French energy group EDF has launched its Electric Mobility Plan (Plan Mobilité Electrique) and expects to become the leading power supplier for electric vehicles (EVs), the largest charging network operator and "smart charging" provider in Europe. The company is targeting a 30% market share in the EV power supply market in four key European countries (France, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom) by 2022, which corresponds to supplying power to approximately 600,000 vehicles.
By 2022, the company projects to deploy 75,000 charging points and 250,000 interoperable terminals in Europe through its charging points subsidiary Sodetrel. As of October 2018, Sodetrel already operates 5,000 charging points in France and provides access to 60,000 charging points in Europe.
Eventually, EDF also aims to become Europe's leading "smart charger" and intends to operate 4 000 smart charging points by 2020. The increased use of EVs will transform power systems as the EV is also a battery that can be used for the grids to balance load during periods of high demand.