A new report from Navigant Research finds that public charger deployments positively affect Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) adoption and therefore are an important factor in the scaling up for the mass market instead of remaining in select consumer groups. The report, entitled “Leveraging Charging Infrastructure to Accelerate EV Sales,” analyzes the relationship between public charger deployment and PEV demand, suggesting ways that stakeholders can speed up the industry development cycle.
While government policies and advances in battery technology have greatly helped the growth of the EV market since 2010, purchase subsidy programs are beginning to phase out, leaving only select consumer groups to afford PEVs. Even while the industry is working to adopt public charging options, low utilization among early EV users makes private investment difficult and a sustainable business model harder to ensure.
The report recommends that stakeholders use existing subsidies to shape and standardize public charger usage while encouraging flexibility and clarifying a role for the electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) sector. Stakeholders can also open additional revenue streams for charge point operators, aiding in market advancement.
“This finding is encouraging for PEV market stakeholders and should be considered when designing policies to speed PEV adoption,” says Scott Shepard, senior research analyst at Navigant Research. “There are many ways to support public charging, and a growing collection of solutions are emerging on behalf of steady progress, with technology standards and innovative approaches using communication protocols and energy storage technologies.”
