The Impending Electric Vehicle Market: Is Now the Time?

Report Highlights

• The battery powered electric vehicle market is slowly developing while the hybrid electric vehicle market could move ahead more rapidly. Fuel cell vehicles, however, are in the prototype state and will not be a significant part of this discussion. An important objective, therefore, is to identify what is the most likely and seemingly most appropriate technology for each classification of vehicle.
• The big winners at the present time are the small electric vehicles. These make up about 86% of the electric vehicle market at the present time. In the near term, or within the 5-year horizon, these small vehicles will find that they make up about 42% of the total electric vehicle market. The HEV is just making its appearance on the low/no emissions scene, but in 5 years will represent about 49% of the EV genre of vehicle.

INTRODUCTION

This opportunity study is focused on the analysis of the electric vehicle (EV) industry in the U.S. This multi-billion dollar industry is developing a fast growing niche in global industry. This report looks at the distinct sectors that include the large EVs such as buses, the much-hyped automotive passenger/fleet sector, and the world of the small EVs such as golf carts and forklifts. Identified as a practical solution to many of the technological problems are the hybrid vehicles that combine internal combustion engines with alternative battery power.

The battery powered electric vehicle market is slowly developing while the hybrid electric vehicle market could move ahead more rapidly. Fuel cell vehicles, however, are in the prototype state and will not be a significant part of this discussion. An important objective, therefore, is to identify what is the most likely and seemingly most appropriate technology for each classification of vehicle.

SCOPE OF STUDY

This BCC Research opportunity study examines the large-scale electric vehicles, the automotive EVs, the hybrid vehicles, and the small device EVs, and looks at the major technologies for electric vehicles. The report is a guide to the present and near-term (2005) electric vehicle market and identifies the rolls of more than 200 companies.

METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES

Companies were contacted by letter, e-mail, or telephone in order to gain insights and opinions. The Communications Co., Inc. monthly newsletter, Battery and EV Technology, was available as an archived monthly resource to the and technology of electric vehicles. Those world wide web (www) pages and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports--where relevant--were examined.

Data was obtained from extensive reviews of secondary sources such as trade publications, trade associations, company literature, and available on-line databases. This was done to supplement an understanding of applications, markets, and trends in the electric vehicle industry. All dollar projections presented in this report are in terms of year 2000 constant dollars.

INFORMATION SOURCES

The information sources for this study include extensive online research, patent literature, worldwide technical journals and magazines, and interviews with principals in the industry.