Electric car-charging network ChargePoint gets $50 million in funding

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electric vehicle charging network ChargePoint said on Tuesday it had received an additional $50 million in funding to allow the Silicon Valley company to expand beyond its more than 28,000 public charging stations. The new round of funding, led by Linse Capital, brings total funding ChargePoint has raised from investors to more than $164 million. ChargePoint, the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) charging network, is in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It operates charging stations and provides cloud-based technology to property owners, governments and drivers, but does not own the stations themselves. It also sells a home charger. Despite regulators' attempts to urge car manufacturers to ramp up sales of electric cars to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the vehicles still face challenges from low gasoline prices, high battery costs and uncertain investment in recharging infrastructure. ChargePoint Chief Executive Pasquale Romano said growth will climb as more makes and models, from Tesla Motors Inc's upcoming Model 3 to the Chevy Bolt from General Motors Co, hit the market and appeal to a broader range of consumers. "Right now we've barely scratched the surface in penetration," said Romano, who added that the company was looking to enter Europe and Asia. "There aren't enough electric vehicles offered yet to fulfill everyone's personal lifestyle choices," Romano said. ChargePoint also said it had appointed as chairman its board member Bruce Chizen, the former CEO of software maker Adobe Systems Inc. (This story corrects first paragraph to show company has more than 28,000 stations, not 27,000) (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Joseph White and Bill Rigby)