Engie pulls the plug on Dutch EVBox after losing €800 million

French energy giant Engie is pulling the plug on its Dutch charger daughter EVBox seven years after acquiring it and accumulating €800 million in loss. Attempts failed to find someone to take over the ailing company that installed 550 thousands of charging points worldwide and claims a +20,000 business customer base.

The decision, like a bolt from the blue, will result in the disappearance of the vast majority of the approximately seven hundred jobs at EVBox, many of which are at the head office in Amsterdam.

There is also unbelief in the Netherlands and the accusation that Engie, with the French state as a major shareholder, has put national interests too much first in the search for a solution.

President of ChargeUp Europe

EVBox manufactures and distributes electric vehicle charging stations and charging management software. In 2023, EVBox assumed the presidency of the ChargeUp Europe association, the voice of the European EV charging infrastructure industry, with Remco Samuels, CEO of EVBox, as its chairman. In February, Samuels was re-elected as 2024 ChargeUp Europe President.

Engie confirmed the intended closure to the Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad. Engie bought EVBox in 2017 and has spent the past few months looking for buyers, but ultimately decided to sell only a fast charger factory in Bordeaux.

The losses of €100 million per year would be partly due to quality problems, which cost millions in warranty claims and depreciated stocks. Due to the deteriorating reputation, more and more large customers, such as Schiphol and the municipality of Amsterdam, have switched to competitor chargers in the past few years.

Two bids

The company says it received two bids for EVBox, which it studied thoroughly, after which it finally decided to sell the French fast charger factory. As a result, only thirty jobs will be preserved. Engie is also in talks with the works council about temporary work for about a hundred EVBox employees to maintain the necessary services.

On its website, EVBox claims it is a market leader in electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVSE), delivering over 550,000 charging ports to partners and customers globally. EVBox’s solutions include charging stations for residential, commercial, and fast-charging network usage, as well as charging management software.