The electric vehicle market is expanding beyond passenger cars to include industrial vehicles like forklifts and military trucks, according to a new study.

Market researcher IDTechEx said electric vehilce market leaders like Honda, Nissan and Toyota are attempting to leverage their battery technologies to move beyond hybrid cars. Along with industrial and military applications, the car makers are targeting buses and even motorcycles, the researcher said in a new survey of the electric vehicle market.

For example, the researcher said Nissan has launched a major effort to install its next-generation lithium ion battery from its $4.1 million battery joint venture with NEC Corp. into forklifts and cars.

"Much is written about hybrid cars, but there are substantial sales of hybrid military trucks, buses and even motorcycles," IDTechEx said in releasing the electric vehicle report on Tuesday (Feb. 16).

The report forecasts sales for a variety of vehicle and component categories through 2020. The forecasts also cover such categories as mobility for the disabled and golf carts along with heavy and light industrial as well as commercial vehicles, the authors said.