Utilities and Oil Majors Join the EV Wave

In 2018, about 1.8M plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) were sold, i.e., plug-in hybrid and 100% electric vehicles. This may represent only 2.2% of all light vehicles sold globally, but it increased almost 80% vs. 2017. EV sales growth will remain strong thanks to both a wave of new EVs (about 200 models by 2020 and 300–500 by 2025) and incentives, whether financial or operational such as limited city access. This should be enough for all forward-thinking utilities and oil majors to prepare to break from the status quo.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that EVs will reach 19% of light vehicles sales in China by 2025, 14% in Europe and 11% in the USA, vs. respectively 4%, 2% and 2% in 2018. Looking further out to 2040, BNEF anticipates that EVs will reach 55% of global vehicle sales and 33% of the fleet. Even Porsche foresees 50% of their sales going to EVs by 2025.

Not all regions are alike regarding the charging network. In Europe, 79% of the public charging infrastructure is operated by utilities and oil companies. In the USA, 62% is managed by pure-play EV charging operators, and a majority of the Chinese charging network is controlled by equipment manufacturers (link)…