IDTechEx Report on Mobile EV Chargers on the Go

Niche or Disruptive?

With the growing population of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), the charging infrastructure industry is also progressing quickly to meet the ever-increasing demand for recharging the EV batteries. According to IDTechEx’s research on electric vehicles, by 2030 there will be over 100 million plug-in EVs on road globally. Driven by the EV population growth, the market of charging infrastructure will grow at 24% CAGR in the coming decade and reach $40 billion per year by 2030, according to a recent research on “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030” by IDTechEx.

Projected market size of EV charging infrastructure by sector in volume (left) and revenue (right) Source: IDTechEx Report “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030” (www.IDTechEx.com/EVCharging)

Public charging infrastructure, especially fast charging, is very capital intensive and the payback time is long. The 50kW direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) deployed several years ago are now becoming “slow” as network operators such as IONITY are rapidly ramping up their 350kW DCFC charging stations. This has brought concerns for customers that their investment in certain charging solutions might become obsolete sooner than expected. For charging network operators, it is not easy to decide the best locations to install charging infrastructure and there are risks that the charging stations become underutilised, which is a common issue found in China and Europe.

Mobile charging provides an alternative solution to the traditional fixed charging infrastructure: instead of letting the EV drivers look for charging stations, the mobile charger comes to the vehicle to charge it. Mobile charging can help operators quickly build up the infrastructure or test for the best locations with the flexibility to relocate easily with no additional cost. A mobile EV charger normally consists of energy storage devices (usually batteries) in the form of portable chargers, trolleys, vans and even robots, significantly reducing the cost and complexity of the charging infrastructure, especially for restricted parking areas. Mobile charging provides a promising charging solution especially for corporate and fleet customers to avoid high upfront cost of installing fixed charging infrastructure. IDTechEx expects that mobile charging will bring tremendous interests from the industry but will be a niche market in the coming decade.

Private charging will remain the dominant charging solution in the coming decade despite region disparities and the public charging sector is expected to grow rapidly to meet charging demand, especially in countries like China where many EV drivers don’t have access to private charging. On the other hand, EV fleets such as buses and trucks require very different charging infrastructure from the existing one built for passenger cars. The rising population of electric vehicle fleets represents huge opportunities for developing dedicated charging infrastructure for electric buses and trucks. It is worth noting that although electric fleet charging represents less than 5% of the total charging infrastructure in volume, it constitutes over 30% of the total market value of the charging industry.

IDTechEx’s latest report “Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030” provides a comprehensive overview of the state of EV charging infrastructure deployments by key regions including China, Europe and the USA. The penetration rate of both private and public charging infrastructure in each region and the market share of key players are presented. It covers a detailed analysis of major charging infrastructure types including conductive charging, wireless charging and alternative solutions such as battery swapping. Under the various charging infrastructure, a detailed analysis of key EV charging technologies such as fast charging, inductive and capacitive charging, robotic and autonomous charging, off-grid charging, mobile charging and vehicle-to-home/grid (V2H/V2G) are presented.

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