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| This report examines the current situation with respect to electric vehicle, range-extended electric vehicle and hybrid-electric concepts and models that are already in, or about to be launched into, the market. It also examines the market drivers and barriers, and the enabling technologies that are contributing to the current progress towards introducing a substantial fleet of electrically-powered vehicles onto the world’s roads during the next few years.
In order for EVs to be adopted on a mass scale they will have to overcome some significant challenges, including the cost of battery packs, the lack of an extensive recharging infrastructure and the limited range of most current electric vehicles between battery recharges, which, of course also applies to range-extended electric vehicles and other plug-in hybrids that can operate at times in electric-only mode. Despite these barriers, however, a wide variety of electric vehicles are being developed by major OEMs and a growing list of new niche manufacturers. Alongside this, range-extended and other plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles are currently attracting considerable media attention with several scheduled for series production in the near future. |
