Electric vehicle sales could increase 24% year-over-year through 2030

The number of electric vehicles (EV) is set to triple worldwide by 2020, according to a forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In their report on the future of the EV market, they predict that 13 million EVs will be on the road by the end of the decade, compared to 3.7 million last year.

“The policy-driven growth in EV sales underpins economies of scale and fosters technology development which reduces battery pack costs, increases opportunities to cut the purchase price of EVs and to improve their performance”, the report said.

About half of the EVs sold in 2017 were purchased in China, which saw a 72 percent increase in sales.

The IEA report warns that the uptake in EVs has been, and will likely continue to be, driven by government policies.

It also warns that lithium-ion batteries need to continue to be improved upon to deal with global supply issues for nickel, lithium, and, especially, cobalt.

Nearly 60 percent of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 90 percent is refined in China, and yet demand for the element is expected to be 10 to 25 times higher by 2030.