Contractors Big Winners In Transition to EV

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The transition to Electric Vehicles is happening faster than we think and the big winners will be electrical contractors.

The scale of what is possible is truly beyond what we might imagine. Well, imagine no more - the transition to Electric Vehicles is here, it’s happening faster than we think and the big winners will be electrical contractors.
 
Most industries which have been around a long time are facing the “D” word – disruption. New technology eating up their market share. It’s here that the electrical trade is unique. Not only is it a well-respected and established trade – it is on the precipice of tremendous growth as we enter the all-electric economy.

The scale of what is possible is truly beyond what we might imagine. Well, imagine no more - the transition to Electric Vehicles is here, it’s happening faster than we think and the big winners will be electrical contractors. How big I hear you ask? Huge, at least $40 billion worth of business before the end of this decade. You probably already guessed this, but the big opportunity for electrical contractors is the charger installs. Australia currently has more than 20 million cars registered for the roads. Experts in the field reckon we need at least two chargers for every car. Almost everywhere a car can be parked, we should expect to see an EV charger. But even if we only had one per car, this opportunity is very significant. EV chargers alone represent a $40 billion install opportunity for electrical contractors at a price of $2,000 per EV charger. And the time to start pushing is now.

It’s true, the current market share of new car sales being electric in Australia is tiny. In 2021 only 2% new car sales were electric. But it is the growth rate of these vehicles which is about to change everything. For the past seven years in a row, sales of electric cars have more than doubled in Australia. If this rate continues (and it is likely to actually increase as their prices drop below traditional internal combustion engines), then the majority of new cars sold will be electric by the year 2027.

Your next car or work van will probably be electric, and should certainly be electric if you want to be able to sell it on the second-hand market. This is a really important factor in the transition to Electric Vehicles. Many people will go EV simple because they don’t want to get caught with a second hand car they can’t sell.

Consumers love electric cars because they are faster, cleaner and quieter. But they aren’t just getting cheaper to buy, they are much cheaper to run. With the cost of petrol at around $2 a litre, electric cars are anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 cheaper to run a year. But it’s not just the cost of fuel, they have 90% less moving parts and require far less service and maintenance. If we add to this the revolution which is occurring with renewable energy, charging your electric car won’t just be cheaper than filling it up, it will actually be free. Our homes will become a micro power plant which generates and stores all our energy needs in our local battery. Sounds fanciful, but you’ll remember this article ten years from now as you reminisce about the time when we actually had to pay for electricity. Just like we used to pay for music and a lot of other content. Energy will end up being a zero marginal cost product - and only have one set of one-off set up costs.

There isn’t a car manufacturer in the world who hasn’t committed to going all electrical – it isn’t just Tesla. This year, Ford launched its F150 Lightening Electric pick-up truck and sold 200,000 on pre-order. This shift is real and Electrical contractors need to start taking advantage of it now.

So, what do we have to do next?
The first step is to move up the learning curve - the good news is that Middy’s has a course to get you up to speed on the best EV solutions for the home, retail and industrial applications. Once you’re up and running, it’s time to start selling in the opportunity. 

Every time you’re doing a residential or commercial install it makes sense to get an electric car charger in now, for the next few years, even for people without an EV. Tell them what we just told you, and that it adds value to the property for re-sale, rental and attracting customers in retail. It also positions the property as leaning into the future.



"A simple idea is to do what McDonald's do and ask 'Do you want fries with that?' Except this time it isn’t fries you’re selling – it’s an EV charger." - Steve Sammartino, Australia's leading futurist & part of Middy's Innovation Committee
 
But it’s not just residential opportunities. Think shopping centres, apartment buildings, city centres and car park operators. There has never been a bigger opportunity for the electrical trade - and the time to get busy is now.

Middy’s has got your back - because we are the home of smart electrical – and always offer you more...

This article was originally featured in our quarterly Middy's MAG #39 Oct - Dec ’22 Edition. Read Latest Issue