Electric Vehicles Timeline: 2018 - 2040

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By Liz Slocum Jensen January 15, 2019

Electric Vehicles have transformed from an idealistic underdog to the emerging future of mobility. I compiled a timeline of electric vehicles and what to expect over the next 20 years. I categorized the events by

  • Corporate goals and announcements
  • Forecasts
  • Government mandates.

What I noticed is that legacy automakers are declaring that for the next 5- 8 years (approximately the product development lifecycle of a car) that they will increase their investment in EVs and, coincidentally, calling 1 million units (produced or sold) as the goal.

A few years ago, automakers considered EV’s something to fulfill a regulation requirement. As the world’s largest car market, China is setting aggressive goals that are making automakers redraw their road maps. Europe is looking to have a total ban on internal combustion engines (ICE) by 2040.