Study says EVs to be a $300 billion business by 2020

PRTM, a global management consulting firm, today released new figures that show the worldwide electric battery-electric vehicle value chain is likely to be approximately $300B by 2020-creating more than 1 million related jobs. The US will probably account for only 125,000 of those new jobs. According to PRTM, these jobs will be created across the EV value chain at energy providers, smart grid technology firms, battery and component suppliers, vehicle OEMs and service providers.

An additional 100,000 to 150,000 jobs could be created in the US by 2020 if more concerted and aggressive efforts, as proposed in the recently released "Electrification Roadmap", developed by the Electrification Coalition with input and analysis by PRTM, are implemented. These new jobs will be in electric power utilities, smart grid transmission/distribution systems, and components for electric vehicles such as advanced batteries, electric motors and the manufacture and service of EVs, according to the PRTM analysis.

"The anticipated measures relating to electric vehicles will clearly fuel jobs growth in the US and abroad over the next decade" said Oliver Hazimeh, Director at PRTM and head of the firm's global E-Mobility Practice. "If the measures proposed in the recently announced Electrification Roadmap are adopted, job creation could rise significantly over the more conservative estimates. Job-creation in the US and abroad is clearly essential to economic recovery, and public/private partnerships across the EV value chain will assist in creating these new jobs. Many of them will be desirable, high tech jobs."

"Moreover, we believe that the worldwide tipping point in EV acceptance, whereby EVs become the dominant direction in the auto sector, will likely occur in the next few years. This means that the EV industry will probably serve as an accelerator for the scaling of the entire CleanTech sector worldwide, given the inherent size of the automotive industry," added Hazimeh.

The Electrification Coalition released the Electrification Roadmap¸ a sweeping report detailing the dangers of oil dependence, explaining the benefits of electrification, describing the challenges facing electric cars, and providing specific policy proposals to overcome those challenges, on November 16, in Washington DC. PRTM provided market analysis and technical input for the Roadmap, including detailed modeling on vehicle costs.

The Electrification Roadmap presents a bold and specific vision: By 2040, 75 percent of light-duty vehicle miles traveled in the United States should be electric miles. As a result, oil consumption in the light-duty fleet would be reduced by more than 75 percent, and U.S. crude oil imports could effectively be reduced to zero.

Among its many policy recommendations, the Roadmap proposes the creation of electrification 'ecosystems,' geographic areas in which all of the elements of an electrified transportation system are deployed, thus providing a crucial first step toward moving electrification beyond a niche product into a dominant, compelling, and ubiquitous concept. The Electrification Roadmap can be found at www.electrificationcoalition.com and www.prtm.com.

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