World Rolls Toward EV Future

Nearly 25 countries have reached an electric-vehicle inflection point ushering in rapid adoption, according to a Bloomberg market analysis.

The news provider’s Bloomberg Green brand covering topics related to climate change said that five more countries reached the point of EVs comprising 5% of new-vehicle sales since it last examined worldwide adoption rates a year ago. It considers 5% the threshold for mass EV adoption in a given country.

It says 5% appears to the point at which early EV adopters’ resistance around battery range concerns, the costs of EV ownership, and driver skepticism are navigated sufficiently and the general vehicle consumer market follows.

The U.S. reached the 5% level in late 2021, the same year global sales reached the 5% tipping point, Bloomberg says. In the past year, Australia, Canada, Hungary, Spain and Thailand also hit the threshold.  

In the second quarter, global EV market share of new-vehicle sales hit 11.6% with the sale of 2.2 million units, Bloomberg says. Norway has far surpassed all other countries’ adoption rates: EVs now make up 82% of new-car sales there. The U.S. is at 7%.

The report says that once the early adoption period ends, a country can reach EVs as 25% of new-vehicle sales in just four years.

It says the rate of U.S. EV adoption hasn’t mirrored some other countries' fast switches but that it could speed up as automakers launch more EV models.

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