Telematics Can Reduce Range Anxiety and Enhance the Electric Vehicle Ownership Experience, Notes Frost & Sullivan

LONDON, March 29, 2010 - Range anxiety remains the major challenge to be resolved to facilitate
mass adoption of EVs in the coming years. The introduction of telematics in
electric vehicles (EVs) to provide point(s) of interest (POI) and alerts
packages that make the user aware of the charging environment, can resolve
range anxiety. Unlike conventional vehicles for which it is still an
expensive option, most hardware elements required for enabling these services
will be built into the cost of the EV. An EV driver will only pay an
incremental amount for services included in the subscription they pay for
battery leasing and energy plans.

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New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.automotive.frost.com),
Strategic Market and Technology Assessment of Telematics Applications for
Electric Vehicles, finds that telematics will have a penetration of more than
80 per cent of all new EVs sold by 2015. Smart navigation hardware will
become a standard feature in all new EVs sold by 2015, however users will
face additional service costs that are bundled along with energy subscription
plans.

"Neighbourhood electric vehicles (NEVs) and city electric vehicles (CEVs)
have a modest driving range of less than 100 miles," says Frost & Sullivan's
Global Program Manager for Telematics and Infotainment, Praveen Chandrasekar.
"Therefore, they require some form of charging environment related alerts and
smart navigation that informs the driver of the charge status, distance
covered with charge remaining, and charging stations on the route."

As the demand for NEVs and CEVs is likely to increase along with mega
city expansion, the telematics development for these vehicle segments becomes
increasingly vital.

The most important telematics service will be to provide charging
environment-related POIs like the location of the next charging station and
the ability to book that charging station. Other significant telematics
services will include connecting to the battery and knowing the state of
charge. These services will enter the market first.

Several OEMs, including Renault, Nissan and GM, are currently developing
ingenious telematics concepts for their upcoming EV models like the Fluence,
LEAF and Chevrolet Volt. Their real challenge, however, will be to ensure
mass market adoption of EVs while providing adequate infrastructure support.
Moreover, as EVs will remain niche products for a majority of the
conventional OEMs, it remains to be seen whether they will incur development
expenses or invest the time to create dedicated telematics concepts for their
EVs. This will indirectly impact the involvement of traditional telematics
companies in the EV initiative.

"Although EVs lead to a potentially new business model for telematics to
be sold as a standard feature rather than a costly option, the future of this
market depends on infrastructure development and smart energy planning,"
explains Chandrasekar. "Telematics development will be noticeably slow, if it
remains a niche segment."

Incentives and tax rebates by local governments in Europe and the United
States will boost the initial uptake of EVs. Additionally, some companies are
developing wholesome EV service packages ranging from charging/swapping
services to 360 degree telematics packages that will enable OEMs to take the
lead in this market.

"OEMs such as GM and BMW are expected to use their existing telematics
packages like 'OnStar' and 'Assist' for the EVs as well," concludes
Chandrasekar. "OEMs that currently do not offer telematics, should opt for
adoption packages such as the 'Better Place EV service package' that serve as
a one-stop shop provider of all services needed for the EV."

If you are interested more information on this study, please e-mail
Monika Kwiecinska, Corporate Communications, at monika.kwiecinska@frost.com,
with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail
address, company website, city, state and country.

Strategic Market and Technology Assessment of Telematics Applications for
Electric Vehicles is part of the Automotive & Transportation Growth
Partnership Services programme, which also includes research in the following
markets: Global Trend Analysis of Passenger Vehicle Telematics and
Infotainment Market - 2009 Edition, Strategic Analysis of The European Market
for Low Cost OEM Navigation Systems, and Comparative Analysis of the
European, North American, Chinese, South Korean and Indian Telematics
Markets. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed
market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following
extensive interviews with market participants.

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    Strategic Market and Technology Assessment of Telematics Applications
                         for Electric Vehicles
                                M4F0

    Contact:
    Monika Kwiecinska
    Corporate Communications - Europe
    P: +48-22-390-4127
    F: +48-22-390-4160
    E: monika.kwiecinska@frost.com

www.frost.com

Monika Kwiecinska, Corporate Communications - Europe, Frost & Sullivan, +48-22-390-4127, Fax, +48-22-390-4160, monika.kwiecinska at frost.com