EV Buyers Can Expect Cheaper Batteries and More Chargers in 2020
【Summary】According to research by BloombergNEF, European automakers and governments will move toward helping curb global warming with stricter carbon emissions regulations, which could force an electric-vehicle revolution.

In the United States, electric vehicles are primarily being purchased by consumers that want to take action on their own. Fuel is cheap, the country doesn't have a real climate change plan, and large vehicles like pickups are king. All of this means that there's little incentive, beyond the $7,500 federal tax credit, to purchase an EV. That, though, isn't the case in other countries like China and, soon to be Europe.
EV Revolution Coming This Year
According to a report by Bloomberg and a forecast from BloombergNEF, Europe will see an electric revolution in 2020. The outlet states that the country's government will soon look to cut carbon emissions from vehicles as part of a plan to curb global warming. This, in turn, will force automakers to introduce electric vehicles.
Bloomberg claims that sales of electric cars are set to increase to 2.5 million units in 2020. That figure represents an increase of 20 percent from 2019.
Just like this year, China will continue to lead the way forward for sales. But the country recently decided to reduce subsidies for EV owners, which could help Europe gain a larger piece of the market. The outlet's forecasting claims that Volkswagen's push to become an electric-vehicle force will boost the number of electrified vehicles in Europe. In total, the outlet expects 800,000 electric cars to be sold in Europe in 2020.
"The long-term future is really bright, but in the short term we're expecting growth to be relatively slow," said Colin McKerracher, an analyst at BloombergNEF. "You're still in the middle of this transition, from a market driven by direct subsidies toward one driven by a combination of real consumer demand and other big policy mechanisms."
Better Prices, More Infrastructure Coming
Another important aspect of electric vehicles that will help sales increase in Europe are decreasing lithium-ion battery prices. The outlet states that prices per kilowatt-hour will hit roughly $135 – approximately 13 percent lower than in 2019. With the increase of battery production, better battery designs, and more sales, battery prices are expected to tumble.
All of these things mean that more chargers will be needed. Luckily, public chargers are expected to rise to 1.2 million, up from 880,000 last year. The increase in chargers will come in part from governments and energy companies looking to expand infrastructure to support the increase in demand for electric cars.
Another interesting trend to look at in 2020 include other forms of electrified transportation. A few companies, even automakers, showcased flying electric cars at CES. While it's unlikely that one would come out in 2020, it's likely something that more companies will pursue this year. Other forms of transportation, including boats could go electric in 2020, too.
-
2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Now PHEV Only
-
Acura Prevision EV Concept Previews Brand’s Electric Future
-
Hyundai Gets Serious About Electric Performance Cars, Shows off Two Concepts
-
Ford Looks to Have 100% of EV Sales Be Online
-
Volkswagen CEO Believes It Will Overtake Tesla in EV Sales by 2025
-
Report Claims Nissan Leaf Will Be Discontinued by 2025
-
Autonomous Vehicles Will Require Cities to Change Their Transportation Methods
-
Rivian, Mercedes-Benz Partner to Produce Electric Commercial Vans
- China’s New Intelligent EV company JIDU Launches its Limited-Edition Robocar Called the ‘ROBO-01 Lunar Edition’
- Tesla Rival XPeng and Alibaba Cloud Set Up China’s Largest Cloud-Based Computing Center to Train Machine Learning Models for Autonomous Driving
- Volvo is Building a New EV Service and Training Facility at its U.S. Headquarters in New Jersey To Fast Track its Electrification Plans
- General Motors Announces a Key North American Nickel Supply Deal for Electric Vehicle Batteries
- Ford Motor Co Selects its Plant in Spain to Build 'Breakthrough' EVs for the European Market on a Next-Gen Architecture
- Volvo Offers a Sneak Peak of its New Flagship EX90 Electric SUV Ahead of its Upcoming Reveal on Nov 9
- China’s Geely Launches the First of 9 Low Earth Orbit Satellites That Will Help Guide its Autonomous Cars
- Qualcomm Ventures Invests in ThunderX, a Company Developing a Domain Controller-based Intelligent Vehicle Compute Platform
- Mercedes-Benz is Offering a Performance Upgrade as a Yearly Subscription on its EQ Electric Vehicles
- Valeo Signs Major Deal with BMW to Supply Advanced Driver Assist Hardware for the Automaker's Forthcoming 'Neue Klasse' EV Platform