Charging at Home by Electric Car Owners and Planners – a Growth Area for Energy Suppliers

Press Release – Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Bonn, December 11, 2019: A new EuPD Research analysis shows a significant relationship between owning or willingness to buy an electric car and a wallbox for charging at home. Thus, energy suppliers have an opportunity to position their electric mobility solutions to end consumers. The most innovative energy suppliers in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) will be honored at the Energiewende Awards 2020, presented by EuPD Research. This year’s focus will be on electric mobility.

Electric vehicles in Germany are still making do with a niche existence. Although the official statistics by the Federal Office of Motor Vehicles show a strong overall growth, only 4,979 cars or 1.7% of new registrations in October are actually electric vehicles. A major reason for the slow transition from combustion engines to electric drive is attributed to a lack of the charging infrastructure. Hence, the possibility of charging at home may be of special importance.

A recent analysis among electric vehicle owners and those with a purchase intention – conducted by Bonn-based market and economic research institute EuPD Research – shows a significant relationship between owning or willingness to buy electric vehicles and wallboxes. Therefore, half of the electric vehicle holders also own a wall box. The described correlation can also be seen among interviewees with a short-term or medium-term purchase intention. About 62% of the respondents planning to obtain an electric vehicle in the near future also plan to purchase a wallbox in the short-term. A similar development can be observed among interviewees with a medium-term buying intention: 44% plan to purchase an electric vehicle and wallbox at the same time.

Moreover, an installation of a wallbox often goes hand in hand with an installation of a photovoltaic system. Charging an electric vehicle with self-generated green electricity does not only make ecological sense, but is also meaningful in an economic sense with respect to steadily rising electricity prices of about 5% on average at the moment. Today, the electricity generation costs of a newly installed photovoltaic system on a private rooftop are about 10 eurocents per kilowatt hour. In comparison to household electricity, one's own electric car can be charged for about one third of the costs.

Energy suppliers are presented with numerous possibilities to participate in the growth of the new market segment beyond the conventional electricity distribution. EuPD Research analyses all energy suppliers in the DACH region in the course of the annual analysis for the Energiewende Award, for example their products and services for electric mobility.

Last year’s survey revealed that energy suppliers still show too little commitment with respect to the energy transition of transportation. This is particularly reflected in the numbers regarding the expansion of the charging infrastructure or the existence of electric mobility products of their own. Only one fifth of the German energy suppliers offer wallboxes in their product portfolio to their customers. Electric vehicle rates for charging electric cars on the go are only offered by 15% of the surveyed German energy suppliers. For energy suppliers with a long established end consumer access, the future market growth for electric mobility holds a huge potential.

For the fourth time, the most innovative energy suppliers are being honored with the Energiewende Award at the innovation platform “The smarter E Europe”. The award is addressed to committed energy suppliers that drive the Energiewende in the DACH region. Initiators of the project are the German CleanTech Institute (DCTI Deutsches CleanTech Institut), The smarter E Europe and EuPD Research. For the second year in a row, the Energiewende Award is once again supported by our partner Vaillant.

Further information about the Energiewende Award can be found here: www.energiewende-award.de .

If you have any questions please contact Saif Islam at +49 (0) 228 97143-20 or islam[at]energiewende-award.de.

You are using an outdated browser

The website cannot be viewed in this browser. Please open the website in an up-to-date browser such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.