exempts them from some registration requirements. The fleet size is estimated to exceed 5 million vehicles.28 LSEV sales numbers in China reached 695 900 in 2018, only a slight increase from the previous year (D1EV, 2019). Recent policies tighten regulations to contain further market growth. In November 2018, the government temporarily banned further increases of production capacity for LSEVs due to road safety concerns (Government of China, 2018). Future developments will be managed according to national regulations which aim to limit further market expansion. Some manufacturers in China have responded to stricter regulation on LSEVs by increasing production of very small electric passenger cars, for which the electric market share increased from 39% in 2016 to 90% in 2018. This is the smallest passenger car segment subject to regular road regulations and registration requirements.

Charging infrastructure

Small-size electric vehicles (two/three-wheelers, LSEVs and foot scooters) generally do not have access to dedicated charging infrastructure. Personal vehicles often charge at residential buildings from regular power outlets, some via extension cords. Small battery home charging stations are used for models with portable batteries. Free-floating shared electric fleets use various approaches. For example, operator Coup exchanges discharged batteries of its freefloating shared fleets and recharges in central depots (Greis, 2018).29 A number of operators of shared electric foot scooters (Box 1. 3) pay users to collect scooters with low battery levels and to charge them at home, co-ordinated through the user app (Runnerstrom, 2018).

Buses

Stock and sales

The global stock of electric buses increased by 25% in 2018 relative to 2017, reaching about 460 000 vehicles. China accounts for 99% of the global market for electric buses.

In 2018, over 92 000 new electric buses were registered, down from 104 000 in 2017.30 Battery electric is the technology of choice accounting for 93% of new electric bus registrations.

Outside of China, about 900 electric buses were registered in 2018, mostly in Europe. Latin America had its first roll out with 200 electric buses in Chile and 40 in Ecuador. A tender for electric bus procurement was proffered in India under the FAME scheme (Box 1. 4). There are more than 300 electric buses in the United States (Reuters, 2017).

Charging infrastructure

Infrastructure dedicated to electric buses reached an estimated 157 000 chargers in 2018. Most are in China with 153 000 chargers, where the number increased by 25% from 2017. Electric bus chargers in Europe in 2018 reached 3 000. In China, the number of bus chargers does not only stand out in comparison with any other country, but it also exceeds the level of publicly available fast chargers for passenger cars (Figure 1.5). The similar magnitude of

28This estimate is based on cumulative sales.

29Gogoro, the manufacturer of Coup’s electric two-wheelers, operates the largest network of battery swapping stations in Chinese Taipei. Drivers of 123 000 Gogoro two-wheelers in this market can exchange discharged batteries at 1 000 charging stations (See Chapter 2, Industry roll-out plans).

30This report refers to “battery electric bus” as “electric bus” and the scope excludes electric trolley buses.

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fast chargers for buses and cars in China, a country where even the fast charger to electric car ratio tends to be high, illustrates that buses currently have very significant relevance in the market development of fast chargers.

Figure 1.5. Dedicated bus chargers and publicly accessible fast chargers by country, 2018

Notes: In China, the bus fleet is mostly based on depot charging. Shenzhen has approximately one charger per three buses (Lu, Lulu and Zhou, 2018). In other regions, the ratio is closer to one charger per bus.

Sources: IEA estimate based on country submissions, complemented by Chinabaogao (2019) and EAFO (2019).

Bus chargers are an important driver of the global deployment of fast chargers. In China, which had 153 000 bus chargers in 2o18, dedicated fast chargers for buses exceed the number of publicly accessible fast chargers.

Notes: This table includes a selection of recent electric bus projects with at least 20 vehicles. Depots provide parking during nonoperating hours while terminals are larger bus stations (e.g. end-of-line station).

Sources: Shenzhen Bus Group (2019); Royal Schipol Group (2019); UITP (2018) and Singh (2019) for Kolkata and Indore, Morris (2018) for Leiden, ZeEUS (2017) for Nottingham and Paris.

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31 For further information, see Chapter 5, Figure 5.8 “Total cost of ownership gap between diesel and electric buses” in Global EV Outlook 2018 (IEA, 2018a).

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