LONDON (Reuters) - Pure and hybrid electric cars may grab five to 10 percent of a European autos market by 2020 if governments help overcome cost hurdles, said the authors of an engineering academy report published on Tuesday.
Limits included infrastructure costs of about 5,000 pounds ($7,152) per roadside charge spot, plus costly lithium batteries with a limited range of about 100 miles. In addition, cross-border standards were needed for plugs and billing. "There is no obvious source of funding for such infrastructure," found the Royal Academy of Engineering report, referring to the roll-out of clusters of charge spots.
Driving adoption in Britain were targets to curb greenhouse gases, meaning the fossil fuel-dependent country would also have to invest heavily in low-carbon electricity.
