World gears up for electric cars despite bumps in road

Cost is also an issue, with electric cars currently selling for thousands of dollars more than their fossil-fueled counterparts.

The fashion for diesel cars in Britain was fueled by government incentives to reduce carbon emissions, but only worsened NO2 levels on a more local level.

– Infrastructure overhaul –

A switch to electric cars could also have negative environmental side effects, according to the experts.

Neuvy questioned how the extra electricity would be produced, whether there were enough resources to produce electric batteries, how many charging points would be needed and how the cars would be recycled.

Britain currently has around 4,500 public charging points, catering for around 110,000 plug-in cars currently on the streets out of a total of 36.7 million vehicles registered in Britain.

A study last month by IVL, the Swedish Environment Institute, found that production of a large battery currently results in the emission of up to 17.5 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to around 700 hours of driving in a standard car.

Another stumbling block could be the vast infrastructure costs associated with providing recharge points on public highways, although Britain’s plan promises to install charge points at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.

British car manufacturing lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) also warned that an outright ban “risked undermining the current market for new cars”, pointing out that the sector employed 800,000 workers.

But for now, the momentum appears to be strong, particularly if oil prices rise again.

CAM predicts that new registrations of electric cars in the world will increase by between 2.5 and 6 percent by 2020. “A big offensive by manufacturers” would then lead to a 40 percent increase by 2030.