Overview of the Nordic Electric Vehicle Market

Transcription

1 Executive summary In total, the Nordic countries make out approximately 26 million people out of the more than 7 billion people now inhabiting the world. As the calendar turned from 2012 to 2013 around 13,000 out of these 26 million could call themselves electric vehicle owners. Out of these, the vast majority (about 10,000) were driving around in Norway while only 21 EVs were out on the Icelandic roads. In between you have Denmark and Sweden who were both situated near the 1,500 mark whereas Finland could amass about a sixth of that. In 2013, the numbers are continuing to increase in Norway while Sweden looks on course to settle in second position as the Danish market has stagnated a bit. Finland and Iceland still lack further behind. So what makes the Nordic electric vehicle market so interesting and why is e.g. Norway leading the pack not only in the Nordic countries but worldwide when counting per capita? Besides simply looking at the figures and the electric car models being sold, this report also examines the national regulations and legislations related to a sustainable transport sector and thus including electric vehicles. What goes to show is that politically created incentives whether economic or of convenience play a huge part in this early technology adaptation phase. In Norway, the incentives are many whereas e.g. the Finnish customers will not find much assistance from the government. What part does the infrastructure play then? This is often paid a lot of attention, but numerous Nordic and international demonstration projects have already shown that public infrastructure is in fact not used that often, as people prefer to recharge from home. However this report does show that most charging opportunities are present in or near the larger urban areas, which is incidentally also where far most of the electric vehicles are deployed, whether in Norway or any other of the Nordic countries. There does in other words seem to be a correlation between the spread of the two, but what comes first is hard to tell. Overview of the Nordic Electric Vehicle Market does not stop there, however. When discussing the electric vehicle market the industry in itself is also of interest; what national industries and what development opportunities both in terms of projects and the funding thereof exist? What shows 2

2 is that each of the Nordic countries possesses specific skills within relatable industries that could in turn make them an important player within the steadily growing e-mobility industry. For example, Finland is very strong within electric propulsion systems and ICT, while Sweden already has vast experience within the automotive sector and is also strong in research and ICT. In Denmark, a lot of R&D project work within the area is happening as the funding is readily available and there is a great focus on collaborations. This all boils down to the fact that even though 26 million might not sound of much out of a total population of 7 billion the outlook for the e-mobility market in the Nordic countries is actually quite good. Given the current status presented here in the report, it is obviously currently more so the case in some countries than in others, but each has its own e-mobility potential. Norway is naturally the closest thing to an actually established EV market with e.g. the Nissan LEAF being the fourth most sold car during 2013 as of the end of October, but others have the national industry to push their development forward. Take a look for yourself and see what is going on in each of the Nordic countries within e-mobility. Executive summary Denmark Denmark has a very entrepreneurial e-mobility industry that is growing and working its way onto the global market. What is very characteristic of the Danish industry is the fact that this growth is not simply taking place in independent silos but very much in collaboration with one another. Thus, industry networks and/or organisations such as the Danish Electric Vehicle Alliance and the Insero E-Mobility EV business cluster are both examples of organisational frameworks put in place in order to make respectively the national electric vehicle market and industry grow. And while only a smaller number of these companies currently have e-mobility as their prime focus, a lot of them have seen the potential therein and are expanding their existing businesses to become a part of the future e-mobility market. In terms of the actual market, Denmark is yet to experience a large deployment of electric vehicles. Currently, public and private fleet owners are the ones mainly purchasing electric cars while the private Dane has been more reluctant. This could be due to pricings, but also a perceived range anxiety. However, several private operators are working to install the public charging infrastructure to help outweigh this fear and concurrently with the upcoming roll out of various new and improved electric car models from popular brands in Denmark such as BMW and Volkswagen, hopes are still high. Also the political will seems to still be there to make EVs a part of the transformation of the transport sector towards becoming less reliant on fossil fuels. Executive summary Norway Norway is perhaps the most talked about country concerning electric vehicles. The reason being, that the Nordic country has been and still is experiencing impressive sales figures and real market growth. In actual fact, Norway is the country with most electric vehicles on the roads when counting per capita. While many reasons could be given for this fact, the main one seems to be the 3

