Spearheaded by the twin attack of the Nissan (TYO: 7201) Leaf and the Chevy Volt, electric vehicles have slowly but surely made inroads into the U.S. domestic market. Hybrid electric vehicles are already well-established, and now plug-in EVs are scaling up their market invasion.
A Pike Research report estimates that EVs will hit global sales of nearly 3.8 million by 2020.
Although early estimates of EV market performance were markedly exaggerated, high fuel prices and the increasing advances in green technology mean consumers are finding electric vehicular options more and more intriguing.
Forbes quotes Dave Hurst of Pike Research:
“Indeed, sales of plug-in EVs will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 40 percent over the remainder of the decade, while the overall auto market will expand by only two percent a year.”
Plug-in electric vehicle sales have expanded significantly over the past two years, with 2012 seeing global sales exceed 120,000. More importantly, improvements have been taking place in the underlying infrastructure; for example, the West Coast Electric Highway project, which spans Oregon and Washington.
The Pike report goes into detailed forecasts, market share analysis, and other analytics for light hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-driven electric vehicles. It also offers forecasts for yearly vehicle sales broken down across numerous categories through 2020.
