Major Expansion Likely in Global EV Adoption by 2030 Led by Governments’ Policies

The global electric vehicle (EV) adoption is expected to witness major expansion during this decade, which could accelerate further if governments implement policies aimed at reaching net-zero goals, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its report.

As per the IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2021, despite the pandemic setting off a cascade of economic recessions, a record 3 million new electric cars were registered in 2020, a 41 per cent increase from the previous year. By comparison, the global automobile market contracted 16 per cent in 2020.

Electric cars’ strong momentum has continued into this year, with sales in the first quarter of 2021 reaching nearly 2.5 times their level in the same period a year earlier, it added.

Last year’s increase brought the number of electric cars on the world’s roads to more than 10 million, with another roughly 1 million electric vans, heavy trucks and buses.

For the first time last year, Europe overtook China as the centre of the global electric car market. Electric car registrations in Europe more than doubled to 1.4 million, while in China they increased 9 per cent to 1.2 million.

Explaining further, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, said, “while they can’t do the job alone, electric vehicles have an indispensable role to play in reaching net-zero emissions worldwide.”

“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,” Birol added.

Electric vehicles are set for significant growth over the coming decade, the new IEA report finds.

Based on current trends and policies, it projects the number of electric cars, vans, heavy trucks and buses on the road worldwide to reach 145 million by 2030.

But the global fleet could reach 230 million if governments accelerate efforts to reach international climate and energy goals, as outlined in the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario.

It further emphasized that, if governments around the world pull together to pursue the even more ambitious goal of reaching net-zero emissions globally by 2050, the global electric vehicle fleet would grow even bigger.