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The electric vehicle market’s strong momentum continued in 2020 despite a slowdown in global car sales amid the pandemic, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

By the numbers: There were 10 million electric cars on the road globally at the end of last year, representing one per cent of all cars, with electric-car registrations up 41 per cent. Consumer spending on EVs rose 50 per cent to US$120 billion, while governments spent US$14 billion in incentives.

More models are available than ever before. Last year, consumers could choose from about 370 vehicles, up 40 per cent from 2019.

If global policies stay the same, the report projects, EV inventory—not including two- and three-wheelers—will total 145 million in 2030, or seven per cent of all vehicles. But under a scenario more in line with the Paris Agreement, those figures could grow to 230 million and 12 per cent.

The challenges: Despite the growth, “significant barriers to EV adoption remain,” according to the report. The biggest challenge is a lack of charging infrastructure, followed by a lack of available vehicle types and high prices. A peer-reviewed study recently found that owners of electric vehicles don’t always keep buying green cars partly for similar reasons.

What governments can do: So far, the global policies driving adoption include purchase subsidies, as well as tax rebates; tightening fuel economy and tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions standards; mandatory targets for EV sales; and investing in publicly available, accessible chargers.

The IEA wants to see “broader and more ambitious policy portfolios” to quicken the pace of adoption. In the short term, regulators can tax vehicles and fuels differently based on environmental performance, for example. In the long term, they can deploy charging infrastructure and manufacture sustainable batteries, among other things.

What Canada is doing: Canada has pledged that all new cars sold in the country will be zero-emission vehicles by 2040 (in the interim, 10 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030). Quebec and B.C. set their own target dates of 2035 and 2040, respectively, for the 100 per cent mark.

The federal government offers a rebate for eligible EVs and PHEVs, and some provincial governments, including British Columbia, do the same. B.C., which claims to have the highest EV uptake in North America, also wants to showcase the technology. Vancouver city council just approved hosting a Formula E race in July 2022, and the three-day event will include a conference on electrifying transportation.

The federal government is also investing $280 million in charging infrastructure, and the feds and Ontario promised $295 million each to a Ford plant in Oakville, Ont., to help it turn into an EV manufacturing hub. (Though, as my colleagues Catherine and Murad have posited, government incentives may not be enough to build a domestic EV industry.)