Recent high-profile demonstrations by an estimated 1.5 million students in over 100 countries echo growing levels of public concern over climate change. With the transport sector accounting for around  24% of CO2 emissions globally, car manufacturers are rising to the challenge, setting ambitious targets for carbon emissions reductions.

Global sales of electric vehicles exceeded 2 million in 2018, up from just a few thousand in 2010 and industry analysts are forecasting an acceleration of this growth, (figure 1), with electric vehicles expected to account for 57% of all passenger vehicle sales by 2040 at which time 30% of the global passenger vehicle fleet will be electric vehicles (EV).