Shifting gears: EV charging investments accelerate in Southeast Asia
Key takeaways
• EV adoption in Southeast Asia is accelerating rapidly, driving large-scale investment in charging infrastructure as a critical enabler of the energy transition.
• Why it matters now: Strong EV sales growth and government mandates are unlocking private markets investment but exposing scalability and interoperability risks.
• What’s next? Standardization, public charging access, and vehicle-to-grid innovation will determine long-term returns and system efficiency.
With sales of electric vehicles on the rise, investment in public charging infrastructure is ramping up across the region
A thriving ecosystem of start-ups, backed by strategic investors and investment funds, is helping to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Southeast Asia.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the number of charging stations installed across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam posted a ninefold increase from 2022 to 2024. Growth targets are high: Indonesia alone is targeting 30,000 public charging stations by the end of 2030, for example, up from fewer than 5,000 as of December 2025.
Many of these new charging points have been installed by companies founded within the last five years. Today, these start-ups at the Series A or B funding stage, with backing from funds and companies across Asia.
Spark EV, for example, is a Thai charging point operator that was founded in 2024, backed by Hong Kong’s Gaw Capital and Cornerstone Technologies, as well as the Hong Kong Investment Corporation. In 2025 it teamed up with Mile Green to launch an e-motorcycle charging network in Bangkok.
Elsewhere, V-Green, set up in 2024 by Vingroup chairman Pham Nhât Vuong, is working to install chargers for VinFast vehicles in countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia – where it announced a USD1.2 billion project with Egyptian conglomerate Prime Group in 2024 to build 100,000 charging stations over three years.
The investment case centers around strong EV sales. According to a December 2025 report from Ember, an energy think tank, some ASEAN countries have the highest EV sales penetration in the world, with EVs now accounting for 40% of new car sales in Singapore and Vietnam.
“Emerging markets will shape the future of the global car market,” said Euan Graham, Electricity and Data Analyst at Ember, when the report was published. “The choices made now on charging infrastructure and early support will determine how fast this momentum continues.”
Prioritizing public charging points
Whether charging infrastructure facilitates or follows EV purchases has been a chicken-and-egg debate for years. But not everyone sees it that way.
Jacques Borremans, Managing Director for Asia at the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), is in no doubt about the correct sequence. “People have to be able to see the charging infrastructure in order to feel confident buying an EV,” he said. “That is why governments must be on board first to mandate a standard for charging and willing to subsidize the initial build-up of charging infrastructure.”
Singapore has led the way in the regulation of EV charging infrastructure, namely through the Electric Vehicles Charging Act 2022. Thailand is implementing stricter rules from April 2026. Malaysia has its own Guidelines on Electric Vehicle Charging Systems.
Public charging locations are essential where EV buyers expect to cover long distances or are unable to charge at home, according to a 2025 report from Deloitte.
In urban areas, the lack of access to home charging can be a function of apartment living, while in some areas, the typical power supply may also be insufficient.
“In Indonesia, for example, most people have to rely on public stations for charging, not the home,” said Ricardo Silaen, CFA, who worked until recently at Indonesian conglomerate Indika Energy and is now Director at Indonesian mining contractor Darma Henwa. “The typical household in Indonesia does not have a powerful enough power supply to charge an EV”
According to statistics from power company PLN, about 92% of Indonesian customers are in the R-1, R-2 or R-3 tiers, with supplies up to a maximum of 2,200VA. According to PLN, customers need a supply of at least 7,700VA to charge an EV.
The interoperability challenge
Investors looking to ride on the growth of EV infrastructure face a number of challenges, including the increasing complexity of the market as more models and brands of vehicle become available.
The scalability of the current crop of start-ups therefore depends on how quickly the region moves to a more standardized ecosystem.
“Interoperability is a significant challenge in the region, and this is not just related to the charging plug but also the communication protocols – the software that manages the charging behavior and which must be appropriate for the charger and the type of EV being charged,” said Borremans.
“Encrypted communication eliminates cybersecurity risk for the charging infrastructure and addresses considerations over whether the charger and EV are capable of also sending power back to the grid.”
So-called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions are increasingly being explored as virtual power plants (VPPs), whereby a small amount of the charge within batteries that have already been charged but are still connected to the network can be diverted to the grid, thus maximizing the storage capacity of the grid when power is readily available.
Start-ups in the fast lane
Recent months have seen a flurry of activity across the region as start-ups and corporate subsidiaries ramp up new charging solutions.
In January, Thai EV charging start-up Sharge partnered with ride-hailing platform Grab Thailand, which is investing THB400 million (USD13 million) to roll out about 500 chargers for Grab drivers by 2027.
Sharge operates the RêverSharger network in partnership with Rêver Automotive, the Thai distributor of China’s BYD, and is also backed by Thai financial services company XSpring Capital and Innopower, a Thai venture capital platform formed by the country’s biggest utilities.
Zeekr Group, taken private from the New York Stock Exchange by Chinese auto maker Geely in December 2025, is developing ultrafast charging installations in underground car parks in Bangkok together with Evolt Technology, a Thai start-up that is backed by clean energy solutions company Banpu NEXT, and Chinese charger marker Autel Energy.
Urban installations are an obvious starting point for many investors, since they can be bolted on to existing infrastructure. More ambitious projects aim to tackle the problem of EV range through serving long routes.
Singapore-based Charge+, backed by TRIVE Venture Capital and TNB Aura and active in six countries in the region, has been developing a 5,000-kilometer (km) Singapore to Vietnam EV highway, with chargers every 120km, a network that is nearing completion.
“The challenge for the wider deployment of EV charging infrastructure in the region is that the economies of scale are often not there yet,” said Silaen. “There is lower penetration of EVs outside the cities, which makes it harder to justify the installation cost, and it can be physically challenging to build in rural areas.”
Governments recognize the need, however, not least because a large number of urban dwellers may travel at the same time to rural areas during cultural festivals. Ahead of the Nataru year-end holiday in 2025, Indonesian state-owned power company PLN announced a major deployment of chargers, including mobile stations.
There is clearly no shortage of innovation among the EV charging start-up ecosystem in Southeast Asia. Governments are also mobilizing to meet the need for standards and regulations that can provide the stability to catalyze investment. The intersection of the two should provide fertile ground for opportunities as the EV roll-out continues across the region.
To learn more about investment trends in Southeast Asia, explore these stories:
How next-gen investors are reshaping family offices in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s remote healthcare investment opportunity
How investors are backing energy connectivity across ASEAN
To learn more about energy investment trends, explore these stories:
Private equity investors are charging into the electricity sector
What’s driving the boom in grid-scale batteries?
Investing in real assets for the energy transition
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