1. Status of electric mobility

1. Status of electric mobility

Vehicle and charger deployment

Light-duty vehicles

Stock

Cars

The global stock of electric passenger cars1 reached 5.1 million units in 2018, an increase of 63% from the previous year (Figure 1.1). This is similar to the year-on-year growth rate of 57% in 2017 and 60% in 2016. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) account for 64% of the world’s electric car fleet. (Box 1. 1 provides an update on fuel cell electric vehicle stocks).2

Around 45% of the world’s electric car fleet was located in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) in 2018, compared to 39% in 2017. The stock of electric cars in China almost doubled between 2017 and 2018 to reach 2.3 million. In 2018, Europe3 accounted for 24% of the global stock of electric cars at 1.2 million (of which 0.96 million were in European Union countries) and the United States accounted for 22% with 1.1 million. By far, Norway was the global leader in terms of stock share4 in 2018, with 10% of electric cars in its total car stock. Even with the ongoing expansion of electric car sales, only five countries, including four Electric Vehicle Initiative (EVI) members, had an electric car stock share higher than 1% in 2018: Norway (10%)5, Iceland (3.3%), Netherlands (1.9%), Sweden (1.6%)6 and China (1.1%).7

1In this report, an electric car or passenger electric car refers to either a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) in the passenger light-duty vehicle (PLDV) segment. It does not include hybrid electric vehicles that cannot be plugged-in (HEVs).

2This report focuses on BEVs and PHEVs. It excludes fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) unless otherwise stated.

3In this report, the following countries are included in the “Europe” category: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus*, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. * Note by Turkey: The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.

Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Turkey. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.

4Market share is defined in this report as the share of new electric car registrations as a percentage of total new passenger light-duty car registrations, whereas stock share refers to the share of electric car stock as a percentage of total passenger light-duty car stock.

5In this analysis, EV sales and stock in Norway do not account for second-hand imported electric vehicles (20% of passenger car sales in 2018) to avoid double counting with exporting countries. This phenomenon can be explained by the high demand for EVs in Norway, which is a challenge for manufacturers to supply enough vehicles. As a result, there is a trend to import newly registered electric cars from other European countries. A number of second-hand electric vehicles from other countries are also imported in Norway because of their cheaper price relative to new vehicles.

6In 2018 in Sweden, a fraction of the electric passenger cars registered did not reach Swedish roads, due to delays in PHEV deliveries and to exports to Norway. In this report, all the vehicles registered are accounted for in the EV stock.

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Figure 1.1. Passenger electric car stock in main markets and the top-ten EVI countries

Notes: BEV = battery electric vehicle; PHEV = plug-in electric vehicle. Other includes Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.

Electric vehicle (EV) stocks by country are calculated as the sum of EV sales starting from the earliest data available in our time series (in most cases after 2011), i.e. without considering scrappage rates at this early market stage and excluding second-hand imports, unless access to sources with direct EV stock numbers was possible.

Stock shares are calculated based on EV stock by country and, for total rolling passenger light-duty vehicle stocks per country, on estimates developed with the IEA Mobility Model. The latter are estimated based on new vehicle registration data and the use of scrappage functions that account for a lifetime range of 13-18 years. Lifetimes at the low end of the range are used for countries with higher income levels (and vice versa).

Europe includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus8, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. Other includes Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.

Sources: IEA analysis based on country submissions, complemented by ACEA (2019); EAFO (2019); EV Volumes (2019); Marklines (2019); OICA (2019); CAAM (2019).

There were 5.1 million electric passenger cars on the road worldwide by the end of 2018, of which 45% were in China.

Light-commercial vehicles

In addition to the 5.1 million passenger electric cars, there were almost 250 000 electric lightcommercial vehicles (LCVs) on the road in 2018.9 Electric LCVs are often part of a company or government fleet.10 China had the largest electric LCV fleet worldwide (138 000 vehicles) in 2018, 57% of the global stock. The second-largest market for electric LCVs was Europe with 38% of the global stock and 92 000 vehicles. France (41 000 vehicles) and Germany (16 500 vehicles)

7Further details on the method used for stock share calculation are in the notes for Figure 1.1

8Note by Turkey: The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.

Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Turkey. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.

9LCV stocks in China for all years have been updated taking into account of information on the total of all commercial vehicle sales from the country submission and their distribution across LCVs, buses, minibuses, mediumand heavy-duty trucks from other sources (D1EV, 2018; Find800, 2019; EV Volumes, 2019).

10See Chapter 2, Box 2.2.

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Fuel cell electric passenger car stock 11 200 (2015: 1 000)

1% 0.5%

4%3%3%

8%

55%

26%

Hydrogen refuelling stations 381 worldwide

5% 17% United States

Japan

11 LDVs include both electric LCVs and electric passenger cars.

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