Report: Electric Vehicle Adoption to Overtake Conventional Vehicles by 2040

Poised to grow to 10 million in 2025 and surpass conventional vehicles by 2040, electric vehicles (EVs) will create a $2 trillion eMobility opportunity for utility companies, according to new research from Accenture Strategy.

The “Utilities: Lead the Charge in eMobility” report found that utilities stand to make significant competitive gains by bundling services for EV owners. Besides a $1.7 trillion opportunity from providing low-margin electricity for EVs, utilities can add $250 billion of higher-margin new eMobility services such as remote charging apps, integrated home-EV energy management, payment processing and even financing for EV purchases, according to the report. By combining these services on a single platform, utilities can optimize system performance and help improve the overall EV customer experience.

“Companies that can help make EV ownership easy and affordable for consumers will accelerate adoption and improve competitiveness across their industries. This is particularly important as consumers increasingly make purchasing decisions based on a company’s purpose and their commitment to important principles such as improving the environment,” said Bruno Berthon, senior managing director and global utilities lead for Accenture Strategy.“Utilities are uniquely positioned to play a significant role in the eMobility market by providing differentiated and meaningful customer experiences, while making critical ecosystem partnerships.”

According to companion research conducted by Accenture Strategy with 6,000 consumers around the world, environmental reasons are the main purchasing driver of EVs today, followed by the cost-saving opportunities they offer. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of future EV owners would switch to an EV to save money in the long term. However, while battery technology continues to advance and new leasing options arise, purchasing costs of EVs and access to charging — such as domestic energy systems or public charging stations — remain a barrier to ownership. For example, more than 80% of consumers who intend to be future EV owners plan to charge their vehicles primarily from their homes, but only 55% have their own garage.

According to the report, utilities can capitalize on this opportunity if they take key actions that will accelerate EV adoption and claim their industry role as the market driver, including:

1. Help Customers Make Right Choices: With the trust of their customers and the trove of customer insights they have access to — from consumption patterns to payment preferences and home-charging abilities — utilities are well placed to help customers make the right choices as they switch to EV ownership.
2. Create hyper-relevance through ecosystems: Creating ecosystem partnerships will be critical to establishing a platform approach for bundling highly relevant offerings that will enhance the customer experience. Utilities can select complementary partners that will boost the customer value proposition — from car manufacturers and dealers to fleet operators, charge point operators, ride-sharing companies and parking space owners. With the right incentives, joint offerings will benefit EV owners and multiply value to all ecosystem partners.
3. Outpace the competition: Leveraging real-time customer insights to rapidly improve or iterate customer services and experiences will be key to outmaneuvering the competition. Utilities should strategically invest in a portfolio of services aimed at simplifying ownership experiences and removing barriers to adoption.

The 4th Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 13 – 15, 2019 in Denver. Learn more here.