Automobile experts expect the electric vehicle market value to hit $802.75 billion in the next five years from $273.31 billion in 2020. They peg the Compound Annual Growth Rate [CAGR] at 21.6 per cent during the forecast period 2021 - 2028.
In Saudi Arabia hybrid and electric vehicles sales in 2021 accounted less than 3 per cent of the total new vehicles sales, a report published February 23 by English-language newspaper Arab News said citing consulting firm Kearney’s survey data.
The consulting firm conducted a survey which showed that 15 per cent of those surveyed plan to own an electric car in the next three years. It showed that while 80 percent of the Saudi nationals own at least one gasoline-powered car, 28 per cent of the people surveyed believe that electric vehicles will become increasingly common in future.
While 33 per cent people believe more charging stations would increase their interest in buying electric vehicles, 23 per cent believe more information on EVs and the government’s fee waiver could make electric cars more appealing.
According to International Energy Agency data, the world saw a mere 16,875 Battery Electric Vehicles in 2010. [See graph] This number increased to 114,303 in 2012, and 728,217 in 2015 and 6,850,327 in 2020.
There were 70,050 Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles in 2012 which increased to 516721 in 2015 and 3,34,6713 in 2020. There were just 158 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in 2012. This increased to 936 in 2015 and 31,225 in 2020.
Battery Electric Vehicle registration in the United Kingdom increased y-o-y from 108,205 in 2020 to 190,727 in 2021 or 76.3 per cent positive change and its market share increased from 6.6 per cent in 2020 to 11.6 per cent in 2021 or 75.75 per cent increase, according to Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data.
India with the third largest road network in the world had 295.8 million registered vehicles in 2019. The world’s second most populous country produced 22,652,108 combustion fuel vehicles in the fiscal year 2021. From this figure bikes and scooters comprised 18.35 million, cars 3.06m, commercial vehicles 0.62m and three-wheel [rickshaws] vehicles 0.61, according to data published by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. China manufactured 26.08 vehicles in the same period.
China has the largest motor vehicle fleet in the world, with 322 million motor vehicles registered at the end of September 2018. The Asian giant became the world's largest new car market in 2009. In 2011, the world added 80 million cars and commercial vehicles. China built 18.4 million new vehicles.
The United States has the highest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 832 vehicles per 1,000 people in 2016. This data shows production numbers have steadily increased in the world, barring the Covid-19 pandemic-inflicted slowdown. The alarming rise of fuel vehicles and their carbon emission impact on the environment calls for decisive intervention by governments.
Governments of developed and emerging economies should aggressively pursue a vision that translates into legislation to support the growth of electric vehicles [EVs] and zero-emission vehicles [ZEVs] for light-duty vehicles [LDVs] and heavy-duty vehicles [HDVs] models. This vision should include consumers. Middle income car owners comprise a major share of vehicles users in the world. They would make a significant decrease in carbon emission rates if they switch to EVs. For this to happen, governments need to offer incentives to make the switch from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric or hybrid vehicles. Such incentives would encourage car users in dense traffic countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Japan, and South Korea.
EVs will not decrease traffic congestion in crowded cities, but will reduce carbon emission which is highest in car idling state. A car idling for an hour burns around one-fifth of a litre of petrol/diesel and releases nearly 4 pounds of CO2 which contributes to global warming.
A vehicle idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more emissions that contribute to smog and climate change than stopping and restarting your engine does. Researchers estimate idling from heavy-duty and light- duty vehicles combined wastes around 22.71 billion litres of fuel annually.
[Sudeep Sonawane, an India-based journalist, has worked in five countries in the Middle East and Asia. Email: sudeep.sonawane@gmail.com]
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