Electric vehicle infrastructure manufacturing set to grow

While automakers are gearing up to put fully-electric vehicles on Canadian roads by 2012, those cars aren’t going to go far without the proper infrastructure to support them.

According to SBI Energy’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Manufacturing Study, the North American market is expected to grow from its 2009 level of $9 billion to $20 billion by 2014. This market will include electric vehicle charging stations, switching stations for rechargeable batteries, and an advanced electricity smart grid to monitor the ebb and flow of power for vehicle consumption.

Without this investment, the adoption of electric vehicles will be stagnated, according to the study, and it may be the factor global economies need to dig themselves out of the recent recession.

A lot of the government stimulus money in the U.S. is going towards electric vehicle infrastructure production efforts include manufacturing of rechargeable batteries, drive trains and charging stations required to operate the vehicles. Electric vehicle production itself is on track for global sales exceeding 1 million hybrids a year by 2013.

Europe, the current leader in electric vehicle infrastructure manufacturing production, is expected to maintain its stronghold through 2014. However, its global share will slip as North America and Asia gain ground, according to the study.

Electric vehicle sales depend upon the support of charging stations, batteries, and smart grid tie-in. Consumers will be won over by reliability, safety, and system convenience. The onus is on the cooperation of utilities to modify their established grids to adapt to the electricity demands of electric vehicles and their users.