op voor uitbreiding snellaadnetwerk". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  22. ^ Kouwenhoven, Erik (June 23, 2018). "Fastned opent eerste snellaadstation in Duitsland". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  23. ^ Harthoorn, Jasper (December 6, 2018). "Snellaadstation bij Albert Heijn XL in Tilburg officieel geopend". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  24. ^ "Fastned opent honderdste snellaadstation". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). June 13, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  25. ^ "Fastned wil 30 miljoen ophalen met beursgang". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  26. ^ Groot, Natasja de (June 24, 2019). "Beleggersclub zet vraagtekens bij koersexplosie Fastned". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  27. ^ "Fastned blaast ophalen nieuw kapitaal af". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). June 20, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Fastned. March 31, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  29. ^ "Fastned ziet stroomafzet met 70% afnemen door coronacrisis". Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). March 31, 2020. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  30. ^ "Locations". Fastned. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  31. ^ Vaughan, Adam (April 26, 2017). "TfL to spend £18m on preparing London for new electric black cabs". The Guardian. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  32. ^ Bremmer, David; Voermans, Ton (June 12, 2019). "Veel potentie, nog nooit winst: durven beleggers in Fastned te stappen?". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  33. ^ Bas, John (April 8, 2019). "Deze 'paraplu's' komen langs de A58". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  34. ^ "Discover Fastned's offer on Gireve's roaming platform". www.Gireve.com. October 23, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  35. ^ "Q8 plugs into Fastned". www.q8.be. November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  36. ^ "Paua electric fuel card Partners Fastned on World EV day 2021". www.PauaTech.com. July 9, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  37. ^ "Feel the freedom of our network". www.greenflux.com. November 5, 2023. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. ^ "Financial reports". www.fastnedcharging.com. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  39. ^ "Financial Reports & Presentations". Fastned. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  40. ^ "Pomphouders verliezen zaak over laadpalen elektrische auto's". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). July 25, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  41. ^ Ommen, Jan van (September 5, 2018). "Rijkswaterstaat wil geen kiosk en wc's bij snellaadstation Velder". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  42. ^ a b "Fastned sleept staat voor de rechter om laadstations Shell". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). December 3, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  43. ^ "Rijkswaterstaat weigerde onterecht vergunning voor toilet bij Fastned". RTL Z (in Dutch). January 23, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  44. ^ a b Peet, Annick van der (December 28, 2017). "Fastned vangt weer bot bij rechter in laadstationzaak tegen Shell". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved April 12, 2010.
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