17 April 2013: The International Energy Agency (IEA), together with the Clean Energy Ministerial’s (CEM) Electric Vehicle Initiative (EVI), has released a report targeted to governments and industry on the challenges and opportunities facing electric vehicle (EV) deployment. Based on two years of primary data collection by the EVI and IEA, “Global EV Outlook: Understanding the Electric Vehicle Landscape to 2020” finds that, although EVs make up only 0.02 percent of the total passenger car stock, global EV sales more than doubled from 45,000 in 2011 to 113,000 in 2012.

Looking forward, the report estimates that EVs will need to constitute 75 percent of all vehicle sales by 2050, if the IEA’s 2°C Scenario is to be achieved.

Current aggregate national targets for EV deployment in all countries with known deployment targets totals 7.2 million in EV sales and 24 million in EV stock in 2020. However, the report underscores that meeting these targets will require overcoming high upfront costs, real and perceived range limitations, and a lack of consumer education. In light of these challenges, the report offers a number of recommendations, including: the development of national deployment goals and best practices; a network of cities to share lessons from early EV deployment in urban areas; information-sharing on public investment in research and development programs; and private-sector engagement to align the expectations and roles of industry and government.

The EVI is a CEM initiative that aims to advance the introduction and adoption of electric vehicles worldwide. It currently includes 15 CEM member governments from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, as well as participation from the IEA. [EVI Press Release] [Publication: Global EV Outlook]