Dispelling the Myths of China’s EV Market
It’s too soon to call a peak on traditional vehicles, but the potential for overall growth is in question. And just how much of that growth will be electric?
They’re coming.
Source: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Our Bloomberg NEF colleagues often say that China is “half of everything,” such as aluminum, steel and copper consumption. For the electric vehicle sector, China is at least half of everything, if not far more, in three key areas: It represents 76 percent of all commissioned lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity; logged 60 percent of global EV sales in fourth-quarter 2018; and held 50 percent of global public vehicle-charging infrastructure as of the end of 2018.
That helps explain just how large China is as an electric vehicle market, but a number of myths and misconceptions still drive much of the perception of the country’s role in electric transportation.2 Let’s dispel some of them.