Market Insights #21
Welcome to our bi-weekly newsletter featuring 5 main news on e-mobility around the world. On this 21st edition, we've selected reports for our French readers from Commission de régulation de l'énergie and Avere-France ?? and another from European Union . We're talking about the EV sales race between Tesla and 比亚迪 and we're looking at national policies from European countries, on EV financial incentives and EVSE rollout, as well as China's V2G integration. We hope you enjoy reading us, let us know your thoughts in the comments!
2023 REPORTS
2024 trends in France and Europe: must-read reports
In the rapidly evolving landscape of electromobility, many reports have been published. We picked three reports targeting very diverse topics for 2024?:
Gireve’s view?: These reports offer a comprehensive overview of the current state and future directions in electromobility, highlighting best practices, challenges, and opportunities in infrastructure, policy, and pricing strategies. They are good reads for stakeholders looking to navigate and shape the future of electric mobility. This collectively highlights the critical areas of focus for Gireve: advancing digitalization in infrastructure, fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration, and continuously adapting to market trends and user needs. They reinforce the importance of our mission to streamline EV charging access and support the transition to a sustainable, electrically-powered mobility future.
?Source?: STF, CRE?; Avere-France
EV SALES
Tesla and BYD to lead EV sales in 2023
?In a landmark shift for the EV industry, Chinese manufacturer 比亚迪 outperformed Tesla in Q4 2023, leading in quarterly global sales with over 500,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Despite this, Tesla maintained the top spot for annual EV sales, delivering a record 1.8 million vehicles in 2023.
Gireve’s view: This shift reveals the growing competitiveness and evolution of the EV market. BYD's notable expansion, with 3.02 million vehicles produced (split between hybrids and BEVs), stems from its strong domestic presence, wide range of vehicles, in-house battery production, and appealing pricing. Tesla (selling only BEVs), on the other hand, has navigated production challenges and intense market rivalry. It has worked to increase its market share and attract new customers, particularly through price reductions and a 35% production boost. Meanwhile, this intense EV market rivalry is driving innovation and growth in electric mobility. However, it also shows the struggle of major European and Japanese automakers to keep up with competitive pricing, losing their hold in Europe and Asia. Unfortunately, this trend of market share loss by traditional manufacturers shows no immediate sign of reversing. At the same time, Tesla and BYD are actively expanding in Europe, including establishing factories.
领英推荐
NATIONAL EMOBILITY POLICIES
Shifting Subsidy Landscapes in European EV Markets: Italy boosts, Germany cuts
Italy is ramping up its electric vehicle (EV) incentives, proposing a €930 million scheme focused on low-income families.? Aiming to rejuvenate Italy's aging vehicle fleet and boost EV market share, the plan includes annual allocations of €650 million through 2024. Conversely, Germany abruptly ends its EV subsidy program due to a €60 billion budget shortfall following a constitutional court ruling. Since 2016, the program had allocated €10 billion for EVs. This cutback, effective immediately, casts doubt on Germany's 2030 goal for 15 million EVs. Responding, Stellantis and 大众 offer significant discounts to maintain market momentum for e-mobility.
Gireve’s view: This abrupt shift in Germany may stall the momentum gained by German automakers, despite countermeasures like Stellantis and Volkswagen Group's discounts. It underscores the volatile nature of policy-driven markets and the need for a more resilient and diversified strategy that is not solely reliant on government funding. While subsidies have been crucial in accelerating the uptake of EVs, the industry must evolve to survive without them, focusing on cost reduction, technological innovation, and the creation of a self-sustaining market that can continue to thrive on its own merits. This is the direction taken by a number of European OEMs, who are now developing vehicle models that are more mainstream and more affordable for buyers. On the other hand, manufacturers are seeing their margins squeezed on these more modest vehicles, and are faced with problems of cost optimization. For this reason, Carlos Tavares (CEO of Stellantis) announced in the summer of 2023 that it was impossible to relocate production of the e-208 to France.
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?UK misses highway EV charger installation targets
?The UK government fell short of its 2023 target to install six high-powered EV chargers at each motorway service area, achieving only 39% of its goal. Only 46 of 119 sites meet the six-charger goal; 18 have no chargers above 50kW. Progress includes 178 new high-powered chargers and 55% of sites with ultra-rapid chargers. Challenges include grid connection and limited competition.
?Gireve’s view?: This reveals the complexity of extending the EV infrastructure, with the main challenges being the limitations of grid connection and the lack of competitive dynamics in the market. Indeed, early CPOs monopolize hard-to-reach network capacity, limiting the arrival of new competitors. This monopolization could ultimately harm the consumer experience, as it hinders competition and the diversity of charging services on freeways. While the UK has seen a slowdown in EV adoption in 2023, this difficulty could present an additional barrier to the public, particularly for long-distance travel, for which the availability of recharging is crucial.
?Source?: Current News
?China’s push for Vehicle-to-Grid energy integration
China aims to integrate New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) into its power grid by 2030, focusing on developing standards for bidirectional charging and enhancing battery technology for longevity. Government initiatives, led by the NDRC, include pilot projects and support for battery exchange stations, like NIO蔚来 's, to bolster grid stability and efficient energy use.
?Gireve’s view: China's ambitious vehicle-to-grid (V2G) initiative reflects broader global trends, with many countries including Europe and the USA also exploring V2G technologies. The announced scale of implementation and specific features such as the focus on improving battery life could create an acceleration in V2G project developments worldwide. The current challenge, at the heart of companies and governments in various countries already exploring V2G, remains the standardization of the various V2G technologies.
?Source: Cnevpost