Electric Vehicles Broke Sales Records in 2022 Increased sales helped the car market in general, which has been beset by supply chain issues and disrupted production lines.
By Steve Huff
Just two years ago, the International Energy Agency predicted that EVs wouldn't reach a 10% market share until 2030. However, anyone staking a bet on that forecast will be disappointed: Electric cars attained a 10% market share for the first time in 2022, surpassing a significant marker even as sales of new vehicles decreased. Despite lagging at slightly under 6%, the LMC Automotive research group stated that EVs represented 19% of automobile sales in China last year and 11% in Europe, per The Wall Street Journal.
Additionally, researchers revealed sales of fully electric cars increased 68% year-over-year — but overall auto sales dropped 1%. LMC also noted that two-thirds of global EV sales were in China, where total vehicle sales were up 1% last year, compensating for an 8% drop in the US.
CBS reported that 80% of new autos sold in Norway are now electric. Twenty-five percent of new cars sold in Germany are electric, a number expected to rise sharply over the next year.
Tesla is still the leading EV manufacturer worldwide, but Chinese competitors like SAIC Motor are quickly catching up, with Volkswagen just behind.
Analysts doubt electric cars will replicate their performance in 2023 due to supply chain difficulties, rising electricity prices, and getting rid of cash rebates in some countries. However, Ralf Brandstätter, head of Volkswagen's China division, believes that EVs are set to surpass traditional cars in the near future, telling the Wall Street Journal that in 2022, "every fourth vehicle we sold in China was a plug-in, and this year it will be every third auto."
"We haven't reached the tipping point yet," he said, "but we're expecting to get there between 2025 and 2030."
The industry is likely to prosper, but some aren't sold — like legislators in Wyoming, who recently introduced a bill that would have phased out EVs in that state by 2035. The bill, intended to protect the oil and gas business, died in committee — this time.
