While the auto industry worldwide suffered during 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the electric car market saw growth of over 40 percent and is on track for a decade of expansion, a new report says.
The report from the International Energy Agency, Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021, finds that despite the pandemic’s negative effect on the economy, a record 3 million new electric cars were registered in 2020, a 41 percent increase over 2019. In comparison, the global automobile market shrunk by 16 percent in 2020.
The report added that electric cars’ momentum has continued into 2021, with sales in the first quarter of this year nearly two and a half times their level for the same period in 2020.
The increase in sales last year brings the number of electric vehicles on the world’s roads to more than 11 million, with roughly 1 million of those being electric vans, heavy trucks, and buses. Europe is the center of the global electric car market, with more than 1.4 million electric car registrations, overtaking China, with 1.2 million.
“While they can’t do the job alone, electric vehicles have an indispensable role to play in reaching net-zero emissions worldwide,” said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA. “Current sales trends are very encouraging, but our shared climate and energy goals call for even faster market uptake. Governments should now be doing the essential groundwork to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by using economic recovery packages to invest in battery manufacturing and the development of widespread and reliable charging infrastructure.”
IEA says that electric vehicles are projected to see significant growth over the coming decade, based on current trends and policies. The IEA report projects the number of electric cars, buses, vans, and heavy trucks on roads to reach 145 million by 2030, with the possibility to reach 230 million if governments accelerate their efforts to reach international climate and energy goals.
Consumer spending on electric cars increased another 50 percent last year to reach $120 billion, while government support measures stood at $14 billion – the fifth year in a row government support measures have fallen as a share of total spending. IEA says this suggests sales are increasingly driven by consumer choice.