Electric vehicles hit new high

Wednesday, 07 June 2017

Electric vehicles hit new high

Reuters reports that the number of electric vehicles on roads worldwide rose to a record high of 2 million last year.

In 2015, the number of electric cars, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric passenger light-duty vehicles, was 1 million, the IEA said in a report.

Even though that doubled last year, the global electric car stock is only 0.2% of the total number of passenger light-duty vehicles in circulation.

'They have a long way to go before reaching numbers capable of making a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,' the IEA said.

'In order to limit temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the number of electric cars will need to reach 600 million by 2040,' it added.

Research and development and mass production improvements are resulting in lower battery costs and this trend should continue, which should narrow the cost competitiveness gap between electric vehicles and internal combustion engines.

There is a 'good chance' the global electric car stock could reach carmaker estimates of between 9 and 20 million by 2020 and between 40 and 70 million by 2025, the report said.

The electric car market is still concentrated in a limited number of countries. Globally, 95% of electric car sales are taking place in just ten countries - China, the United States, Japan, Canada, Norway, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Even though battery costs have fallen since 2009, they are still a major component of cost and drive up retail prices.