The number of electric vehicles on roads worldwide rose to a record high of 3.1 million in 2017, but more research, policies and incentives are needed to drive further adoption, the International Energy Agency said. The number of electric cars, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric passenger light-duty vehicles, increased by 57 percent compared with 2016, the IEA said in a report. China accounted for 40 percent of the global total last year.

An interesting point of view and a very important factor indicated by Jimi Beckwith of autocar. co.uk. Car makers are worried that China’s EV electric sales targets are too strict and have urged the government for more flexible legislation. Car makers from across the industry have written a letter asking China to reconsider its plan to introduce stringent sales quotas for electric vehicles. The Chinese government is planning to introduce quotas that determine how many of each

Deliveries of all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids jumped 53 percent year on year to 777,000 vehicles in 2017 with the aid of government subsidies. Automakers sold 652,000 all-electric vehicles and 125,000 plug-in hybrids, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Among the battery EV sales, 468,000 were passenger vehicles and 184,000 were commercial vehicles. Of the plug-in hybrids, 111,000 were passenger vehicles and 14,000 were commercial vehicles.

The Renault-Nissan alliance has announced plans to build electric cars in China in a new venture with Dongfeng Motor, joining the scramble by global automakers to meet Beijing's stringent quotas for zero-emission vehicles. The venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co, will develop an electric mini-SUV to go into production in 2019 by Dongfeng, the carmaking alliance said, for sale under the partners' own brands. Dongfeng already builds conventional vehicles with Nissan and its F