Greentech Lead Asia: Asia has installed 45,486 electric vehicle charging units in 2012. The market is estimated to reach 1,382,494 units by 2020, says Frost & Sullivan.
The increasing emphasis on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and ensuring that electrical vehicles (EVs) constitute 20 percent of the total vehicles on road by 2030 in several Asia-Pacific countries will lead to the expansion of the EV charging infrastructure market in the region, the report said.
Further tax exemptions and government incentives on electric vehicles and EV charging stations will encourage the market’s rapid growth.
“Subsidies, free parking facilities, and access to special lanes promote the sale of EVs, thereby requiring investments in enhancing EV charging infrastructure,” said Frost & Sullivan Energy & Environmental research analyst Avanthika Satheesh.P.
Other regional initiatives like the testing of EV chargers in smart grid pilot projects by Japan, South Korea and Singapore to allow off-peak, vehicle-to-home, and vehicle-to-grid charging will further boost market development, the report said.
While the availability of devices with different charging times offers end users flexibility, the long charging periods of level 1 and level 2 chargers dissuade potential customers. The rapid DC charger takes the least time, but its hardware and installation costs are high.
The huge distance between charging stations, especially in large countries like Australia, also pose a challenge for customers trying to locate a station before their vehicles run out of power.
To counter these concerns, Governments have invested in EV test-bed programs and battery swapping stations in Asia-Pacific. These stations are designed to replace a car’s battery with a fully charged one within the same time usually spent at a gas station.
Australia has initiated level 2 and DC charging trial test beds to analyze the impact of different chargers on the power grid.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are conducting research on faster charging systems at lower costs, and will commercialize the resultant products after 2015. Induction-based wireless chargers are also under testing, and wind energy-powered chargers will gain acceptance in Australia by 2020.
Subscription-based services, which increase customer retention, cost recovery, and brand value, are likely to become popular in the region, the report said.