Here is an interesting article from CnD back in 2012 (EPS vs HPS)
The benefits of EPS for manufactures are the following:
Better gas mileage (1mpg)
No pressurized fluid/no hoses/less warranty claims
Easier installation from factory
More tolerant of out of spec alignment
The EPS motor is *programmable*
And then there is the tech piece of it like...motor driven, lane keeping, auto parking, etc
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...n-test-feature