Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The same conundrum appears to be hitting the Electric Vehicle industry too. Where there is a clear demand for electric vehicles and much is being done to stimulate adoption of the technology; a lack of charging infrastructure and other services are preventing many from making the switch to an electric vehicle.
The technology exists and can easily be deployed, however, in many jurisdictions leadership of a rollout is lacking with no clear structure in place to foster the development. Private parties are seeking the best return on investment, whereas policy makers are setting targets but not following through with the measures or funding for implementation.
There is a tremendous amount of capital and demand for the technology, however, there is still a gap between the desire and realization. On a standalone basis, transportation infrastructure is not sustainable; therefore, a shift in thinking is necessary to include the fringe benefits in a risk/benefit analysis and incorporate the costs of non-adoption into the equation.
To elevate the attractiveness of electric vehicles and even generate income to help fund and promote alternative transport options and other social benefits, municipalities and local governments must fully leverage the assets they already own. Monetizing new technology and even the data that can be obtained from EV charging infrastructure would allow asset owners to gain additional revenue from the sale of electricity on top of parking fees.
In the EV industry, there is a role for governments to allow for the maximum social gain as well as monetary benefit that can be achieved with this new technology. Private industry (though stimulated by governments) is supplying the vehicles, but there’s still too much of a barrier for private industry to fully realize the entire network infrastructure that is needed to help the technology grow.