The European Union, the United States and Japan decided to to get a further boost to the introduction of electrical cars with an international agreement. In particular, the partners agreed to closely cooperate on convergence of regulatory obligations related to electric vehicles in the global context.

The introduction of electrical cars will get a further boost with an international agreement promoted by the European Union, the United States and Japan in Geneva (Switzerland). The agreement will lead to cost savings through economies of scale for automotive manufacturers because partners agreed to closely cooperate on convergence of regulatory obligations related to electric vehicles in the global context. Currently they only produce relatively small volumes of electric vehicles in different world regions. The agreement is, therefore key in the context of economic recovery and general cost-sensitiveness of the industry. The EU already supports projects to boost the use of the electrical cars, such as Green Emotion initiative.

The initiative was taken by the European Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. Under the proposed cooperating agreement, two informal working groups on electric vehicles will be set up under the 1998 Agreement on Global Technical Regulations. The aim of both groups is to exchange information on current and future regulatory initiatives in this field, to avoid unnecessary differences between regulatory approaches and, where possible, develop common requirements in the form of a Global Technical Regulation (GTR).

The first group created will address the safety aspects of electric vehicles and their components, including the battery. It will cover the safety of occupants against electric shocks in-use, while recharging as well as after an accident. The second group will focus on environmental aspects of regulations applied to electric vehicles.