Six million electric vehicles (EVs) will be shipped globally this year. At least market researcher Gartner predicts this in a new report. These include both fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The number of charging stations for EVs rises to 2 million units worldwide.
"At COP26 in November 2021, the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council agreed that vehicle manufacturers commit to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2040, and earlier in leading markets. This puts pressure on the automotive sector to prepare to decarbonise transport. EVs are a key powertrain technology to help reduce carbon emissions from the transport sector," said Jonathan Davenport, research director at Gartner.
Growing demand for electric vans and trucks
"The ongoing shortage of chips will affect EV production in 2022. Although van and truck shipments are currently small, the number of shipments is going to grow rapidly. This as commercial owners see the financial and environmental benefit of electrifying their fleets."
Gartner predicts that electric cars will account for 95% of total EV shipments by 2022. The remaining 5% is expected to be split between buses, vans and heavy trucks (see table 1).
Relatively high demand from Western Europe
China imposes a mandate on carmakers demanding that EVs account for 40% of all sales by 2030. Chinese carmakers are setting up new factories to produce electric cars in response. Based on this, Gartner estimates that Greater China will account for 46% of global EV deliveries by 2022. The country thus accounts for the largest number of shipments worldwide. Specifically, it accounts for 2.9 million EVs.
Western Europe is on track to ship 1.9 million EVs by 2022. This makes it the second-largest market for EV shipments. "EU plans to reduce CO2 emissions from cars by 55% and vans by 50% by 2030 is a catalyst for the rise of electric vehicles in Europe," Davenport said. North America is expected to follow with 855.3 thousand EVs by 2022.
Number of charging stations rising
Governments worldwide are introducing new regulations and incentives for electric vehicle sales. The automotive industry is responding with increased investment in companies providing charging infrastructure and vehicle battery technology. In doing so, they aim to support and strengthen the transition to electric vehicles by consumers and businesses. Gartner predicts that the number of public EV chargers worldwide will rise from 1.6 million units in 2021 to 2.1 million units in 2022.
To promote the transition to EVs, carmakers need to address several factors, according to Gartner. As examples, the market researcher mentions lowering the price of EVs and batteries and recycling EV batteries. However, also consider offering a wider selection of vehicle models with longer driving ranges. And improving charging infrastructure.
More investment needed in smart grid infrastructure
"Moreover, a major problem that needs to be addressed is the lack of fast chargers for home and public charging," Davenport said. "Utilities need to increase their investments in smart grid infrastructure to cope with growing electricity consumption. Moreover, countries that use fossil fuels to generate electricity need to redesign their power generation to respond to the transition and meet climate change ambitions."
Further information is available in the report‘Forecast Analysis: Electric Vehicle Shipments, Worldwide’. The report is availableto Gartner clients.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Image: Pixabay / geralt
