Global leaders want to have 20 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road worldwide by 2020. Last year, some 40,000 EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) were sold around the world. If the J-shaped growth expectations are to be realized, the cost of advanced batteries must continue to fall and smart policies must accelerate the adoption of EVs in urban areas.

A new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) tackles the latter. The EV City Casebook (PDF), compiled by IEA with the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Electric Vehicles Initiative, and C40 Cities, details best practices from 16 cities in nine countries.

The profiled cities, from Shanghai to the tiny Goto Islands of Japan, account for 30% of the EVs on the road today. The other cities profiled are Amsterdam; Barcelona; Berlin; BrabantStad (The Netherlands); Hamburg; Helsinki; Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan); Los Angeles; New York City; North East England; Portland (Oregon); Research Triangle (North Carolina); Rotterdam; and Stockholm. (For more detail about efforts under way to promote EVs in Portland, read my profile of Electric Avenue and distillation of 10 EV charging lessons learned published at this blog in March.)

via The Global Electric Vehicle Movement: Best Practices From 16 Cities – Forbes.