The rise of electric vehicles—2020 status and future expectations

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing a rise in popularity over the past few years as the technology has matured and costs have declined, and support for clean transportation has promoted awareness, increased charging opportunities, and facilitated EV adoption. Suitably, a vast body of literature has been produced exploring various facets of EVs and their role in transportation and energy systems. This paper provides a timely and comprehensive review of scientific studies looking at various aspects of EVs, including: (a) an overview of the status of the light-duty-EV market and current projections for future adoption; (b) insights on market opportunities beyond light-duty EVs; (c) a review of cost and performance evolution for batteries, power electronics, and electric machines that are key components of EV success; (d) charging-infrastructure status with a focus on modeling and studies that are used to project charging-infrastructure requirements and the economics of public charging; (e) an overview of the impact of EV charging on power systems at multiple scales, ranging from bulk power systems to distribution networks; (f) insights into life-cycle cost and emissions studies focusing on EVs; and (g) future expectations and synergies between EVs and other emerging trends and technologies. The goal of this paper is to provide readers with a snapshot of the current state of the art and help navigate this vast literature by comparing studies critically and comprehensively and synthesizing general insights. This detailed review paints a positive picture for the future of EVs for on-road transportation, and the authors remain hopeful that remaining technology, regulatory, societal, behavioral, and business-model barriers can be addressed over time to support a transition toward cleaner, more efficient, and affordable transportation solutions for all.

Exploring the role of electric vehicles in Africa's energy transition: A Nigerian case study

“…Other studies have examined the combination of EVs and residential heating to support VRES penetration ( Bellocchi et al., 2020 ), alternative optimal future scenarios to understand the techno-economic implications of different penetration levels of EVs and VRES ( Prina et al., 2019 ), life cycle emissions of EV charging strategy ( Tang et al., 2021 ), incentive systems incorporating cryptocurrency for EV users ( Zhang et al., 2018 ), the role of social class and behavior in EV commercialization ( Lee and Brown, 2021 ), the influence of EVs on household electricity bills ( Kühnbach et al., 2020 ), and policy recommendations to increase the uptake of EVs ( Adoba and Dioha, 2021 ; Greene et al., 2014 ). The energy system impacts of EVs is well researched, and a detailed review and analysis of this subject matter are presented in Liu et al., 2015 ; Muratori et al., 2021 ; Nour et al., 2020 ; Taljegard et al., 2019 . A key observation from this literature is that most studies have focused on the developed world.…”

Application of rapidly improving battery technology for direct electrification of intraregional container shipping

“…A direct electri cation pathway can leverage higher e ciency compared with e-fuels as well as future cost reductions and improvements in battery technology driven by wide-scale battery deployment in road transport and stationary storage [57]. Battery costs are projected to decline by 50% in 2030, with battery manufacturers such as Tesla claiming these reductions can be achieved much earlier [58,59].…”

Strategies for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure of Cities: Benefits and Challenges

“…Whenever the ranges are increased and necessary infrastructures are constructed, the popularity of electric vehicles has gained more attention [7,8]. According to [2,9], it is clearly seen that the direction in the vehicle preference has been towards to EVs. In Figure 2, annual EV market growth is given [10].…”