The number of electric vehicles on the road hit a new record of 3.1 million in 2017, CNBC reported.
The new record is a 54-percent increase from 2016, the report said, citing an International Energy Agency report.
China had 40 percent of the total electric vehicles in use, with more than 1 million sold in that country. The United States has the second highest with around 280,000, the agency’s report said.
The agency predicted that more than 13 million electric vehicles would be in use around the world by 2020, and 125 million by 2030, CNBC reported.
“Dynamic market uptake of electric vehicles has occurred in recent years… ongoing support and commitments for increased deployment of EVs from policy makers and the automotive industry suggest that this trend is not going to abate in the coming decade,” the agency said.
Policies in China and Europe will make those countries the biggest adopters of electric vehicles in the energy agency’s view, CNBC reported.
However, policies from Donald Trump’s administration could harm sales, the agency said.
The Environmental Protection Agency rejected rules for fuel efficiency from Barack Obama’s administration saying the rules were “not appropriate” because automakers can’t achieve them by 2025, Reuters reported.
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