EV population to reach 3m

The number of electric and plug-in hybrid cars on the world’s roads will pass the 3 million mark, as manufacturers go full-speed on developing and producing battery-powered vehicles. EV-Volumes, a Swedish group focuses on plug-in vehicle sales development, including; products, prices, batteries, charging infrastructure, regulations and incentives. They have predicted sales will accelerate next year and bring the total number of battery-powered cars on the roads to around 5 million by the end of 2018. EV Volumes said that China, the world’s biggest market for electric cars, was in the “global driver seat” when it comes to growth. Beijing is pushing drivers to buy electric with a suite of incentives, as it attempts to tackle its climate change and fuel emission problems.  Japan is also leading the way, owing its return to growth to the start of the Prius Prime, and with the imminent introduction of the new Nissan Leaf, sales can only go higher. VW, which overtook Toyota as the world’s biggest carmaker in January, is among rivals who have recently set electric car sales goals, also targeting 1 million a year albeit by the earlier date of 2025.  Toyota also said that it aimed to launch a new generation of batteries in the early 2020s that would enable electric cars to travel further, using solid-state technology that allows batteries to be cheaper, safer and offer more capacity.