ChargEvolution

In the first 10 months of 2020 more than 1 million full electric (Battery Electric Vehicle) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles were sold in Europe (or 4.2% of the global market). In 2019 fewer than 600,000 (2.5% of the market) were sold. If we look at the sales of BEV vehicles alone, they exceed the half a million threshold (354,000 in 2019), with a market increase of +43%.

The latest analysis of trends carried out by Pwc Strategy& in four European countries (Italy, Germany, France and Spain) shows that the European electric mobility market represents 22% of global sales and the trend over the next few years predicts a significant growth of BEV and PHEV, reaching 8% of the total sales of cars at the end of 2023 in the main countries.

It is estimated that the channel of company fleets, which should be about 60% of registrations of electric cars, may be the force driving this growth. More than half of private owners have however declared an interest in buying an electric car within the next two years (within five years the percentage of interested people rises to more than 70%).

With the ever growing spread of electric cars, the extension of the charging infrastructure network follows suit: at the end of 2019 there were 860,000 public charging points in the world (+59% compared to 2018), while those in Europe made up about a quarter, 210,000 (+38%), 9,100 (+170% compared to 2018) of which were in Italy.

Again in 2019 there were instead 6.5 million private charging points in the world, 7.5 times the number of public or public use charging points. In Italy there were 17,000 – 20,000, about 8,000 of which were installed just in 2019 (+90% more than 2018 and +80% for wallbox). More than half were in Northern Italy, 65 – 75% in homes. The remainder were in companies.

If one observes the penetration of 2020 electric mobility in Europe, in terms of public charging points and electric vehicles circulating per 100,000 inhabitants, the scenario is very uneven: at one extreme Norway, with more than 250 charging points and 6,000 electric cars per 100,000 inhabitants, and at the other Spain and Italy, with 15 charging points and 100 cars. A very large market growth potential!

We should not forget how important it is to find charging points in the hospitality sector – whether a hotel or a restaurant: an essential element which the customer plans before he switches on his electric car to go on a journey. The advantage of the installation of a charging column in a hotel or restaurant is that it can be seen on various search platforms, as well as in the green benefits dedicated to the customer.

In this global framework, private, commercial and company buildings and the hospitality sector can become the real protagonists in the swing towards more widespread electrical mobility, incorporating new functions such as charging stations which, becoming an integrated remotely-controlled system for all intents and purposes, are a chance to offer a green service with high added value.

With this in mind, the wise choice is to rely on a partner like Legrand, world specialist in electrical and digital infrastructures, to set up a complete Energy Efficiency programme, from optimised monitoring systems to improve processes and services, to columns to charge electric vehicles.