Demand For Electric Bus Charging Station Predicted to Surge in Asia-Pacific in Near Future

The electric bus charging station market will progress at a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period (2019–2025), on account of escalating demand for electric buses in public transit fleet, rising investment for the development of electric bus charging stations, and increasing support from the government for the improvement of electric bus charging infrastructure. These factors will increase the revenue size of the market from $6.6 billion in 2018 to $12.3 billion by 2025. The market is still at a nascent stage and largely dependent on government schemes and funding.

Governments across the world are deploying electric buses in transit services, public transport fleet, and military. Most of the decisions for purchasing these buses are made at the state or federal level. Numerous countries are committed toward increasing the share of electric buses in their transportation systems. Local governments across the globe are inducting electric vehicles (EVs) into their public or municipal transit fleets. For example, the city of Columbus plans to incorporate 200 EVs in its municipal fleet and develop numerous charging stations. Similarly, China is committed toward incorporating electric buses in its transportation system. 

Electric buses are charged at different types of charging stations that include inductive charging, depot charging, and opportunity charging. In recent years, the installation of depot charging stations has increased significantly, due to the increasing preference of private and public transport agencies toward overnight charging of buses, as they are similar to diesel buses in terms of operational characteristics. A few years ago, prices of batteries in overnight charging buses were more than the batteries in opportunity charging buses. But, in recent years, the cost of batteries of overnight charging buses has declined significantly, due to competition from the opportunity of charging buses.

The power segment of the electric bus charging station market is categorized into <50 kW, 50–150 kW, 151–450 kW, and >450 kW. Under this segment, the <50 kW category generated the maximum revenue in 2018, as the charging stations with <50 kW power range offer maximum output. Besides, lower cost of these charging stations in comparison to other stations has resulted in its increased installation. Furthermore, most of the electric bus fleet agencies rely on depot charging business model that usually have the output range of <50 kW. 

During the historical period (2017–2018), the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region led the electric bus charging station market, due to largescale adoption of electric buses in China. Moreover, the increasing support from the government has led to the installation of 500,000 new public charging stations in the country. According to P&S Intelligence, the North American market will exhibit the fastest growth in the forecast period, due to the wide-ranging government initiatives toward the advancement of e-mobility and escalating adoption rate of electric buses in the region.

Apart from the governments, automakers are also installing charging stations to strengthen the electric bus charging infrastructure. Besides, the hospitality industry is establishing charging stations for these buses to offer value-added services to their customers. Moreover, the large multinational corporations are also offering charging facilities as a part of employee welfare. All these sectors procure charging equipment and services from the market players like GH Energy Inc., Ekoenergetyka-Polska Sp. z o.o., Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing Inc., Qingdao TGOOD Electric Co. Ltd., China Potevio Co. Ltd., and JEMA Energy S.A.

Thus, the growing focus on e-mobility and spurring support from the governments are leading to the incorporation of electric buses, thereby, increasing the number of charging stations.