China Will Lead Electric Vehicle Sales in Asia Pacific by 2015

ZAP Jonway A380 EV SUV at 2010 Shanghai World Fair

Across the Asia Pacific region, various national-level initiatives and programs are underway to promote the awareness and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), including the establishment of aggressive goals, subsidies for EV purchasers, research and development support, tax incentives, and public education programs.  In certain markets, particularly Japan, these efforts have already borne fruit.  Market players in Japan and Korean, however, are concerned about new challengers, mainly driven by competition in China.  The Chinese EV market has critically important implications for global market participants.  According to a recent report from Pike Research, China will be the leading market for EVs in Asia Pacific by 2015. The cleantech market intelligence firm believes that the Chinese market will represent almost half of the region’s total sales by 2015.

“China, where around 55 vendors are developing electrified vehicles or launching EV development programs, will likely create and lead an entirely new category around clean transportation,” says senior analyst Andy Bae.  “The country will become one of the biggest consumer markets for EVs, and global industry players want to enter this market to tap the related opportunities.”

Pike Research says annual sales of plug-in vehicles in U.S. will hit 358,959 by 2017

Pike Research has put out an estimate saying that annual sales of plug-in vehicles in the United States will hit 358,959 by 2017. And they’re not all going to the usual suspects. Mostly, sure, but not all.

Since there is no national Level 2 (or faster) charging infrastructure the way there is a gasoline network, Pike compiled its data by geographic region and even broke down the numbers one city at a time. As Pike states:

As government officials and utility managers plan for the arrival of grid-connected vehicles, they need to understand where those vehicles are going to be located and what the impact could be.

Seems logical to us. So, where will all the plug-ins call home? Well, according to Pike, New York and California will lead the way at the state level. Looking at individual cities, Pike says New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Chicago will be the U.S.’ top five plug-in loving metropolitan areas. No big surprises there, but here’s a bit of a shocker: relative to population, Raleigh, NC will lead the nation in registered plug-ins by 2017.