3 many incentives put in place for EV owners from a political side. Thus, electric vehicles are not only exempt from e.g. tax, VAT and road tolls but are also allowed the convenience of getting to drive in the much less occupied bus lanes. It is this combination of financial and convenience incentives that is seen as the main reason for Norway s success within EVs. And the mentioned examples are not even all of the benefits! Having reached the 10,000 milestone by the end of 2012, Norway is now aiming straight for the 20,000 milestone, which will likely be passed at some point in early 2014 given the fact that about 17,000 are estimated to be on the Norwegian roads by the end of October Being this worldwide leader within electric vehicle implementation obviously makes the Norwegian market and its drivers a focal point in itself, but related to the market development more and more e-mobility business initiatives are also occurring. Thus, Norway remains one of the world s most important countries to follow within e-mobility. Executive summary Finland With 237 electric vehicles out on the Finnish roads by the end of 2012, the country does not comprise much of an electric vehicle market yet. There could be several reasons for the lack of any real EV market penetration, but the fact that there are no real incentives other than being allowed to pay the lowest CO2 emission based registration tax does not help encourage the uptake. Further, it is not enough to really negate what is still a very high purchase fee. In fact the general expensiveness of cars in Finland means that that many old cars remain in operation. However, if we turn our focus towards the market in terms of the Finnish industry and how this could play a part within e-mobility the matter becomes different. Thus, Finland already possesses a lot of strong and skilful companies working with e.g. electric propulsion systems. Though this is often in relation to heavy transportation or machinery, many of the functionalities and much of the learning and knowledge gained could be transferable to electric vehicles. In addition to that, Finland also has vast expertise within information and communication technologies (ICT) stemming back from the Nokia heyday but since then built on and refined by various smaller companies. ICT is a natural ingredient in the development of new intelligent transport systems of which the electric vehicles are very much a part, which could again mean an important role for Finnish companies focusing on and willing to take the leap into e.g. e-mobility related territory. Executive summary Sweden Out of all the Nordic countries, Sweden is by far the one currently best positioned within the automotive industry. While the e-mobility industry cannot strictly be seen as a sub-industry of the overall automotive industry (it also very much involves the energy sector and the area of ICT), this does provide Sweden with some interesting advantages in terms of becoming an important part of the global e-mobility industry. As one of the largest industries in the world, the automotive industry can be difficult to enter for newcomers without the right know-how and connections, but Sweden has got companies such as Volvo, Scania and the now reappeared Saab (under the moniker of NEVS). Having established players within the industry can also work wonders for national sub- 4

4 suppliers, which has e.g. been seen in Denmark with the windmill company Vestas and the many smaller companies supplying various materials to the company. Therein lies an interesting potential for Sweden, which is further a country rich on ICT and research skills. In relation to the Swedish market, it slowly seems to be picking up a bit of pace and especially the plug-in hybrid vehicles are doing relatively well compared to e.g. the Danish and Norwegian markets. Sweden has got an ambitious target to have a fossil free vehicle stock before 2030, and this political will translates into regional political levels as well, as e.g. the capital city of Stockholm is working very focused on a long-term project concerning clean vehicles. Electric vehicles are not expected to form the entire solution in either case but are seen as a natural part of the overall solution to achieve these respective targets. Executive summary Iceland Iceland is the smallest Nordic country in terms of population and also currently, and unsurprisingly, in actual e-mobility market size. With only 21 EVs driving around in Iceland by the end of 2012 the market is actually almost non-existent. However, there does seems to be a bit of a positive tendency lately with the 2013 numbers as of November showing more than a tripling of the total number. Also, there are initiatives going on to enhance the charging infrastructure, which is currently almost non-existent too with only five public level II chargers available as of June Such initiatives are hoped to help increase the EV uptake further in the near future. And Iceland is potentially a very interesting e-mobility market in the sense that the island country contains unique, sustainable, and self-generated energy resources distributed to the consumers at very low prices compared to those in the other Nordic and European countries. The country could thus be a shining example of e-mobility implementation not only within cars but also e.g. small and medium sized maritime applications as the electricity used would definitely be green. 5

5 Table of contents 1 Foreword and structure List of abbreviations and terms Denmark an entrepreneurial e-mobility industry is growing National energy policy and renewable energy targets National legislation and regulation Market status User segments Charging infrastructure National industry R&D projects in Denmark Funding options in Denmark Outlook for e-mobility in Denmark Norway leading the way worldwide in implementation National energy policy and renewable energy targets National legislation and regulation Market status User segments Charging infrastructure National industry R&D projects in Norway Funding options in Norway Outlook for e-mobility in Norway Finland potentially an important e-mobility industry supplier National energy policy and renewable energy targets National legislation and regulation Market status User segments Charging infrastructure National industry R&D projects in Finland Funding options in Finland Outlook for e-mobility in Finland

6 6 Sweden a strong automotive industry and political will National energy policy and renewable energy targets National legislation and regulation Market status User segments Charging infrastructure National industry R&D projects in Sweden Funding options in Sweden Outlook for e-mobility in Sweden Iceland a small market with a large potential for sustainable mobility National energy policy and renewable energy targets National legislation and regulation Market status User segments Charging infrastructure National industry R&D projects in Iceland Funding options in Iceland Outlook for e-mobility in Iceland Who is Insero E-Mobility?