With global sales set to hit yet another record this year, electric vehicles will expand their share of the global automobile market to nearly 20% and push the energy sector that powers traditional vehicles toward a much greater reimagining, a leading energy-industry coalition said Wednesday.
The prediction comes from the latest edition of the International Energy Agency’s annual Global Electric Vehicle Outlook. “The trends we are witnessing have significant implications for global oil demand,” he said. “The internal combustion engine has gone unrivaled for over a century, but electric vehicles are changing the status quo. By 2030, they will avoid the need for at least 5 million barrels a day of oil. Cars are just the first wave: Electric buses and trucks will follow soon.”
China is the front-runner, accounting for 60% of global electric-car sales in 2022, the IEA says. Today, more than half of all electric cars on the road are in China. Europe and the U.S., the second- and third-largest markets, both also saw strong growth, with sales increasing 15% and 55%, respectively, in 2022, the report said.
Still, the IEA said in its report that the Biden-backed law “places emphasis on strengthening domestic supply chains for EVs, batteries and minerals.”