Automotive World’s special report on the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) explores the key challenges and opportunities facing automakers, suppliers and infrastructure providers as they prepare for a mainstream battery EV market.

Following a steady rise in EV adoption over the last decade, sales slowed in 2019. According to Berylls Strategy Advisors, global EV sales grew annually in excess of 50% between 2012 and 2018, but by just 5% y-o-y in 2019; even against a backdrop of falling global vehicle sales, this signalled “a standstill in demand for xEVs (BEVs and PHEVs combined)”.

Nonetheless, and despite coronavirus-related challenges, automakers are pushing ahead with EV strategies. Policy strongly influences EV sales, from punitive measures restricting city centre access for combustion engine vehicles to incentives for fleet and private buyers, and assistance for automakers to establish local manufacturing operations. China is proposing a target of 60% EV sales by 2035, and Europe is targeting carbon neutrality by 2050; such increasingly stringent emissions and fuel economy regulations make it impossible for automakers to survive without electrification.

In this report:

• Executive summary
• Electric vehicle sales—a global snapshot in uncertain times
• Policy to continue spurring electric vehicle growth
• Charging infrastructure expansion must be accompanied by greater EV availability
• Can decentralised e-roaming democratise electric vehicle charging?
• In-wheel motors make sense for electric vehicles, say suppliers
• Time already ticking on electric commercial vehicle adoption
• How are automakers ramping up electrification?

‘Special report: What’s the timeline for electric vehicles?’ opens with an article commissioned exclusively for Automotive World by Andreas Radics and Marian Asche of Berylls Strategy Advisors, and presents insight from a range of leading stakeholders, including:

• Bosch
• Chargepoint Europe
• Continental
• Elaphe
• EVE Consulting & Solutions
• Moixa
• Protean Electric
• REE
• Share&Charge
• UPS
• YCP Solidiance

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