Flagship report
Sustainable Recovery
World Energy Outlook Special Report
Electric vehicles
With over 2% of global car sales, the electric car fleet is expanding quickly. Ambitious policy announcements have been critical in stimulating the electric mobility transition in major vehicle markets.
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Policies have major influences on the development of electric mobility. Policy approaches to promote the deployment of EVs typically start with a vision statement and a set of targets. An initial step is the adoption of electric vehicle and charging standards.
Economic incentives and regulatory measures are often coupled with other policies that increase the value proposition of EVs. Such policies often aim to harness the multiple co-benefits arising from greater electrification of transport, most prominently energy diversification in a sector that is 90% dependent on oil products and the reduction of local pollutant and GHG emissions. Measures that provide crucial incentives to scale up the availability of vehicles with low and zero tailpipe emissions include fuel economy standards, zero-emission vehicle mandates and the rise in the ambition of public procurement programmes.
Regulatory measures related to charging infrastructure include minimum requirements to ensure "EV readiness" in new or refurbished buildings and parking lots, deployment of publicly accessible chargers in cities and on highway networks, and are complemented by requirements regarding inter-operability and minimum availability levels for publicly accessible charging infrastructure.
Economic incentives and regulatory measures are often coupled with other policies that increase the value proposition of EVs. Such policies often aim to harness the multiple co-benefits arising from greater electrification of transport, most prominently energy diversification in a sector that is 90% dependent on oil products and the reduction of local pollutant and GHG emissions. Measures that provide crucial incentives to scale up the availability of vehicles with low and zero tailpipe emissions include fuel economy standards, zero-emission vehicle mandates and the rise in the ambition of public procurement programmes.
Regulatory measures related to charging infrastructure include minimum requirements to ensure "EV readiness" in new or refurbished buildings and parking lots, deployment of publicly accessible chargers in cities and on highway networks, and are complemented by requirements regarding inter-operability and minimum availability levels for publicly accessible charging infrastructure.
Last updated Jun 16, 2020
Key findings
Electric car deployment in selected countries, 2013-2018
OpenElectric car deployment has been growing rapidly over the past ten years
The global stock of electric passenger cars passed 5 million in 2018, an increase of 63% from the previous year. Around 45% of electric cars on the road in 2018 were in China – a total of 2.3 million – compared to 39% in 2017. In comparison, Europe accounted for 24% of the global fleet, and the United States 22%.
Electric car share in the Sustainable Development Scenario, 2000-2030
OpenElectric vehicles are one of the few technologies on track under the Sustainable Development Scenario
Electric car sales topped 2.1 million globally in 2019, surpassing 2018 – which was already a record year. Sales rose 6% from 2018, following several years of over 40% annual electric car sales growth. The 2019 increase is embedded within the third year of global car market contraction, and the global electric car market share reached a new record of 2.6%, up from 2.4% in 2018 and 1% in 2017. The electric car stock therefore increased 40% year-on-year in 2019, indicating strong sustained EV sector development after annual successes since 2016 and a positive outlook for attaining the 36% average annual stock growth needed to reach the SDS target by 2030. China was the world's largest market (1.06 million electric cars sold in 2019), followed by Europe (560 000) and the United States (326 000); these three regions accounted for over 90% of all sales in 2019. Norway continues to have the highest market share for sales (56% in 2019), followed by Iceland (23%) and the Netherlands (15%). Battery electric cars (comprising battery electric cars and plug-in hybrid electric cars) made up a larger portion of electric car sales (almost three-quarters) in 2019. Progress in decarbonising the power sector will accelerate the CO2 emissions reduction benefits of EVs.
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Events
22 Jun 2020 12:00—13:00
Introduction to Global EV Outlook 2020
15 Jun 2020
Global EV Outlook 2020
27 Apr 2020 11:00—12:00
Integration of electric vehicles in areas of extreme heat
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