Electric car sales up by 2 million in 2018

By Zeynep Beyza Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - The global electric car fleet rose in 2018 to exceed 5.1 million, up 2 million from the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency's Global Electric Vehicle (EV) Outlook report released on Wednesday.

China remained the world’s largest electric car market with nearly 1.1 million electric cars sold in 2018, followed by Europe and the U.S. with 1.2 million and 1.1 million electric car sales, respectively.

Last year, electric vehicles consumed about 58 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity and emitted 41 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent while saving 36 million tonnes compared to an equivalent internal combustion engine fleet.

The report also explores two future scenarios for electric vehicles.

In the New Policies Scenario in 2030, global electric vehicle sales are forecast to reach 23 million while in the EV30@30 Scenario in which electric vehicles account for 70% of all vehicle sales in 2030, sales are forecast to nearly double by 2030 to 43 million.

Electricity demand from electric vehicles in the New Policies Scenario is projected to reach almost 640 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030 and 1,110 TWh based on the EV30@30 Scenario.