During 2022, fuel prices increased very quickly, partly due to a number of macroeconomic reasons. In fact, the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic are still impacting fuel prices, with many oil refineries having reduced capacity due to a prior fall in demand.
Those significant events and other trends have created a demand for a growing variety of Electric Vehicles (EVs).
While EVs have existed for decades, they really became a viable option for more consumers during the past five years. However, although EVs are suitable for some buyer needs, their usability is constrained by the current availability of battery charging infrastructure.
EV Charging Market Development
According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenue from electric vehicle charging will exceed $300 billion globally by 2027 -- that's up from $66 billion in 2023.
Regardless, the Juniper analysis found that fragmentation in battery charging networks is restricting further EV adoption in some key markets across the globe.
Chargers are overwhelmingly located in urban areas, leading to widespread travel range anxiety among potential drivers. This is coupled with the difficulty of accessing charging points via different apps and cards, as well as the lack of standards for charging vehicles at the same rate.
As such, EV charging networks must simplify access and work with local government authorities to deploy charging stations to a wider range of locations, or the EV market will struggle to accelerate.
The research assessed leading EV charging vendors and evaluated them on a number of criteria, including depth and breadth of offerings, innovation, and future prospects -- providing an extensive analysis of the competitive landscape in this dynamic market.
According to the latest Juniper market assessment, their competitor comparison ranked the three leading vendors as follows: 1. Siemens, 2. ChargePoint and 3. ABB.
"Siemens demonstrates an intricate knowledge of the market; targeting currently underserved segments, particularly public transport and fleets.," said Jordan Rookes, research analyst at Juniper Research.
Juniper analysts believe that competing vendors must diversify their portfolio away from just home and public chargers, and start targeting alternative high-growth market segments to maximize their market share.
The research findings also predict that by 2027, the total number of plug-in vehicles will surpass 137 million globally -- that's up from 49 million in 2023.
Outlook for EV Charging Station Growth
As this adoption grows, charging vendors must differentiate their services in a highly fragmented market. Therefore, it's important for EV charging vendors to target consumer buyers as early as possible to build brand loyalty.
Juniper analysts suggest that savvy vendors must develop strategic partnerships with EV manufacturers, offering benefits such as discounted rates to encourage owners of certain brands to use their charging stations -- potentially enabling some EV charging vendors to be competitive in this emerging market.
That said, even though some forward-thinking government initiatives will also help to increase the number of home charging stations -- such as the UK mandating that new homes are built with EV chargers -- overall investment and deployment of battery charging infrastructure continues at a slow pace.