Friday 2 November 2012

Ten-fold increase in electric car charging points by 2020



The GreenCarWebsite reports that the global market for electric car charging points is expected to grow ten-fold by 2020, new estimates from Lux Research suggests.

That means the market will be worth a cool $1.2 billion in eight years time, up from $140 million in 2012-a compound annual growth rate of 30 per cent. Although the adoption of electric cars has been slow, the steady increase in EV models supported by Government policy and investment from carmakers will support the charging station market, growing unit sales from around 120,000 in 2012 to 1.3 million by 2020.

“Success for EVSE will ultimately follow the success of electric vehixcles,” said Kevin See, Lux Research Senior Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, ‘Charging Ahead: Finding Reality in the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Market.’ “It’s critical for those invested in charging stations to find the applications where there’s substantial growth.”

If you are looking for growth in the electric vehicle supply equipment market (EVSE) then Europe is the leading place to look, with sales of charging stations to reach 480,000 units by 2020.

While Europe leads in charging infrastructure, China will lead in energy consumption, the research finds, with the country’s plug-in cars projected to consume 1.9 TWh of electricity by 2020-translating into $155 million in revenue for Chinese utilities.

Partnership between carmakers and charging equipment providers as well as utility companieswill be key to the development of charging infrastructure for electric cars in the coming years. Recent partnerships such as BMWand Coulomb Technologies are already helping to advance the market.