According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in order to achieve the challenging targets for reducing climate-altering CO2 emissions, eliminating the impact by 2030, it will be necessary for 60% of car sales to be completely electric (BEV): this will imply a significant change in the market forecasts made until now and, therefore, a considerable increase in the demand for batteries but also of components (electric or not) dedicated to the architecture of the entire vehicle.
Until now the real productive capacity of the so-called giga-factory has never reached the expected levels, for various reasons. It is feared, therefore, that the proposed 80 battery-producing factories in Europe will not reach the expected production in 2036.
The European electric and electrified vehicles market has experienced surprising growth rates so far, also due to a very uncertain traditional market: many buyers are shifting to the acquisition of electrified vehicles that will increasingly benefit from exemptions from city access limits and blockages of traffic, especially during periods of high pollution.
The risk that the supply of batteries becomes, in the next few years, a bottleneck in the production of electric and electrified vehicles is real, but the entire industry supply and sub-supply chain of new complementary components needs to adapt in time, with the development of advanced 48V, 400V and 800V solutions, just to give some examples. With the increase in new market opportunities, it will be necessary to develop advanced technologies rapidly, also with reference to validation and introduction onto the market.
New solutions will also be necessary for improving the performances and the autonomy of electric vehicles, not only directly with electric components dedicated to traction and the batteries, but also with regards to parallel developments of components to make the vehicles ever lighter, and therefore more efficient and high-performing.
It’s important to take into consideration a sector underpinning the further development of the electric and plug-in vehicles market: equipment and components for charging infrastructures. All the parties dedicated to the refuelling of stationary vehicles traditionally belonged to the Oil & Gas sector, that is, with little complementarity with the automotive sector. Today the recharging infrastructure sub-sector, extremely important for electric mobility, forms increasingly part of the expanded automotive sector: the number of charging stations will have to grow exponentially, because they will have to be present in almost every garage or car park, also private; their intrinsic technology will, however, also have to grow hand in hand, with new battery technologies making them faster, more intelligent and adapted to the evolved demand. The possibility of recharging services sold together with the vehicle, adding further value and possible business to the vehicle sales sector, also appears to be a very interesting prospect. A sector that will need to adapt, with considerable development opportunities, is that of design studios specialised in service and recharging stations, which will have to create appropriate lay-outs to further improve the efficiency and management of spaces, also possibly incorporating photovoltaic energy roofs.
GLOSSARY
BEV – a completely battery-operated electric vehicle (BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle).