Company Context

VoltWay is a mid-sized mobility infrastructure company that operates 420 fast-charging stations across Western Europe and generated €86M in revenue last year with an EBITDA margin of 14%. The company is considering a new project: building a network of 60 ultra-fast EV charging hubs along major intercity highways in Spain. Management believes the project could strengthen VoltWay's position before larger utilities and oil majors expand further into the market, but the board wants a clear view on whether the project is financially viable before committing capital.

Strategic Situation

You are a strategy manager at VoltWay. The CEO has asked you to evaluate whether the Spain highway expansion should move forward. The decision matters now because EV adoption is accelerating, several public subsidies expire in 9 months, and two competitors have announced plans to expand on overlapping routes. Your assessment should determine not only whether the project creates value financially, but also what assumptions matter most and what commercial strategy would improve returns.

Data Points

Additional market context:

• Spain public fast-charging market is estimated at €1.1B today and growing at 22% annually.
• Two major competitors already operate 95 highway fast-charging sites combined and are pricing between €0.43-€0.49/kWh.
• VoltWay estimates it can capture 8-10% share of Spain highway fast charging within 5 years if it launches on time.
• Internal finance team estimates central overhead allocation for the project at €4M annually.

Deliverables

1. Assess the project's financial viability using an appropriate investment framework.
2. Identify the key revenue, cost, and market assumptions that drive the decision.
3. Evaluate whether the market opportunity and competitive landscape support the investment case.
4. Recommend whether VoltWay should invest, delay, redesign, or reject the project.
5. Suggest a go-to-market or pricing approach that could improve project economics.

Constraints

• VoltWay can allocate at most €100M of capital to this project over the next 12 months.
• The board expects a recommendation within 2 weeks.
• The company cannot hire a large field sales team before launch; the model must rely primarily on location strategy, partnerships, and digital acquisition.
• A final recommendation must explicitly address the risk of losing the subsidy window.