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However, the standards committees are concentrating on cables with contacts at the end, with Europe the laggard. The European Commission and European standards organizations hope for a common interface in general use by 2017. Quixotically, they hope their standards will become global despite the fact that North America, China and Japan are showing more urgency, already pushing for their standards to be adopted globally. Nonetheless, there are no agreed and adopted standards anywhere for the fastest "Level 3" form of charging  -- top request for public places. If Level 3 can be made safe and affordable, charging some EVs in ten minutes is possible if they have the right type of lithium-ion battery.  Fastest charging means expensive hardware and installation at present, often with a large lithium-ion battery and ultracapacitor bank in the charger. Copying the 40MW delivery of a gasoline station is not necessarily feasible, safe or affordable yet. The forecast of the 2015 split between options is shown below. Discrete Level 1 stations will be modest in number because so many EVs will be charged slowly using a regular domestic power socket, the inverter being in the vehicle itself.Percentage split in numbers of EV charging stations sold worldwide in 2015. Level 1:    6 percentLevel 2:  80 percentLevel 3:  14 percentSource IDTechEx report "Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure 2011-2021"

EV infrastructure roll-out is continuing at pace, but efforts at establishing universal standards for the industry is still playing catch-up

One factor that could limit the spread of EVSE, according to the report, is the great variety between countries in terms of regulations, government support for EVs and charging infrastructure, and technologies.  The absence of a single, region-wide alternating current EV charging connector standard has hampered the deployment of EV charging infrastructure.  The European Union must address these country-specific variations if the EV market is to thrive, the report finds

The past year has seen a major uptick in deployments of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).  This acceleration is a direct result of developments in the market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs): More than 135,000 PEVs will be sold globally in 2012, and growth is expected to continue at a steady pace.  According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the EVSE market will expand steadily, as well.  Unit sales of EVSE will rise from under 200,000 in 2012 to almost 2.4 million in 2020.  By 2020, the study concludes, 11.4 million EV charging stations will be in operation worldwide.

Wireless charging systems for electric vehicles (EVs) offer several advantages over conventional plug-in technology, foremost among them unparalleled convenience for EV owners.  Until recently, these systems were in the R&D and pilot stages only, but now products have begun to reach the market, and several major EV manufacturers have plans to offer models with wireless charging capability in the 2015-2016 timeframe. 

Based upon the strong demand for NWI EV cables, Northwire’s goal is to ensure that its Next Gen EV cables will be first on the market as soon as the UL charter is complete.

The acquisition is in line with ABB's strategy to expand its global offering of electric vehicle infrastructure solutions.

EV charging station unit sales are expected to multiply rapidly over the next five years, and reach 1.6 million units globally by 2015, according to Pike Research.