Though hybrid cars are becoming more ubiquitous on U.S. roads, sales of fully-electric plug-in vehicles are still ramping up slowly. Part of the reason for the slow adoption of electric cars is the fact that the charging station infrastructure simply isn’t in place to support them. That will be changing soon, however, as electric vehicle charging stations will soon be popping up all over the globe.

Market research firm Navigant Research this week released new estimates showing that almost 64,000 electric vehicle charging station are currently operational worldwide. The firm points out that many of these stations in Europe and the U.S. were installed using government subsidies and resources, but that those funds are now beginning to dry up.

“As public investments in charging infrastructure wane, the numerous companies that emerged in the market’s early stages and championed various technologies and business models are now beginning to consolidate and standardize,” said Scott Shepard, research analyst with Navigant. “While investment in EV charging equipment technology has been significant during the past few years, the private sector now needs to focus on financing infrastructure deployments in order for the market to continue to grow rapidly.”

Shepard’s prediction echoes that of analyst firm IHS, which predicted back in August that the number of electric vehicle charging stations worldwide will reach nearly 200,000 by the year 2020. The slow charging times for electric vehicles, which are another factor in the slow adoption, are also expected to improve in the near future.

(Image courtesy Ludovic Hirlimann)