According to a report by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Würtemberg (ZSW), more than 740,000 electric cars are on the road globally.
Around 320,000 cars registered last year, driving revenue of around €2 billion. The most poplar cars were the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S and Mitsubisihi Outlander Plug-in.
The US is one of the countries with the highest absolute growth rates with 117,000 electric cars having been registered (making the total around 290,000). Japan and China run second and third (with more than 100,000 and 54,000 electric cars respectively) behind the US.
The countries’ market incentives are responsible for their leading rates, claims ZSW. According to the study, countries like Germany which lack market incentives are falling behind in electric car expansion.