A new report from IDTechEx Research argues that the electric vehicle market is rapidly growing beyond the bounds of the current market segment, and that it will continue to grow at “breakneck speed” for at least the next decade.
The report goes as far as stating that a $500 billion market opportunity would be in existence by 2026 — as practically every portion of the transportation market was affected by electrification technologies.
The new report — “Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Trends, and Opportunities from 2016 to 2026” — predicts that, while the electric car market will continue expanding rapidly, the commercial/industrial electric vehicle sector will grow to obtain a larger share for the near future. As an example, the electric bus (PHEVs and EVs) sector is expected to grow to $72 billion by 2025.
“Batteries, super-capacitors, energy harvesting, wireless charging, power electronics and structural electronics are all evolving and breakthroughs are appearing more commonly in other vehicles such as boats and planes, before cars,” IDTechEX stated. “This is driving progress across the whole EV market and now many profitable niche markets are emerging just as there’s been a shake-up in the leading sectors.”
“The market for electric industrial vehicles is already large because, by law, forklifts have to be electric when used indoors,” the report stated. “Little growth remains in this market but outdoors almost all earthmoving and lifting vehicles use the conventional internal combustion engine. That is about to change dramatically because hybrid electric versions reduce cost of ownership and exposure to price hikes with fossil fuels. Hybrids increasingly perform better as well, with more power from stationary, ability to supply electricity to other equipment and other benefits including less noise and pollution.”
“The size and growth of the industrial and commercial sector is less dependent on government funding and tax breaks than the more fragile market for electric cars, particularly pure electric ones,” the report continued. “Excitingly, most of the electric vehicle technologies are changing and improving hugely and innovation often comes here before it is seen in the more publicised electric vehicle sectors such as cars.”