EV Charging Equipment Sales in Europe to Reach $1.3B by 2020

The landscape of electric vehicle charging in Europe is quite diverse. Across Europe, multiple technologies are being utilized for EV charging.

Complex regulations governing the sale of electricity vary from country to country, and several different payment models and electricity rate structures apply to EV charging services, further complicating the process of paying for vehicle charging.

At the same time, the absence of a single alternating current EV charging connector standard has hampered the deployment of EV charging infrastructure.

Despite these challenges, the market for electric vehicle supply equipment will grow rapidly in Europe over the remainder of the decade.

Electric vehicle supply equipment revenue in Europe will grow from €72 million ($90 million) in 2012 to more than €1 billion ($1.27 billion) by 2020, according to a new report from Pike Research.

“European sales of charging equipment have lagged North America because of a lack of standards and slower than expected EV sales,” says 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.”

Pike predicts that the largest market for both plug-in electric vehicles 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 electric vehicle supply 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 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.