Electric vehicles are the primary alternative to transportation based on internal combustion engines and the most promising route to decarbonization of light- and medium-duty transportation systems. A transition to electric vehicles does face important challenges in terms of scaling of battery production, charging infrastructure, and grid coordination, which may make aggressive EV targets difficult to meet. However, these known challenges are surmountable given the historical and expected future trend of falling costs and improved technical and environmental performance of these vehicles. While the vehicles of the future are likely to use a variety of energy sources and conversion technologies, electric vehicles will be a central part of future transportation systems.
