Electric car adoption will be slow

The head of the Nissan-Renault alliance says customers' adoption of electric vehicles will be a slow and gradual process, with traditional gasoline-powered cars continuing to dominate the market for many years.

Carlos Ghosn estimates that about 10 percent of vehicles sold worldwide in 2020 will be powered by electricity. The rest will be powered by gasoline, diesel, hybrids and other fuel sources.

Ghosn made the remarks during a panel discussion sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York along with Steven Rattner, the Wall Street financier who led the Obama administration's effort to restructure the U.S. auto industry earlier this year.

Electric car adoption - discussion