The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts electric car sales to rise even further and remain brisk in 2024, despite economic troubles in some markets. However, affordability and enhanced access to electricity will be crucial components for continued growth. At 17 million, demand for electric cars will exceed last year’s 14 million.
The rise means that above one-fifth of all global car sales this year would be electric. As a result, oil usage in the road transport sector will take a severe hit. According to the forecast, ten million of those cars have been sold in China. Remarkably, the turnover for the first quarter alone exceeded the results of the entire last year. Notably, the level of electric cars use is diverse in various countries. For instance, it is anticipated that one in nine new cars in the US will be electric and one in four in Europe. The figure rivals fifty percent in China.
In Europe, low development of passenger car demand combined with weakened subsidies reduces electric car spread. Moreover, prices remain a significant barrier to increasing the turnover, with significant disparities existing in electric vehicles’ prices depending on regions. Currently, internal combustion cars are much cheaper than electric ones on the European and US markets. At the same time, more than half of electric vehicles sold in China in the previous year were cheaper than gasoline cars.
The IEA notes a general trend of decreasing electric car prices due to declining battery costs, heightened competition, and economies of scale among car manufacturers. However, some regions experienced stagnant or slightly rising prices between 2018 and 2022 when adjusted for inflation.
Addressing the growing demand for electric cars will require substantial expansion of charging infrastructure. The IEA estimates that charging networks will need to grow six-fold by 2035 to meet this challenge effectively.