China's Hunger for Electric Vehicles Is Driving Manufacturing
Some of the world’s biggest automakers are about to invest billions of dollars to produce cleaner-running cars.
They’re coming.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Last year, the world’s consumers bought more than 2 million electric vehicles. By 2025, they’ll be buying 10 million; by 2040, 56 million, according to BloombergNEF’s new long-term Electric Vehicle Outlook. The report looks at how this fleet will transform transportation as China’s 421,000 electric buses join those millions of personal EVs. As the expanding electric fleet drives electricity demand up, it will also erode demand for millions of barrels of oil.
Globally, more than half of all new car sales will be electric by 2040, but that figure varies by region. In China, the world’s largest auto market, that figure will be closer to 70 percent; it’s nearly the same in Europe. The U.S. is the relative laggard, at just under 60 percent.