Dive Brief:
- Executives from French utility EDF gave a strategy presentation this week, saying it is experiencing rapid growth in its electric vehicle charging business, Reuters reported.
- EDF's electric vehicle business Sodetrel has seen revenues rise 50% annually over the past three years, and it now has about 4,000 charging ports across the country, most available to the public.
- The electric industry is focused on growing EV adoption globally. In the United States, Edison Electric Institute and the Institute for Electric Innovation predict 7 million of the zero-emissions vehicles will be on the road by 2025—up from 567,000 at the end of 2016.
Dive Insight:
Just as in the United States, utilities in Europe are working to expand charging options for electric vehicle drivers. And Reuters reports Sodetrel’s Corri-Door fast-charging network has seen activity triple in the last year.
Individual charges rose to 3,000 in August, compared to just 1,000 the year before. Fast-charge stations on the Corri-Door network are located at 50-mile intervals and can recharge a vehicle in 30 minutes or less. The company has 200 of the 50 kV stations.
In the United States, EV sales could make up 7% of all vehicle sales by 2025, according to the EEI report. The vehicles could make up 3% of all cars and light duty trucks in the United States, by that time.
The report also concluded that about 5 million charge ports will be required to support those vehicles. Utilities are looking at the vehicles as a new source of demand and grid control, and possibly new revenues from charging infrastructure. Another recent report, from the Smart Electric Power Alliance, “Utilities and Electric Vehicles; The Case For Managed Charging,” has urged utilities to control charging so that it coincides with grid needs instead of becoming a stressor a peak times.
EVs on the road in the U.S. today represent 1 TWh of consumption, but could grow to 551 TWh by 2040, according to SEPA.
