Berg Insight: Europe and North America will have almost 8 million EV charging points by 2025
In 2020, slightly more than 1.3 million charging points were installed in the European countries, corresponding to a connectivity penetration rate of 53 percent, while 0.3 million units were installed in North America. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent, the number of connected charging points in the two regions is expected to reach 7.9 million in 2025.
Europe and North America are expected to rely on almost 8 million charging points for electric vehicles by 2025, according to a study conducted by Swedish consulting firm Berg Insight. That’s quite an impressive number if we consider that 2025 will come in less than four years.
According to the report released by Berg Insight, «the market for EV charging solutions is in a growth phase which will last for several years to come. Mega-challenges such as vehicle emissions and climate change continue to encourage investments in electric vehicles and EV charging infrastructure, contributing to a positive outlook for the market. The COVID-19 crisis has generated a limited and temporary short-term fluctuation, but Berg Insight remains positive that the long-term growth will not be affected».
EV charging points in Europe and NA: from 1.6 million to 7.9 million
Down to the numbers, in 2020 slightly more than 1.3 million charging points were installed in the European countries, corresponding to a connectivity penetration rate of 53 percent, while 0.3 million units were installed in North America. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent, the number of connected charging points in the two regions is expected to reach 7.9 million in 2025. Not long ago, Volvo, Daimler and the Traton Group got together to develop European charging network for e-trucks.
The connected EV charging station market is served by a variety of players. The type of companies offering back-office software platforms for charging stations include dedicated charging station management software providers, hardware providers as well as charge point operators (CPOs). In North America, ChargePoint is a clear leader in terms of connected charging points. Additional companies having a notable number of connected charging stations on their platform in the region include AddÈnergie, SemaConnect, EV Connect, Blink Charging, Greenlots (Shell Group) and Tesla.
A growing demand for connected charging stations
Examples of vendors having a significant number of connected charging points in Europe include Etrel (Landis+Gyr), Easee, EVBox (Engie), NewMotion (Shell Group), Last Mile Solutions, Greenflux, Has-to-be, Virta Pod Point and Driivz. The Nordic hardware providers CTEK and Zaptec also have large numbers of connected charging points. Additional notable players in Europe include Vattenfall, Innogy, Allego and Fortum.
«The integration of communications equipment in EV charging stations can improve operations and the delivered service noticeably in several ways», said Caspar Jansson, IoT Analyst, Berg Insight. Charging stations can be equipped with load balancing functions to reduce strain on local grids, while charge point operators can monitor and manage their charging stations remotely. Electric vehicle drivers, in turn, can locate chargers, monitor charging availability, book chargers and manage payments using a smartphone app. «The number of connected charging points has grown significantly in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. As long as the electric vehicle fleet continues to grow rapidly, the demand for connected charging stations will continue to grow as well», continued Jansson. He adds that most of the connected charging points in Europe and North America are either in public or semi-public applications. «The number of connected home charging stations is still relatively limited in both regions. The share of connected home charging points is expected to increase, however, as the general trend of our homes becoming smarter develops», concluded Jansson.
