Abstract:

In this briefing, the authors highlight the continued growth in electric vehicle uptake in leading markets, focusing on the 25 metropolitan areas in the world with the highest cumulative passenger electric vehicle sales. They investigate the underlying local policies and the unique infrastructure and vehicle fleet solutions that have enabled this success and distill broader lessons. For this briefing, they identify and analyze the metropolitan areas that have consistently recorded high electric vehicle sales. The authors focus on passenger electric vehicles, both battery electric and plug-in hybrid. The authors also discuss some of the most common actions, including financial incentives, licensing and road access policies, parking policies, and consumer awareness campaigns. From this analysis of the electric vehicle markets and supporting policy and infrastructure in place in these leading cities, the authors make the following observations: (1) Nearly half of the world’s electric vehicles are in 25 cities, (2) The electric vehicle market is accelerating, with China leading the way, (3) The top electric markets are beginning to solve the infrastructure challenge,  and (4) A comprehensive policy package is necessary to launch the electric market.