The rapidly growing adoption of EVs and the use of information technology (IT) and communications systems to manage and network the majority of EV service equipment, will drive the investment in EV IT systems to reach a total of $5.1bn by 2015, according to a Pike Research report.
Pike Research’s report, ‘Electric Vehicle Information Technology Systems’ forecasts that EV IT systems will enable a coordinated response to changing grid conditions to support the increased power demand that will result from customers plugging in to recharge their EVs.
According to the report, a variety of companies will be active in the EV IT sector including automakers, EV supply equipments vendors, smart grid integration providers, energy services companies, systems integrators, and utilities themselves.
However, a lack of standards for storing data and sharing information between utilities and external systems through interoperability with grid equipment will slow down the implementation of EV IT systems.
EPA senior analyst John Gartner said that electric vehicle IT systems are necessary since utilities will face an immediate impact from EV charging on their localized power distribution equipment.
“During the early part of the decade, EV charging will not interfere with utilities’ overall ability to keep up with total electricity demand, but certain neighborhood transformers and other distribution assets could be quickly overwhelmed in areas with rapid EV adoption,” Gartner said.