Once considered an inconsequential niche in the automotive market, electric vehicles are becoming more widespread. And it’s not just all the new plug-in options available today — EV batteries and charging stations are also proliferating around the globe. To that end, some tell-tale charts (recently published via Statista) demonstrate the trajectory of the electric vehicle movement and who might be best positioned to win the EV race in the coming years.
Statista reports, “For many years, drivers thinking about switching to an electric car have had very limited choices … in recent years, however, with the growing acceptance of electric cars, more and more manufacturers decided to enter the EV market.” That said, “Tesla, one of the very early movers in the market, is still the best-selling EV brand in the United States.”
To power these electric cars, battery production needs to increase at a rapid rate. Deutsche Welle reports, “The future of Europe’s carmakers depends on reliable supplies of cheap lithium-ion cells … [and] at least seven big new ‘Gigafactory’-scale battery pack production plants are planned for Europe.” While European automakers mull over plans, Tesla has leapfrogged the industry with its Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. As a result, Tesla’s partner Panasonic maintains the lion’s share (see below) of the market for lithium-ion batteries.
Electric vehicle charging points, another key signifier, also show substantial growth over the past decade. Statista reports, “Tesla Model X and S cars have become increasingly common on U.S. roads, as have a multitude of other electric cars such as the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. [In turn] the number of outlets has also grown as the technology has matured with 47,000 of them now scattered across the country, including 6,270 fast charging outlets.”
To put this into perspective, InsideEVs notes, “The number of charging points in the U.S. increased in 2017 by about 17.5% … which is more than 100 times [what it was] back in 2008.” However, the future looks to be DC fast charging outlets. And in the U.S., the fastest growth of charging points in this category comes from Tesla’s Superchargers (45%) versus CHAdeMO (30%) and CCS (23%).
