The number of electric vehicle charging stations in Europe is forecast to grow from 7,250 today to more than 3.1m by 2019 with France, Germany, Norway and the UK leading the way.
The report, published by research company Frost & Sullivan, coincides with the announcement that Better Place, an EV recharging company based in Israel, has filed for bankruptcy because only 1,240 customers in Israel and Denmark have bought EVs, well short of the 100,000 predicted to have done so by 2016.
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Nevertheless, Frost & Sullivan said its research indicated that demand would grow “because of high adoption rates” as the EV market “weans itself off government subsidies and incentives while becoming increasingly self-sustaining”.
Most charging stations will be ‘Mode 2’ – slow charging from a standard socket – which is expected to account for over 64% of the market share as nearly 83% of charging is expected to happen in residences or in a location where the vehicle will be parked for 8-10 hours daily, according to F&S automotive and transportation research associate Prajyot Sathe.
Mode 3 – or fast charging – will be popular in public locations, noted Sathe.
Even so, the industry’s “inability to provide long range in a single charge and charging times varying from 30 minutes to 10 hours” present a “speed bump” as the EV market picks up.
“Apart from technical issues, another challenge relates to the as yet ambiguous roles of utility companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and charging infrastructure providers in the market. Moreover, multiple rules and regulations related to the electricity usage and charges across the EU means a standardised business model is yet to be adopted. Developing a dynamic business model will, therefore, be a key requirement if the market is to continue on its upward trajectory,” said the report.
