Electric Vehicles bucked the pandemic and thrived

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and shutdowns in 2020, electric vehicles not only survived, but to thrived.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that EV sales globally grew to more than 3 million during 2020, marking a record-breaking year for electric mobility as market share passed 4% This translates to a 40% rise in global sales from 2019’s 2.1 million, meaning the number of EVs on roads worldwide now exceeds 10 million.

Government policies are supportive

The two major markets are driving this change: China and the United States. The Chinese government is investing heavily in the charging infrastructure and there is a continued focus on encouraging Chinese manufacturers to produce and market EVs. In September 2020, California introduced legislation to require all new cars sold in the state to be zero-emission by 2035.

President Biden promised to boost sales of electric vehicles. He has also pledged to replace the government’s fleet of roughly 650,000 cars with electric models and to build 550,000 electric vehicle charging stations to forge a clean energy future.

The UK also plans to invest £1.8 billion in charging infrastructure between 2021 – 2025.

Battery costs are falling

Battery pack prices has plummeted over the decade to an average of US$ 156/kWh in 2019, down from more than US$ 1,100/kWh in 2010.

EV growth varies globally

Almost 1.4 million new EVs were registered in Europe in 2020, 137% up on 2019. Europe has for the first time since 2015 passed China at the forefront of EV growth.  Europe’s EV proportion increased from 3.3% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2020, outpacing China’s 5.1% to 5.5% increase in the same period.

Many European markets double or even tripled their EV sales in 2020, with Germany’s massive 254% increase seeing it become the second largest single country for EV sales behind only China.

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