Electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment revenue in Europe will grow from 72 million euro (US$90 million) in 2012 to more than 1 billion euro (US$1.27 billion) by 2020, despite many challenges related to recharging infrastructure and regulatory issues, according to Pike Research.
The market research and consulting firm pointed out that the landscape of EV charging in Europe is quite diverse. Across Europe, multiple technologies are being utilized for EV charging. Complex regulations governing sale of electricity vary from country to country, and several different payment models and electricity rate structures apply to EV charging services, further complicating paying for vehicle charging.
At the same time, Pike Research said, the absence of a single alternating current (AC) EV charging connector standard has hampered the deployment of EV charging infrastructure.
“European sales of charging equipment have lagged North America because of a lack of standards and slower than expected EV sales,” said research director John Gartner. “However, Pike Research expects that in a few years, consensus will be reached by auto manufacturers in the region on both AC and DC charging equipment, and market demand will accelerate rapidly beginning in 2015.”
Gartner added that the largest market for both plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and charging equipment will be Germany, which will represent 23% of all EV charging systems sold through 2020.
One key emerging leader in the European EV charging equipment market is the alliance between French automaker Renault and Nissan of Japan. With its ZOE battery electric vehicle, Renault is introducing both a vehicle and the supporting infrastructure technology and deployment. Renault designed the ZOE battery electric vehicle (BEV) so that a corresponding fast charging station would be inexpensive to build. Pike Research’s analysis indicates that this low-cost charger has the potential to change the economics of commercial EV charging.