Electric mobility is gaining momentum. The number of electric cars worldwide climbed to 10.9 million in 2020, up by more than three million from the previous year. China remains the undisputed leader with more than five million e-cars in its fleet, followed by the USA with 1.77 million. Germany moved up to third overall with nearly 570 000 vehicles on the road.
The source of these figures is a recent survey conducted by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). According to the ZSW data, three German automakers figure prominently among the top six brands of newly registered electric vehicles. Tesla is in the lead with nearly 500 000 new registrations, but others are catching up, above all VW. However, these figures also show that growth will have to be far more dynamic to put the climate action goals for transportation within reach by 2030.
New electric vehicle registrations surged worldwide in 2020, rising 38 % to a record high of 3.18 million and bucking the overall market trend of markedly declining sales, a slump that owes much to the coronavirus pandemic. While e-car registrations were well up in Europe, increasing by 134 % to 1.37 million, the major Chinese and US markets contributed little to global growth. Europe overtook China, which posted just three percent growth with 1.25 million new registrations. The number of new registrations in the USA was down for the second time running, dropping by 2% to 322 400.
