Electric companies, partner stakeholders must support burgeoning EV market, EEI-IEI report says
The more than 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) already on American roadways this year is expected to swell beyond 18.5 million in just over a decade, according to Friday’s newly released report “Electric Vehicle Sales Forecast and the Charging Infrastructure Required Through 2030” from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Institute for Electric Innovation (IEI).
That kind of growth means numerous stakeholders, in particular electric companies, will need to align their collective expertise to quickly deploy charging infrastructure that can meet the ongoing demand, wrote report authors Adam Cooper, senior director of research and strategy at The Edison Foundation’s IEI, and Kellen Schefter, manager of sustainable technology at EEI.
“With more than 18 million EVs anticipated to be on the road in the United States by 2030 and with every EV owner expecting to be able to charge his or her car at home, on the street, at the office, at shopping locations, or along major highways, targeted deployment of charging infrastructure and coordinated collaboration among all stakeholders are required,” the authors wrote.
And don’t blink. The report predicted that the next 1 million EVs will be on U.S. roads by early 2021.
“The future of electric transportation is evolving rapidly,” EEI President Tom Kuhn said in a statement released ahead of EEI’s event this morning in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 1 million EV milestone.
“America’s electric companies are leading efforts to promote electric vehicles and are developing the charging infrastructure we need to support more than 18 million EVs in 2030,” or about 7 percent of the 259 million cars and light trucks that will be on the roads in that year, Kuhn said.
EEI represents all of the nation’s investor-owned electric companies, which Kuhn said have invested more than $1 billion in customer programs and projects to deploy charging infrastructure and hasten electric transportation. “And we fully expect that number to continue to rise,” he added.
Around 9.6 million charge ports will be required to support 18.7 million EVs in 2030, representing a significant investment in EV charging infrastructure, according to the report. While the majority of EV charging currently occurs at home, more charging infrastructure in workplaces and other public settings will be needed in the future.
The authors noted that electrifying transportation offers myriad benefits, including increased efficiency, improved sustainability, economic growth, and energy security, to name a few.
In fact, “electric company participation in the development of EV charging infrastructure supports state-level clean energy and transportation goals, expands customer choice, and helps to scale and ensure the availability of needed EV charging infrastructure to support the growing number of EVs on U.S. roads,” the authors conclude in the new report.
The need for more charging infrastructure will be supported by increasing annual sales of EVs that are projected to exceed 3.5 million vehicles in 2030, surpassing over 20 percent of annual vehicle sales in 2030, the report said.
Already, automakers are responding to customer demand via the development of more EV models, including both plug-in hybrids and battery-powered EVs, both of which continue to become increasingly cost-competitive with internal combustion engines.
And compared to the prior forecast released by EEI and IEI in 2017, the authors updated their prediction and said EV sales will hit 1.4 million in 2025 versus 1.2 million.
The EEI celebration event on Friday will bring together electric company leaders, infrastructure providers, automakers, environmental organizations, customers, policymakers, and others, according to the organization.
The event’s keynote address is being given by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), the top Democrat on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee.
About 20 other speakers from across the EV industry are scheduled to discuss related topics during the EEI event, including the electric company role; how automakers are moving the EV market forward; transit, technology and transportation infrastructure; the role of policymakers, regulators and environmental groups; fleet electrification; and industry initiatives to support EV deployment.
“The 1 million EV milestone could not have been reached without partnerships and collaboration among all stakeholders including electric companies, automakers, environmental organizations, infrastructure providers, regulators, and policymakers,” said Kuhn.
