Residential Units to Lead U.S. Charging Stations Market

The electric vehicles are gaining more and more importance in the automotive world. However, in order for EVs to become widespread, a well-developed charging infrastructure is necessary, including public, private, workplace, and residential charging points.

A recent report from Pike Research, an U.S. market research and consulting firm, predicts that a total of 4.7 million charging stations will be installed all over the world from the current year to 2015.

The study forecasts that the mix of charging station will vary significantly depending on the region. The U.S. will have an unique pattern, as it will be led by residential charging units, which will account for 64 percent of the country’s 974,000 charge points that are expected 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," said 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 added that North America will also focus on plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), which require less charging infrastructure due to smaller batteries and gasoline range extenders.

The study indicates that facilities outside N.A. will more frequently serve as operators of public charging stations. This will lead to a higher ratio of charging equipment to electrified vehicles in Asia Pacific and Western Europe, compared to the U.S. and Canada.