Electric Cars Hit the Million Mark

"In a new report, the International Energy Agency estimates that 1.26 million electric cars hit the world's roads in 2015, passing a nifty (if symbolic) milestone," reports Brad Plumer.

The United States now has 400,000 electric vehicles on the road — a massive increase since 2010, though well short of Obama's goal of 1 million by 2015. Meanwhile, China has become the world's largest market, overtaking the US in annual sales last year.

Although the 2015 figures for worldwide electric car stock are impressive compared to, say, the 2010 figures, electric cars still have a long way to go to become the norm. There are currently 1 billion gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles on the road, according to Plummer. Even impressive growth for electric cars in the United States has fallen short of expectations. President Obama set a goal for 1 million electric cars on U.S. roads by 2015, but U.S. share of the worldwide stock managed to hit 400,000.

A Bloomberg Business article earlier this year predicted big things to come for the electric car business. Tom Randall, who wrote the article, described a six-year timeline for electric vehicles to become as affordable as gasoline-powered automobiles.