The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) over the next several years will be accompanied by a significant build-out of EV charging infrastructure, including public, private, workplace, and residential charging equipment. A recent report from Pike Research, titled “Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment,” forecasts a total of 4.7 million charge points to be installed globally from 2010 to 2015; however, the clean-tech market intelligence firm expects the mix of charging station types will vary significantly by region. Unique among EV markets, the United States will be led by residential charging units, which will represent 64% of the country’s 974,000 charge points to be installed by 2015.
“Compared to the rest of the world, a greater percentage of U.S. electric vehicle owners will live in single-family homes,” says Pike Research Senior Analyst John Gartner. “In Asia Pacific and Europe, where multi-family housing is more common, just 35% of charge points will be residential, and EV drivers will rely much more heavily on public or private charging equipment for their primary recharging locations.”
Gartner adds that North America will also see a higher percentage of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which require less charging infrastructure because of their smaller battery packs and gasoline engines that extend their range. In addition, he says that utilities outside North America will more frequently serve as operators of public charging stations, resulting in a higher ratio of charging equipment to electrified vehicles in Asia Pacific and Western Europe compared to the United States and Canada.
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Source: Pike Research