The car industry will be unable to offer an ‘affordable’ electric vehicle without government subsidies until after 2015.

Over half of the 200 auto executives polled in a KPMG 2011 Global Automotive Executive Survey said without state subsidies electric vehicles as affordable as traditional fuel vehicles were five years away.

Over four in 10 car executives expect government subsidies to tail-off with only a quarter expecting them to increase.

Mike Steventon, automotive partner at KPMG in the UK, said: “One factor is common worldwide: the need to continue to develop the technology that will produce efficient, affordable electric vehicles.

“Even though the industry is still in recovery mode, the pace of technical leadership intensifies.”

Investment in new power train technologies such as hybrid and all electric remains a key priority for 93 percent of auto executives, it found.

Over seven in 10 auto executives said they would enter into strategic alliances or joint ventures to fund the capital costs or to secure the necessary technology.

The survey found fuel-efficiency was considered the single biggest factor for consumers when buying a vehicle.

Around 80 percent of respondents say that hybrid and electric vehicles will see the lion’s share of growth of any vehicle category over the next five years.

Report from Motortrader.com