Electric car sales are expected to fare better than the overall passenger car market, with EV sales this year to broadly match the 2.1 million sold in 2019, according to the latest edition of the International Energy Agency (IEA’s) Global EV Outlook.
This would account for a record 3% of the total global car sales. Based on data from January to April this year, total global passenger car sales this year are set to decline by 15%.
Global electric car sales grew by at least 30 percent every year over the past decade except for 2019, when growth slowed down to 6% as the regulatory environment changed in China and passenger car sales contracted in major markets.
Even then, electric cars had another banner year in 2019, securing their highest ever share – 2.6% – of the global car market.
In 2019, all electric vehicles combined avoided the consumption of almost 0.6 million barrels of oil products per day globally. Also, electricity generation to supply the global electric vehicle fleet emitted about half the amount that would have been emitted from an equivalent fleet of internal combustion engine vehicles.
The number of electric cars on the road is expected to reach almost 10 million as sales grow despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Electric cars are expected to account for nearly 1% of the global car stock with this year’s sales. However, the report explains that second waves of the pandemic and slower-than-expected economic recovery could lead to different outcomes.
Ultimately, government responses to the pandemic and how consumers emerge from the crisis will determine what happens to electric car markets in 2020 and beyond.
Reference- IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2020 Report