Electric vehicle sales have stumbled. What went wrong?

WITH road transportation accounting for around 12 per cent of global emissions, it is hard to see how the world will reach its net-zero climate goals unless people give up their gasoline and diesel cars. 

For many years, governments offered generous subsidies to encourage drivers to switch to electric vehicles (EV). Automakers began to retool factories and offer a wider selection of EVs to meet demand.

As prices fell and the technology improved, zero-emission cars went from niche to mainstream and it started to look as though the combustion-engine era may end sooner than expected.