Plug-in Plans: Automakers and governments not on same page according to IEA
Electric cars are coming, but not as many as policy makers want
Automakers on pace to manufacture only 1.4 million plug-ins worldwide per year by 2020
Every year the world’s automakers produce tens of millions of autos every year, and that number is expected to grow dramatically in the next few decades. At the current pace, billions of automobiles will be on the world’s roads by 2050, and according to the IEA, most will be oil powered — and could be long past 2050.
Unfortunately, based on the latest IEA data, automaker plans through 2020 demonstrate that automakers are still far from buying into the plug-in revolution, despite the media hype. While various governments are expecting about 7 million plug-in vehicles by 2020, the IEA notes that automakers only have plans to build about 1.4 million plug-ins.
Fortunately, more aggressive goals could still be met, but the IEA notes that important steps must be taken by the in the next 1 – 2 years that demonstrate that governments worldwide will support long term incentives, infrastructure, etc, for plug-in vehicles. Otherwise plug-in adoption could be significantly stunted through the next decade — making 50 percent penetration by 2050 all the harder.
