While the market for electric vehicles (EVs) is still very small, it’s important to recognize that EV telematics are at the cutting edge of the telematics industry.  As I point out in my report on EV Telematics, 73% of EVs in 2012 have “connected vehicle telematics” – packages that include streaming content and cloud applications.  This mix is expected to grow to almost 80% by 2017.

In June, I am moderating a panel at the Telematics Detroit 2012 conference on telematics for EVs.  The event, which will feature panelists from Continental, Nissan, Agero and SAP, will not include individual presentations.  That’s a good thing because it means more time dedicated to the panel discussion.

It’s also clear that this conference will cover the telematics industry overall.  Many of the sessions are focused on digital content for vehicles, pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) issues, and the interaction of automotive OEMs with other service providers.  The telematics for EV session will be part of the Auxiliary & Vertical Markets track, which is interesting because this panel will cap off a day of fleet, aftermarket, and mobile health telematics panels.

We’ll be discussing many of the key issues facing the telematics industry as a whole, but from the perspective of EVs.  This will include differentiation between traditional vehicle and EV telematics, smart grid integration, privacy issues, and how important telematics are given the rise of smartphones.  Aside from the differentiation question, the telematics industry is going to be facing a variation of all these issues in the broader automotive market.

Obviously, in a 35 minute panel we can’t cover all the issues facing EV manufacturers and telematics suppliers.  EVs are likely to be among the first to get a PAYD tax system applied to the vehicle owners, and the small size of the EV market raises questions of how OEMs can use telematics as a tool to promote the value of the vehicles.  With such a high concentration of connected vehicle telematics in the EV market, there may also be faster influence on the market by social media companies.