The Future of Electric Vehicles

The Future of Electric Vehicles Electric car sales have strengthened through 2021 and have remained strong so far through 2022, but achieving future growth will require more efforts to diversify battery production and critical mineral resources to reduce the risks of bottlenecks and price increases, according to the International Energy Agency. Electric car sales (including all-electric and plug-in hybrids) doubled in 2021 to a new record of 6.6 million, according to the latest edition of the Annual Global Electric Vehicle Outlook. Despite tensions in global supply chains, sales continued to rise strongly through 2022, with the 2 million electric cars sold worldwide in the first quarter, three-quarters year-over-year. By the end of 2021, the number of electric cars on the world's roads is about 16.5 million, three times the amount in 2018. Electric car sales in China nearly tripled in 2021 to 3.3 million, accounting for nearly half of the global total. Sales also grew strongly in Europe (up 65% to 2.3 million) and the United States (more than double to 630,000). China's electric cars are typically smaller than other markets. Along with lower production costs, this has significantly reduced the price gap with conventional cars. The median price of an electric car in China was only 10% more than traditional offers, compared to the average 45% to 50% in other major markets. By contrast, electric car sales are lagging behind in most emerging and developing economies, where only a few models are usually available and at prices unaffordable for mass-market consumers. Source: https://www.iea.org/news/global-electric-car-sales-have-continued-their-strong-growth-in-2022-after-breaking-records-last-year