The International Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organisation that focuses on solutions to help countries provide secure and sustainable energy for all. Electric Vehicles are an important focus of the agency and they provide intelligence reports on the industry on an annual basis.

Their Global EV Outlook 2020 report has just been published with analysis adjusted against the backdrop of COVID-19. Amongst major global economic concerns, there is positive news for the EV industry as a whole with an estimation that 2020 EV sales will not drop but remain at 2019 levels as opposed to an overall contraction of the passenger car market of 15%. This amounts to 3% of total global car sales.

China and Europe will have a strong role in supporting the continued development of the EV market by connecting economic stimulus and recovery plans to green energy policy. We have covered the EU’s recent green recovery plan and the IEA report highlights China’s like-minded green-focused strategy including an extension of subsidy schemes until 2022 to boost sales and activity.

EV Charging Record Breaking Year
Globally, publicly accessible EV chargers saw a mammoth 60% increase on the previous year in an effort to meet expanding sales. There were about 7.3 million chargers worldwide, of which about 6.5 million were private, light-duty vehicle slow chargers in homes, apartments and workplaces. Convenience and cost effectiveness were the main forces behind those installations. The UK has about 4% of these 6.5 million chargers, some 260,000 units.

When it comes to publicly accessible chargers, China is leading the trend on fast chargers in particular due to its high density urban areas where private charging is less accessible. The growth of longer range EV’s models will further accelerate the demand for this category.

Public Transport
This is another area that faced a sudden reduction in the immediate wake of COVID-19, however as the world begins to operate alongside the virus, public transport requirements are as important as ever. Many global regions have significant electric bus fleets including China (currently half a million), City of Santiago in Chile and Kolkata in India. They are unlikely to be negatively affected due the continued requirement for public transport as people return to work and lack of alternatives in high density areas.

Source:
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2020

Image: Photo by Peng LIU from Pexels