Sales of electric and hybrid cars will reach a new global record in 2024, according to forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The analyst forecast that 17 million battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be sold in 2024, up more than 20 per cent compared with 2023.
The IEA also said most electric cars will cost the same as petrol equivalents by 2030 as prices drop.
In a report, the IEA projected that ‘surging demand’ for EVs over the next decade was set ‘to remake the global auto industry and significantly reduce oil consumption for road transport.’
Electric Vehicles price drop
This month Tesla lowered prices, in order to retain its market share from Chinese rivals such as BYD, its closest contender as the world’s largest producer of battery electric cars.
Some countries have concentrated on encouraging electric vehicle adoption – four-fifths of all cars sold in Norway in 2023 were electric. However, policies vary as China and European countries are generally ahead of the rest of the world, including the US.
Fatih Birol, the energy economist who heads the IEA, said that sales are stronger in some countries than others, but there was clear momentum for the transition.
‘Rather than tapering off, the global EV revolution appears to be gearing up for a new phase of growth,’ he said. ‘The wave of investment in battery manufacturing suggests the EV supply chain is advancing to meet automakers’ ambitious plans for expansion. As a result, the share of EVs on the roads is expected to continue to climb rapidly.’
In the first quarter of 2024 there were more sales of electric and plug-in hybrids than in the whole of 2020, the IEA said.
Hybrids, which combine a battery with a patrol or diesel motor, still emit CO2 when in use, although some in the car industry argue that they are a necessary step to lower emissions until public charging infrastructure improves.
This month in the UAE – which has unveiled the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which aims to increase the share of EVs on the roads to 50 per cent of total vehicles by 2050 – The Dubai Civil Defence authorities unveiled the world’s first electric firefighting truck at the World Trade Centre, manufactured by Rosenbauer, an Austrian company.
