Number of Electric Vehicles on Roads Reaches Two Million: IEA

The number of electric vehicles on roads worldwide rose to a record high of 2 million last year, but has a long way to go to reach levels needed to help limit an increase in global temperatures, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

In 2015 the number of electric cars, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric passenger light-duty vehicles, was 1 million, the IEA said in a report.

Even though that doubled last year, the global electric car stock is only 0.2 percent of the total number of passenger light-duty vehicles in circulation.

"They have a long way to go before reaching numbers capable of making a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets," the IEA said.

"In order to limit temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, the number of electric cars will need to reach 600 million by 2040," it added.

Research and development and mass production improvements are resulting in lower battery costs and this trend should continue, which should narrow the cost competitiveness gap between electric vehicles and internal combustion engines.

There is a "good chance" the global electric car stock could reach carmaker estimates of between 9 and 20 million by 2020 and between 40 and 70 million by 2025, the report said.

Read more at Number of Electric Vehicles on Roads Reaches Two Million:  IEA