International Energy Agency: One in five cars sold this year will be electric

Roughly one in five cars sold worldwide this year will be electric. That is the estimate in an outlook published today by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Sales of electric cars are expected to rise by 35 percent to 14 million vehicles, it says. This would give electric cars an 18 percent market share. By comparison – they had a four percent market share in 2020.

The shift to electric vehicles will reduce global oil demand by at least five million barrels per day, according to the IEA.

More than half of the electric cars on roads worldwide are currently in China, which also dominates global battery production. Alongside its technological lead, it is also pulling ahead of competitors in the supply chain. Last year, China accounted for 60 percent of global electric car sales.

Almost two-thirds of electric models in China and Europe, and a notably larger share in the United States, are sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and large cars.

„For electric cars to become widespread outside China, suppliers need to offer affordable and competitive options,“ the IEA report says.

In developing countries and emerging market economies, electric two- and three-wheelers outnumber passenger cars. More than half of the three-wheelers registered in India this year will be electric, according to the IEA.