Abstract:

This report assesses major cities that are leaders in promoting electric vehicles around the world, quantifies their market successes to date, and discusses the underlying contributing factors for each. The authors identify 14 major metropolitan areas in North America, Europe, and China that led their respective countries in electric vehicle uptake or sales shares in 2015. Only metropolitan areas with a population over 1 million residents are included in this analysis. For each city, the authors summarize the policy, infrastructure, and consumer awareness actions that have been put in place to grow the market in these world-leading electric vehicle markets. The markets are evaluated at the metropolitan area level to incorporate the urban center and the surrounding commuting area. They compare electric and conventional vehicle life-cycle emission data to assess the new technology’s relative climatic impact in these pioneering electric vehicle markets.