Greentech Lead Europe: The market for electric vehicle supply
equipment (EVSE) will grow rapidly in Europe and EVSE revenue will grow from 72
million euro ($90 million) in 2012 to more than 1 billion euro ($1.27 billion)
by 2020.
Across Europe, the absence of a single alternating
current (AC) EV charging connector standard has hampered the deployment
of EV
charging infrastructure. Despite many challenges, EVSE market in Europe
will experience rapid growth over the remainder of the decade.
“European sales of charging equipment have lagged North
America because of a lack of standards and slower than expected EV sales.
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,” said John Gartner,
research director, Pike Research.
Pike Research forecasts that the largest market for both
PEVs and charging equipment will be Germany, which will represent 23 percent of
all EV charging systems sold through 2020.
The alliance between French automaker Renault and Nissan
of Japan will lead the European EVSE market. With its ZOE battery electric
vehicle, Renault is introducing both a vehicle and the supporting
infrastructure technology and deployment. Renault designed
the ZOE BEV so that a corresponding fast charging station would be inexpensive
to build. This low-cost charger has the potential to change the economics of
commercial EV charging.