EVs propelling the high voltage electric heaters market

At present, the penetration of electric and hybrid vehicles is about five percent of the overall automobile sales, but it is estimated that in next ten years the demand for electric and hybrid vehicles will grow at a significant pace and will have a prominent share in the global automobile sales.

In electric vehicles, a very low quantity of waste heat is produced which is not sufficient for heating requirements, hence, high voltage electric heaters are used as a prime source of heating in electric and hybrid vehicles. The rapid growth of electric and hybrid vehicles will boost the market for high voltage electric heaters. This is the findings of Fact.MR in a recently published report. The report estimates that the market will experience a ten-fold increase to reach a market value of ~$9bn by 2029.

Key takeaways of the global high voltage electric heater market

• According to Fact.MR, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) accounted for more than two-third market share in 2018 in the overall electric vehicles sales, which makes it the most prominent vehicle technology. The dominance of HEV in the electric vehicle market makes them the most attractive market for high voltage electric heater.
• Passenger cars account for more than 75% of the high voltage electric heaters market.
• Air heaters as widely used products, account for more than 55% of the global market share.
• FacT.MR estimates that demand for 4-7kW high voltage electric heaters would increase as much as 11x over the next decade owing to efficient heating and lower power consumption from the battery.
• China will remain the prominent country throughout the forecast period, accounting for more than 35% of the global share in the high voltage electric heater market.

“Catalytic converters completely integrated into the water heater, eliminating CO and HC emissions and heating battery to help with rapid regeneration of performance, would gain preference over conventional heaters. These would also inadvertently increase the range of electric and hybrid vehicles, especially in colder regions.” said a Fact.MR analyst.

China’s potential remains unrivalled

The report reveals some of the prominent market players, including BorgWarner, Eberspaecher, Webasto, Woory, DBK Group, LG Electronics, and Mahle among others. The companies are focusing more on starting new manufacturing facilities along with launching new products to cater to the demand from end users. The trend that has been observed is that prominent players are expanding their production capabilities in China. China, being the prominent market for electric and hybrid vehicles, is attracting players in opening new or expanding existing facilities.

• In 2018, BorgWarner started a new production facility in Ningbo, China, to meet growing demand for emissions and thermal management products including high voltage heaters.
• Eberspaecher has opened a new manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China, for electric vehicle heaters in 2018. The prime focus of this facility is to produce high voltage heaters for electric and hybrid vehicles.
• In 2018, BorgWarner launched high voltage coolant heaters to cater to the demand for thermal management products from electric and hybrid vehicles.